This weekend I’ll be heading up to Lake Michigan to sail in the Hook (it’s basically the homely sister of the Chicago-Mackinac).
Not that that has any bearing on what post is about, I just felt like bragging a little.
This post is about a planing hull. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to brainstorm ideas for how a model boat without any sort of movable ballast could be designed to plane on a broad reach, hopefully a beam reach, and if it’s just completely insane, a close reach.
Now for my own two cents:
I got to thinking about this question and came up with the following concept:
Wide shallow hull but with massive flair that would form the planing surface of a heeled model boat.
Low center of effort for less righting moment but a lot of sail for MAXIMUM POWER!!! (insert lightning crash here).
Ultimately my idea, as I found out recently, bears a striking resemblance to a reeeeeaaallly small version of Greg Elliott’s Primo (check it out at his website, which I believe is www.elliott-marine.com), and to a lesser degree, Mari Cha IV (but I knew that beforehand).
So what do all those mad scientists and black magicians out there have to say?
How would you design a boat destined for an off wind bias, with the demand that it plane on a reach?
Obviously there is more to the design of Mari-Cha than I am giving credit, but it seems to me to be a monstrous Laser. You might be able to learn something from an RC Laser. By building it for a little more displacement and making the keel deeper, you may be able to achieve your goal. But I am also just thinking this up so there may be some downfalls that will come to me in 20 minutes or so. If anyone else thinks of any, let me know.
Andrew Miller
Have you ever seen a TS2 IOM sailing in a good breeze? It’s pretty close to what you are describing.
So take the general shape of a TS2 - adjust the design for a lighter displacement - say 7lb instead of the IOM rule’s 8.8lb if you want a meter long boat. Add a little length to the keel - and build a non-rule boat (or even a US1M rule boat). Build it in carbon fibre to acheive the light weight, and go fly.