Sailing unstayed Cat Ketches and Cat Yawls safely and efficiently downwind in strong winds

John Goodman and I sailed the immaculate Goat Island Skiff he built from my plan in the Texas 200. The boat showed itself to be one of the faster in the fleet despite loading up such a short boat with food, water and camping gear for six days with little outside support. We played with sailing the boat by the lee – a method used by racing boats to gain both speed and control. I document the method here including a video showing how the angle of heel can be controlled using the mainsheet.

Slideshow of boats from the Lake Macquarie Classic Boatfest

AlexN, who is building an Oz Racer and I drove up to Toronto at Lake Macquarie for the Classic Boatfest 2011. I think I will go again in 2012 and try to have a boat to sail around. Shows on the water are the nicest type and this one has good access for small sailing boats and canoes. We met up with Bruce (Woodeneye on the storerboats forum) who had is “for sale” Goat Island Skiff.

Goat Island Skiff in Victoria – Dete Hasse and his boys (and the value of reefing

Dete Hasse and his family built a Goat Island Skiff in Geelong, Victoria a while ago. He has just written to me about his experiences trying to sail on Port Phillip Bay and more happily on the recently refilled (the drought is over!) Lake Eppalock. Also he makes some good comments about reefing and how it changes an overpowered boat into a much more rriendly beast in stronger winds.

Setting up for performance – Balance Lug – Goat Island Skiff

John Goodman who recently spent 5 days semi racing a Goat Island Skiff in the Texas200 event got back to me with some observations and even some pictures of aspects of the boat and the sailing. I have responded with suggestions to make some further improvements. Between John and me there are some useful tips about setting up a boat for more speed. However the standard setup of the Goat is fine for most – it is still pretty quick in standard form. There is advice for both lug and sprit traditional rigs here.

First Goat Island Skiff Kit sold in the USA

Clinton Chase in Portland Maine has just delivered a precut kit for the Goat Island Skiff to John in Texas who is building the boat. The kit arrived in a big box. This little article tells how his kids are involved in the boatbuilding starting with attaching the framing to the accurately cut plywood. He knows the rule that it is more important what the kids learn and experience than it is to minimise the use of wood!

Podcast Online – Wooden Boat Design by Michael Storer – 1 of 3

This talk is the first hour of my exposition on boat building and design. There are two more parts to come. This covers some of the background and design issues. The second is more on the building side and the last is a bit more about why the Australian (and New Zealand) wooden boat tradition is different from the Northern Hemisphere. You can stream the talks over your internet connection or download them as a podcast.
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