Why Plywood breaks – Real wood for Centreboards and Rudders
One recurring problem with plywood foils, centreboards, leeboards and rudders is that over time they tend to break unexpectedly.
One recurring problem with plywood foils, centreboards, leeboards and rudders is that over time they tend to break unexpectedly.
Centrecase Padding reduces centreboard maintenance by protecting the sliding surfaces of rudderbox or Leeboard case on sailing dinghies. We look at low cost ways for padding the centrecase to reduce foil wear and tear.
A good centreboard or leeboard is as important as a good sail. We use a simple templates for quick and accurate shaping. Making without the templates … several were feeling that they couldn’t make them to a greater accuracy than 1/16th of an inch.
A discussion about basic pros and cons for swinging centreboards. And dagger centreboards. Centre Board means the board is in the centre. Which is different from a Lee board which is too the side.
On an exciting sailing day I was tired from hiking and bailing. How to rest while a DIY Electric Pump for Sail boats emptied the water.
Goat Island Skiff group has developed a faster reefing system for cruising dinghies. No special fittings are needed so quick cheap and simple
Chasse Maree magazine published an interview with Michael “The quest for performance is not a matter of materials, it’s a state of mind” Translated by Christine deMerchant
Brushes, Squeegees and Rollers all have advantages and disadvantages for boatbuilding epoxy coating. This explains and provides useful tips.
How common are Epoxy Resin allergies and what are there strategies for reducing the chance of building an allergy? I will discuss building strategies, materials choices and useful production work practices.
Make excellent and accurate foils (centreboard, leeboard, keel or rudder blade) adding way more performance for not much effort and no cost – series
Controlling sail twist on any boat is critical for performance. Here we describe two methods for getting more performance all round and safer handling downwind.
It is not difficult to build a hydrofoil stabilised dinghy – Also a model for information sharing so everyone is not always reinventing the wheel
Read Jenő’s experience with the Viola 14 sailing canoe which is Michael Storer’s latest design – the second and the third boats were built in Hungary by two members of the Hungarian Amateur Boatbuilding community (hajoepitok.hu).
Early design work. Ketch and Yawl version Norwalk Island Sharpie 18ft. Prompted by development of mast tabernacles and folded mast overhang
Sailboat for Sale – an extraordinary, light plywood sailing dinghy. This is a prototype of the S12 sailing dinghy built with gaboon ply and full epoxy gluing and sealing. A project needing its conclusion.
Big increase in upwind sailing performance and an easier way to teach beginners to sail upwind in medium to strong conditions. They end up being able to handle stronger winds with more confidence as well as sail faster.
Why explained. My most popular design is the Goat Island Skiff a light plywood planing sailing dinghy that is devastatingly fast in most conditions – not so surprising when you realise a lot of the development was because of racing dinghy advances but intended to avoid the skyrocketing costs of sailing participation.
The BRIO RAID was on last weekend and two sailing canoes participated finishing extremely well outright on handicap – both leading for a substantial part of the races at different times in a fleet of 150 boats
Just back from Butuan, Mindanao, Philippines where the PHBYC group I belong to has helped college students build 10 Oz Goose sailboats to initiate collegiate sailing at the fraction of the cost of commercially available boats.
College build 20 boats – The PHBYC yearly boatbuilding program is 20 Oz Goose sailboats to start a sailing curriculum for the Cadet training. These are young engineers.