The Viola 14 is not a normal Sailing Canoe but a sailing dinghy/canoe hybrid from a Boat Plan. Stability of the sailing dinghy with the storage of a canoe and simplified construction. Article by guest writer and Viola 14 prototype builder Joost Engelen.
Discussion of handling light sailboats such as sailing canoes and how some hull design features promote good sailing manners at higher speeds. Taking pressure away from the sailor by making the boats light and predictable despite rough conditions.
Foiling for the mainstream. Part 1 focussed on the bleeding edge, but that is a minority of sailors. This part reports on work done on foilers that are stable, easy to sail and don’t do dramatic crashes. Boats for the mainstream
All our lug rig information on one page. We have seen the change from the balance lug being almost forgotten to becoming the predominant rig for small self built wooden boat. This was the situation a hundred years ago. We can still use the cheapness and effectiveness of this rig to create boats with very quick and pleasant sailing characteristic.
More photos of Fenwick Williams Catboat built in Strip Plank by David Wilson at Duckflat, Adelaide
A collection of some of our fun projects. Often collaborations. Some turned into production designs and others gave us significant learning!
Who is Foiling and who is Faking. Where is the real technical development? First a glimpse of history before we see who is foiling and how the Moth group solved all the problems. Yes … all of them. America’s cup just leaches off this amazing technical success. It is Trickle Up … not Trickle Down.
“My keel has fallen off” – Ray’s voice on the phone. So he dropped his sails and motored home. He asked me to design a new keel that he could build himself. This article goes through the process of turning a deep keeled boat into a competitive shoal shallow draft boat in a way one builder working by themselves can do.
The BRIO Sailing Marathon is a very competitive sail and paddle event in the Netherlands. Joost and Viola in their Goat Island Skiff went in the 2017 event. Against the specialised boats that enter the event they ended coming in 57th of 139.
The GIS excels at a competive row and sail event. The Caledonia RAID is one of the oldest events of its type. A competitive multi day event that crosses Scotland from West to East including a crossing of Loch Lomond. It tends to attract long and efficient rowing sailing hulls. And here was one of the shortest, simplest and lightest hulls in the fleet punching well above its weight
A Fenwick Williams catboat carefully reinterpreted in Cedar Strip. Includes cleaner structure, optimised foils and a tabernacle rig that allows raising of the mast by one person. Built by David Wilson at Duck Flat Wooden Boats in Adelaide.
How do you rig your Goat Island Skiff or other balance lug rigged boat? This page will be useful for everyone, but specifically assist Goat owners in selection of rope, rope lengths and show all the rigging details. We have also found a number of cheaper ways of doing things from our experience in the Philippines. Halyard, downhaul, outhaul, lashings, rope fittings, rudders, centreboard.
Buying plans in Australia has changed. Duck Flat Wooden Boats in Adelaide are no longer my plans agents. We have alternative arrangements for buying plans as books and plans as PDFs. Duck Flat are growing the Boat Restoration and Repair side of their business.
Planing and downwind speed is a practiced skill. But the 8ft OzRacer and the 12ft OzGoose have strikingly different behavour. Goose planes easily in light wind. OzRacer needs a lot more wind and jumps up and down in speed.
Sailing too fast upwind in a non trapeze dinghy means you lose a lot of pointing angle. So what is the correct compromise between high and slow and low and fast. Explanation involves the increase of drag around hullspeed.
Making a boat light may make the hull distort more thus losing some of the advantage. But is is possible to build light without distortion. The answer is YES.
The Oz Racer led to the Oz Goose. There was discussion about whether the OzRacer would plane and just how light it would be possible to build. Extrapolating from the Moth Scows in Australia I made a guess.
Racing shows that what you know is what you know. It doesn’t matter if the boat is less than perfect. So where is it best to put in the effort to improve results. Boat setup, knowing how to adjust for different wind conditions, practicing skills until they become automatic, sailing as much as possible … and teaching others.
A guide for choosing cheaper alternative rigs. Balance Lug, Standing Lug, Sprit, Lateen and more. These rigs typically save a lot of money over conventional sailplans and set up right offer much the same performance. They respond to the same principles. Are boomless sails OK?
Three times in my life I have gone sailing in small boats without a lifejacket. Two times the boat sank. One time I capsized and found that swimming and trying to get back on the boat is very difficult in FRESH water. Also a hint about how to get kids to wear their lifejackets … wear YOURS!