First detailed sailing report of the Goose 12ft sailboat.
The Oz Goose is a 12ft sailboat derived from the smaller OzRacer/PDRacer/Brick line. It uses all the same running gear as the OzRacer.
The conservative viewpoint is that traditional rigs are not very efficient. However allied to efficient hulls and set up correctly, lug and sprit rigs can be very efficient indeed – not too much slower than “modern” rigs, particularly when the same lessons are applied to trad sails and way cheaper.
This is a WIKI drawn from the group on the Storerboats forum discussions on setting up lug and sprit rigs for best performance building on the information in my webpage.
Jim Post in the USA sent me a USB drive crammed full of building and launch pics of the OZ Goose design – the Big Brother to the OZ Racer (formerly the OZ PDRacer).
Looking forward to some sailing reports!
Reprint of an article I wrote a few years ago for Watercraft magazine in the UK.
The article points out why I think most of the discussion about boat design being a “compromise” is rubbish and taking that point of view means that the design is sure to be compromised.
What happens if we don’t accept the compromise?
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.
Jim Post has built the hull of his PD Goose – a 12ft version of the OZ PDRacer.
He has done a nice job with a couple of nice additions. A seat in the middle and a stylishly angular splashboard on the foredeck. I am dying to hear how it sails!
Winter has been really harsh in North America.
It has even been snowing in Texas – and not just a little bit.
Kenny and family (more north than Texas) are really active on the PDRacer front but like many others are getting cabin fever from being icebound inside their houses.
So during one of the better days … there was boating to be done – but not boating as we know it, Jim.
The discussion on this topic went on.
Dave asked if people would laugh if they saw a PDR sailing in company with something more conventionally shaped.
Luckily I had a video clip to hand.
A little bit of writing how form in boat design seldom follows function in terms of what “looks good”. It was prompted by a discussion about whether the PDR is good looking or not.
My Podcasts on design also cover this idea to a greater depth – they are in the menu at the top of each page.
This podcast/mp3 talks about why Australian (and New Zealand) wooden boatbuilding is different from the rest of the world..
Click to listen to the talk. This is the third of three.
This is the second of my talks in the USA. It focuses a bit more on construction and some of the methods that can be used to keep a boat light and simple, but very strong and stiff.
It also discusses how there is a “creep” in boatbuilding and design that increases the weight of boats way over what is really needed for a strong structure.
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.
We have moved much of our activity to the Facebook Groups. See the links in the Menu above. But there are so many great questions asked and discussed on the Oz Woodwork Forums..
Any paint or varnish can be turned into a non skid paint without buying anything more than some coarse grain sugar. The texture provides good footing and has no sharpness that will hurt your feet.
Dan Taylor in Washington State, USA emailed me to provide pics of the lug rig alternative for the Oz Racer. The sail looks very nice indeed and the light wind and a perfect sunny day were the other necessary ingredients.
