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.
Prefabrication of flat pack panels for “Instant” sailboat – Oz Goose
Kits are CNC cut including 3D milling for the foils.
It is a Maritime College. Philippines supplies more seafarers than any other country.
First section was to do all the flat fabrication. Here Stern Transoms in plywood have their framing attached.
Centreboard case party
Foils – rudder and centreboards are 3D milled and then glassed saving a great deal of time.
3D Milled foils are fibreglassed.
9 Oz Goose Sailboats become 3D in an afternoon.
The grand assembly starts. Once it starts the boats appear very quickly. Here 9 boats in an afternoon.
Epoxy Mixing Station. We have found it necessary to keep one or two people measuring and mixing epoxy. Otherwise the mixing is not great and large parts of the boat will have sticky patches which hold up the work.
Trial assembly Wednesday night. The Cadets want to see how the boats look.
Success. Boats are dry assembled with drywall/plasterboard screws to make sure there are no problems. Panels are then disassembled and glue added before reassembly into the same screw holes.
Happy Cadets!
Checking the alignment of the centrecase with the centreline. And the side tank panels with the reference line on the bottom panel. This is what pulls the boat so it is straight. The right angled ply of the bottom ensure the transoms are square to the sides.
There is a method in the madness :)
Decks are on and trimming down the ply. Also cutting out the centrecase top and bottom holes and mast partner hole.
Rigging the Oz Goose – the single most important performance factor
Last two days we get a team onto rigging sails. They have to learn how to do every aspect before we leave.
Bad rigging and a sailing dinghy can’t achieve its sailing potential.
To see our rigging page for low cost lug rigs see here.
To see a video on rigging the Oz Goose see here
Groups are good because it means everyone can remember part of the method. These cadets are excellent team workers for the most part.
Rigging the Oz Geese – main college building in the background.
Most important aspects are the halyard cleated off properly and enough downhaul tension – until the downhaul sings when twanged. Without that amount of tension the luff will be too loose and the boat will not go well to windward (or may be unable to sail to windward at all.
And that is a problem if home and shore is upwind!
A 3000 year Nautical tradition and large trading ships 1000 years old found not far from college.
This region is significant as a number of large trading sailboats 1000 years old have been unearthed not far from the college – the Balangay (Bal-ang-hay) trading boats. They are recorded as going as far as China and the Indian Ocean.
I don’t think the sailing culture is quite dead. Many people remember the beaches being full of sailboats 20 or 30 years ago. And there are probably knowledgeable Lolos and Lolas (Grandfathers and Grandmothers) who have done countless miles under sail in the community.
Certainly only a few years from losing that knowledge.
Hitting the Beach and getting the Oz Goose Sailboats sailing with the Cadets from the Maritime College
Boats on the beach waiting for official launching.
The numbers show the number of total Oz Goose sailboats launched in the Philippines. There are nother 10 boats still in flatpack that the college students will assemble. The college will have 20 boats. And bring the total number in the Philippines up to around 74.
They are checking their rigging and each other’s rigging before I do.
Already starting to do a good job!
Cool busy feeling as boats go out and come in. Only minor errors this day.
Following day there is a collision with minor damage to one boat and a big hole in another. Big advantage of ply construction is that the repair will probably only take a few hours and the boat will be as good as new.
No instructors on this boat. The Cadets are under control and heading upwind.
So many happy faces – we have dozens of photos like this :)
Why the Oz Goose for Collegiate sailing in the Philippines?
- Cost – 10 boats for the cost of importing one Laser
- Capacity – good sailing response with three adults aboard
- Performance – lightness and big sail means the boats are quick for body hiked 12ft dinghies with true planing performance
- Easy building – local materials and inexperienced builders can build efficient boats.
