This boat was intended to be a minimal river and open water racer for two lightweight experienced sailors (or one larger one) – big sail for the fluctuating conditions, light enough to plane consistently and cartop portable – it was also based on the Oz Goose built with incredible attention to detail. It requires a small amount of work to complete.
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.
Joost Engelen has provided another hugely useful file for setting up the lug rig on the Viola 14 canoe.
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.
Crazy speed difference between 8ft and 12ft version of same boat. A resizing that worked beyond all expectations and taught us something about the limitations of conventional thinking about hullforms and performance
When a boat owner considers upgrading their boat to make it safer and get more performance, often the first thought is for new sails which is expensive, but a cheap hack is to improve the foils (centreboard or leeboard) which might take little more than a couple of weekends and cost around 50 bucks.
Careful documentation most construction steps in building the plywood Viola 14 Sailing Canoe Hull – a sailing canoe with sailing dinghy stability and excellent performance.
There are at least two Viola 14 sailing canoes on the way, here are some update photos before the decks go on of the boat being built by Steve Schleicher – he will be going for the balance lug rig.
The C-Class Wingsail Catamarans of my youth. I walked out of the house we rented and what did I see? Helios 2 designed by Lock Crowther.
Cost of lug sails on unstayed masts is so much cheaper than stayed sloop rigs – and the lug sails take only a few minutes to rig and unrig.
Owner: I am not much interested in racing, but there is no motor mount on this boat, and there never will be. I hate rowing, so the boat has to be able to take me where I want to go under sail. The foils were the first step-this sail completes the journey. :)
What is the best way to tow a tender behind a larger yacht or motorboat? And how does the Goat Island Skiff go as a towed tender?
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.
I found myself at Foiling Week 2018 in Sydney. There are two groups involved in foiling with a large gulf between them. The out and out high expense group who see themselves as the future of sailing. The other group is much more interesting to me as it looks at the stability and handling advantages of foiling which are only just starting to be explored.
Dennis, in Sydney, has been blitzing around in his beautifully built Beth sailing canoe for well over a decade. He now has to reluctantly let go of this lovely looking boat. It really is for experienced dinghy sailors, but is rewarding to sail and easier on the bod than a Laser!
A particularly beautiful BETH sailing Canoe Kanangra Launched in South Australia. Also some lug sail setup information
