Products, designs, opinions and concepts on this page have passed the first taste as being worthy of your attention. I cannot however take responsiblity for the eventual outcome of purchasing, using or incorporting any of these.
THE ACHIEVEABLE DESIGN QUEST
The question of practical and achieveable ( read very cheap ) blue water cruisers comes up in discussion quite regularly. If you were to ask a ? Yacht Club? member, and remember that New Zealand Yacht Clubs are pretty egalitarian in their membership, for a boat that fits the common perception of a suitable boat for going foreign from here the dollar signs would come to about three years pay for a very well employed skilled worker. And that is second hand!
FOR ALL YOU BLIND PEOPLES OUT THERE HERE ARE THE NUMBERS
Lateral Area 51.01. 02"
Length of Water Line 244"
Prismatic Coeff 0.61
Buttock angle 24.5 deg
Disp Hull Speed 6.04kt
D/L ration 240
S/L ratio 1.50
D/L limited speed 6.77 kt
Waterline height 39.9in
Displacement 4514lbs
Displaced Vol 72.44 ft3
Centre of Buoyancy Z 162.2 in
Centre of Buoyancy Y 30.5 in
Center of Lateral Area Z 164.0 in
Center of Lateral Area Y 23.5in
Lateral area 51.01ft2"
Just one of the strange things that happen with boats. The day Lew's article was prepared for the website I saw this picture on the wall at a friend's house. Somehow it just seems to fit..... Dave
Every boat design begins someplace. This one began at the steering station of a Viking longship replica called Islendingur, during her visit to New York. Hence, the above-water profile which is so obviously pinin' for the fjords, offering protection for the helmsman and keeping things dryish in a pitching situation. Below water, she's a reasonably modern hull with a long, shallowish keel, on order to go readily to windward, and to be trailerable on occasion - two things which longboats, for all their amazing abilities, just didn't do.
The compactness of the cockpit derives partly from the canoe stern, and partly from the Viking-inspired off-center rudder. Halfway between a modern centered rudder and an ancient steerboard, it is simple to build and places the helmsman in the secure triangle aft, without adding the complexity of a steering wheel and associated hardware. It is housed in a, oh call it a binnacle, which obliterates the starboard third of the cockpit, and the tiller extends from here towards port, in front of the helm seat; you push it forward to steer to port, aft to steer to starboard.. A settee to port gives lying-down room to the crew and an alternate place to steer from.
The top of the binnacle is flush with the deck, which the Vikingurs didn't use but then I'm not a Vike. The deck thus runs, on 24feet LOA, some 20 feet along the starboard rail, but only about 15 feet back to port. Between the centered companionway hatch and the mast is room to stow an 8' dink amidships, with useful sidedeck on either side; or, if you prefer (and Our Heroes just might) you could stow a kayak or canoe (canoe or Canadian canoe to some) along the starboard rail, lying on its port side I presume - come to think of it, a shorter one to port is possible too. Lifelines and stanchions at the rails complete the safety arrangements for deckwalkers.
Below, there is well over 3' of headroom to scoot around in, and some good flats on the floorboards to camp on. At sea, the port and starboard mattresses form good sea berths, fitted with leecloths for rough moments. Seating is cross-legged on the berths, and meals are eaten... informally. In port, the berth sides are removed and the port mattress is humped over to make a reasonably spacious double bed. As the Talmud says: when love is strong, a couple can make their bed on the blade of a sword; when love is weak is bed of 60 cubits will not suffice. Why am I mixing Babylonian Jewish tradition with a Viking boat for a trip to Fiji? Because I can. In any case, this bed is just a hair under three cubits wide, so Our Heroes had better be of the former category. In later, more sedate days, they can fit traditional bunks if they like, and - who knows? - maybe even a dinette. Stranger things have happened, don'tcha know. Alternately, they could sacrifice the aisle by inserting a mattress strip to make the bed cover the full width of the sole. "Aisle" space is about a foot, which makes for close quarters even when sleeping port & starboard, but the flare of the hull provides a wider aisle if you raise the bunks. For better security underway, the mattresses could be placed on simple ply flats, angled outboard, supported by tabs on the bunksides.
Aft of the port, er, berth is a minimalist galley with a large window above to let in some light. Aft of the starboard sleeping bag is a curtained potty chamber, portathingy drawn but permanent fixtures allowable, with a bulkhead on its forward side to give the starboard sleeper a break. It is vented back and out, and a removable panel aft gives access into the binnacle and the rudderpost for repair or emergency steering from inside while a smallish window on the boat's side provides light. Similar deadlight ports are specified above both berths, and another forward. When in double-bed mode, you scoot to port through the galley area in order to go forward below. It would be nice to separate the head from the galley, but all in all they're handier near the companionway and venting is better there, too. It's a compromise.
Forward below is defined by the mast, which protrudes down to the keel just at the foot of the port mattress in double-bed mode. Forward of this is an area which I completely copped out on, labelling it simply "storage to suit." After adventuring alone together, Our Heroes could add a small V-berth for the spawnings to sleep in. A hawser runs up to the deck, doubling as a vent, for the anchor rode which is stowed "to suit." A second hatch would be nice up here, although I haven't drawn one. This area could be made into a workshop, a more private head, or anything else "to suit." The forward upsweep will help keep the vent dry.
-Lew Clayman, lew_clayman@yahoo.com
The deck is drawn flat athwartships. Certainly some crown would help, and would not greatly complicate matters. I just got lazy is all, that's all it means.
The sailplan is a tad unusual, even for this mishmash of influences. The mast is forward more than is typical, and the center of lateral area is further aft than usual owing to the backswept fin. Specified for solid softwood, 5"x8" and rounded, a similar size in aluminium would be viable given the right thickness. The sail is sharply peaked aft in order to create proper balance. I would have liked to use a more rectangular lug in order to mimic a Viking squaresail to some degree, but it didn't work out. I considered a mizzen, but didn't like how it interacted with the stern upsweep. I believe that a crabclaw, to bring in at least one Pacific influence, would balance well but I am inexperienced with the rig and felt uncomfortable with it for that reason. The rig as drawn is no speed demon, but it's easy to sail singlehanded and it's no slouch neither. It's the least satisfactory feature, in my view, but it'll work ok.
There is no engine specified, although one could be fitted under the cockpit at some loss of stowage. Probably more appropriate is to add an outboard right aft. A removable panel - or better still a hinged one - in the stern upsweep would provide access. The details I rather irresponsibly leave as a challenge for the reader. Note that the off-center rudder means that it and the motor will not foul each other.
Construction is of ply-on-frame, all off-the-shelf materials. Sheathing is carefully worked out so that no board in excess of 4'x8' is necessary, that being the standard size where I'm writing from. If a slightly smaller standard exists at the point of building, I am confident that a few tweaks would suffice.
The hull and deck are to be built of 3/4" exterior ply. Slightly thinner would do, so don't sweat the odd millimetre. Frames at 12" centers are to be square section, 1.5" x 1.5" - again, a little oversized.
Did I leave out anything important? Probably. I'm an amateur, and frankly a pretty green one. I know I've left some details unspecified (hey Lew buddy, how do you connect the keel onto the hull, huh? Will 1500# of ballast really fit in the keel, or dies it need to be thicker? Dude, did you really work the keel out completely?) But that's life in the fast lane for ya. :-)
Consider it a "Design Concept" and let me off the hook, that's nice of you, thanks.
John Welsford's Comments
Lovely Plumage, A Viking in America.
They say that the Norwegian raiders made it right across to the eastern seaboard of the USA , whether they were chasing someone or were themselves being chased by bigger and fiercer Vikings we will never know and as we think some of them never made it home I imagine that there will be a few Native Americans with odd DNA in their ancestry. However some of the spirit must still be there as when asked to produce a design for the “Affordable Cruiser “ feature for this month American Lew Clayman came up with a design that has a lot of Norwegian as well as some Yankee ingenuity in its pedigree.
I had asked for some lateral thinking hoping for ideas as different from my Willow Pattern design as possible, and not only was Stuart Reid's “MOA “ a very good start to the series of “Invited Designs”, but Lew has taken the thinking off in another completely different direction. I guess the the Vikings were roaming around England doing their raping and pillaging bit a for quite a while so surmise that in spite of a name that reeks of old England Lew himself might have some of the old Norse independence in his heritage too.
“ Lovely Plumage” is great, she fits the brief to a tee, would be pretty quick and easy to build, the local lumberyard would supply almost all of the materials, is small enough to fit the space specified and I think would surprise a lot of people with her sailing performance.
I like the standing lugsail, there is certainly a lot of performance for the dollar in a rig like this, it is powerful and easily handled. In fact it is not far removed from some of the rigs shown in “Inshore Craft Of Norway” which shows what must be the ultimate development of the Viking square sail.
Three rows of reef points would be about right and I would though be inclined to add to the rig a storm trysail on Dutch lashings rather than a track, and keep it in a sailbag tacked down at the foot of the mast, I’d make it just big enough to give her steering way in a blow so that the crew didn’t have to fight to get some drive out of a sail which would be flailing the yard and boom about pretty violently when trying to get the last reef in.
I’d not expect her to be close winded in the context of todays racing yachts, they tell me that the current Americas Cuppers get the wind down to an apparent wind angle of about 12 deg which defies imagination but this should tack through about 100 deg which would sail circles around Captain Cooks Endeavour. Its all Relative.
I would though be inclined to add to the rig a storm trysail on Dutch lashings rather than a track, and keep it in a sailbag tacked down at the foot of the mast, I’d make it just big enough to give her steering way in a blow so that the crew didn’t have to fight to get some drive out of a sail which would be flailing the yard and boom about pretty violently when trying to get the last reef in.
The hullform is interesting to say the least, I thought at first that she was a bit lean forward but on reflection that bow overhang would stop her trimming too much bow down as she heels, and if you sketch, as I did the buttock and waterlines you'll see that she is very slippery and should carry quite a load without suffering , an important attribute in a small boat destined for a distant shore.
I expect that she will run straight and be easy on the helm except perhaps at speed downwind. I myself would swell the deckline forward to ease the intersection of the topside and bottom panel at the chine so the waterflow around there was easier with her bow pressed down by the force of her rig, note though that this boat will not noticeably exceed her hull speed as the ends are steep, a characteristic that might give her a good average speed but which limits her top speed so she will need to not be pushed too fast reaching or running. Not a bad thing as a planing hull is very weight sensitive Sail her at a comfortable speed and you’d be surprised how fast you get there.
The accommodation is as per the brief, enough, and not much more. A flat space to lie, a place to cook, a place for a portable head, and some storage. But what more do you need? The brief did not specify hot and cold running with gold plated taps and Lew has produced just what we asked for. Enough, no complications to build or pay for, and in the water and gone long before the more complex boat would be completed.
His vision of sitting in the angle of the sternpost with the multi purpose binnacle in front of you and the tiller across to the steerboard is a good one. Push the tiller away for turn to port and pull toward the body for starboard. Same as normal really except you face the way you are going, no crick in the neck and no changing sides thus spilling your drink when you tack.
Easy to build, yes definitely! There is not a lot of her, the shape looks a bit unusual to an eye used to differently styled craft, but the ply panels would lay around easily, the flush deck is simple as is the cockpit including the binnacle, the Keel is simple and I am sure Lew that one way or another the ballast volume could be accommodated . To keep it all on you’d need to have some reinforcing in the interior, say at 12 in intervals laminate 3 inch wide x 1/2in thick ( remember Lew's country is the last redoubt of the archaic imperial measurements so we wont translate that. I do know that he speaks metric but his softward doesn't.) Doublers out to the chine and cover them with two layers of 10 oz biax cloth in epoxy, then drop two half inch bolts right through each down through the assembly including the lead.
If that goes anywhere I’d be surprised.
Her keel would give more than enough lateral plane to hang on well to windward while not being too deep, it gives the ability to dry out against a pile or wharf for maintenance, protects the steerboard to a degree, and hugely stiffens the hull structure.
As I said, I asked for lateral thinking, and tried hard not to influence the invited designers too much in the brief, and I am delighted with Lew's submission. I can see no reason why it would not do the job, and when compared with Stuart Reid's Moa in last months issue, and my own Willow Pattern she is simpler, I would expect quite a lot cheaper to build, comfortable enough for our outdoorsy camping and tramping couple and I suspect no slug under sail.
Good one Lew. When are you going to build one?
John Welsford.
Comments from Gavin Atkin
'Most retro boats have a number of recognisable old fashioned details mixed with more modern hulls, materials and so on - but what Lew has in Lovely Plumage is strikingly different - Viking boat details rather than, say, a
late 19th Century sharpie, a south-coast English fishing boat or a Breton pilot boat.
'I think it's a radical design, likely to be dry with ends that will turn a sea away, and likely to self right. Well done Lew.
'I'm sort of disappointed in the rig though, in that I feel it's likely to be a handful because of its size, and because it's quite a long way from a Viking ship's rig. Had you thought of using a smaller two-masted rig something like that seen in the Brendan? You might think it more in keeping.
'Also, how's the helm going to see anything in a busy stretch of water or a harbour with that might prow in the way? Easy, give them something to lean out on, and a mirror on the other side. Problem solved.
Cheers, Gavin'
FIRST LAW OF SURVIVAL GAV
"If you don't know what it is, stay out of its way"
Dave
