Small Reach Regatta 2013

Sailing and Rowing Elyssa, a 22' dory in Muscongus Bay

Hog Island, Maine

This year's SRR is much anticipated. After several years at Lamoine State Park, the venue has moved to the Audubon Camp on Hog Island. I'll be crewing a 22' boat for which I built the spars, Paul Rollins built the boat, and Roger Long designed the boat. She is called a Yawldory and is named Elyssa by owner Susie Downs.

22' Yawldory Elyssa getting prepared for the 2013 Small Reach Regatta

This year we have 57 boats registered! They range from 15' to 22', all boats that can row or sail, most trailerable. Boats in my catalog that would be perfect for the SRR include the Caravelle Skiff (14'), http://clintchaseboatbuilder.blogspot.com/p/daysailers.html (14'), Deblois Street Dory (18'), and the http://clintchaseboatbuilder.blogspot.com/p/rowboats.html (17'). The Goat Island Skiff (16') is also a great choice. The key features are that the boat be safe and seaworthy, at least 14', and be able to row or sail depending on conditions.

Having Elyssa in the shop has been a great learning experience. I've wanted to gain more hours sailing a sprit-ketch rigged boat, and this will certainly satisfy that requirement. The company is great, the weather is forecast to be nearly perfect, and we have new, exciting cruising grounds to explore. Check back in a week for the report.

Location of 2013 SRR

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Jewell Wrapping Up

French and Webb is in the final couple weeks of the Jewell project. I look forward to getting up to Belfast to see her. Judge for yourself: how does she look from where you sit?

Jewell nearly ready to launch. That sheer has me feeling very happy.

Rigging

The rigging is the latest project and I've been fielding some questions. Sorting out rigging takes time. My approach is to get her rigged so she is functional for sea trials. I don't spend a huge amount of time on eye splices, aesthetics, and making things perfect until sea trials are done. An example is the mizzen on Jewell. The boom is to be lashed to the sail at the clew. At the heel of the sprit is a rounded slot. A couple ways to rig this: 1) snotter line is made off to mast with a thumb cleat to locate it, then is led through slot, and aft to a cleat on the boom. 2) snotter line is made off first at slot on heel, then is led around aft side of mast (thumb cleat to locate line) and then down to a cleat on the mast. Until sea trials, I simply don't know which will work best for Jewell. So, instead of making fancy lines and splices and line whippings and the like, I'll use the same line left extra long, and use bowline knots, and hose clamps to hold cleats until I have finished sea trials. Then I'll know what works well and can finish off the rigging, paying more attention to my splicing knowing it won't change. It takes 3 seasons to dial in a new boat's rigging. So, to say things won't change is wishful thinking. I've learned a great deal from a few resources:

• David Nichols Guide to traditional boat rigging
• Iain Oughtred did a series of articles on sprit and lug rigs in WoodenBoat. Use the WoodenBoat Index to search for these.
• John Leather Gaff Rig handbook

Rigging is part of the fun of designing, building, and using small boats on the coast of Maine! 

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Growing this Blog

I've always liked black backgrounds to websites...the pictures really pop. But the lettering is not great. I'll be trying different looks.

Note the tabs along top. The boat pages from my website will be going up here.

As I make changes here and add pages, please give me feedback. Thanks!

Jewell is coming along nicely at French & Webb.

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Changes in Website

This July 4th break from teaching has me working in the website. I will be porting over completely to my blog. In other words, when finished www.clintchaseboatbuilder.com will lead the web surfer to this blog which will carry the same URL. I'll have pages on the blog to capture information about my kits. I look forward to the transition as it will allow me to focus on one website, which I hope will lead to more traffic.

My website may "go out" for a little while during my transition. I won't leave you high and dry like this boat in Great Bay, NH. This is not one of my kit boats!

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Last week I finally got up to the Belfast area to see Jewell. This one is the first US built hull, so it is exciting for me having spent the last couple years collaborating with the designer, Francois Vivier, to work out a boat that would be popular for our market here in the USA and Canada, be fun to sail for weekend warriors as well as families, and not be terribly complicated or expensive to build.

Jewell hull #2 under construction in Belfast, Maine.

I mentioned in the last post that sometimes when you go from virtual to physical reality with a boat design, somethings don't look or feel quite the same. But with Jewell, she is exactly as we wanted her to look and feel. The lines are great, her proportions are great, and the boat will be roomy for a 20-footer, or 19'8" to be exact. In the photo above you can see the transom. Here is one of two pieces of custom SS parts to be fabricated, the rudder housing...

Rudder head for Jewell

The bulkheads and planking in the kit went together without any fuss and all the inside components have already been check for fit. Things drop right into place on the inside. We're working out some details regarding limber holes and placement of hatches and the plans will reflect those changes. Pretty soon the rig will be going up and Jewell will sail.

Regarding sails and hardware, an extensive list has already been made based on the dozens of boats Mr. Vivier has rigged. His specialty is gaff rigged boats and, while the yawl is new for his catalog, it is one of my specialties. Sails are made by our favorite Maine sailmaker and the custom hardware like the rudderhead can also be made here in maine and shipped out to a kit builder anywhere in the US or Canada.

Email me if you are interested at boatkits@gmail.com

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Jewell is progressing at French & Webb for their Maine based client who will use her on lakes and ocean. I'll be heading up to video the turnover in a week or so. The kit we cut is going together beautifully.

Here is Chris after the garboard is attached.

And the planking is done. Those patches are the scarfs that are being faired with putty. The box keel is visible, filled with lead in the forward portion.

Speaking of scarfs, they are cut on the CNC machine and come with the kits. I recently visited MultiCAM Northeast and we played. Here is a video of the morning I spent there. We cut an NC scarf.

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The Jewell Project: Virtual Reality becomes Physical Reality

These days I spend more time building boats in the computer than in real life. So, it is highly satisfying when I see a boat becoming the real thing.

A Mainer from Norway, Maine has commissioned his own Jewell. It is being built from my kit by French & Webb in Belfast, Maine for a summer launch.

After years of planning and design, we have gone from this virtual set up:

To this set up "in the flesh":

All bulkheads are CNC cut plywood. Their shapes come directly from the model you see in the screenshot. When designs are made in 3D CAD, the objects are actually lofted in full-size. In other words, the model is not a "scale-model" but rather a full-size model in 1:1. Once modeled, each bulkhead is simply flattened onto a virtual 2D surface and the outlines are duplicated and nested on 4x8 virtual sheets of plywood. The CNC cutter than programs the machine to follow theses lines and voila! a bulkhead is directly cut.No lofting by hand, no tracing lines onto wood, cutting with a jigsaw (but not too close to the line!), and high accuracy and repeat ability. The downside, I suppose, is that some feel satisfaction cutting their own parts. But even pro builders know their is more satisfaction in getting a boat launched in good time and greater accuracy. This Jewell will be a 3-month build. Lofting and cutting your own parts would result in another month of work.

Keep track of the Jewell project here, on my facebook page, or on my website.

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