Little Gem, a C12

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swidm
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Post by swidm »

Finally got a few pictures of her on the water on Lake Hartwell. She has a new mast laminated out of two 2X which has a bigger diameter with no taper than the old mast. The old mast bent a little too much for my comfort but the new one seems a lot more stiff. I also eliminated the tabernacle trading ease of setup for more confidence on the water. I am currently making a birdsmouth mast which should be lighter for ease setting up.

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Cracker Larry
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Post by Cracker Larry »

That is a beautifully built little sail boat! Excellent!

But if I may say so, it has one minor detraction...
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The lettering. You have a beautiful custom boat, and Walmart stick on letters and numbers :doh: Have you considered some custom graphics for the name and registration numbers?

Vman77 (David) on the list here can fix you up with some lettering that will compliment the rest of your quality work. He's been doing some nice stuff for my new build. It would make a boat load of difference.

Not trying to be critical, just my thoughts. Nice work :!:
Completed GF12 X 2, GF16, OD18, FS18, GF5, GF18, CL6
"Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made." -Robert N. Rose

MadRus
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Post by MadRus »

Really like the changes you've made. I'm seriously eyeing this boat as a next build. I wish you'd had more wind for some more great sailing shots.

Looks very similar to the style of this boat...

http://www.buzzardsbayboatshop.com/

... which I like very much. Keep us updated on the different masts.

swidm
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Post by swidm »

You are right, Cracker Larry, new lettering for the boat is on my list. In fact, I need names for all three boats that I own! I have a 12' dory that I made to my own plans that my wife cristened "Plum Crazy" and my plastic MacGregor 26D which is name Sabbatical. I have a member of my sailing club that makes real nice lettering so I really don't have an excuse! :doh: I may be seeing him this weekend so...

MadRus, thanks for the compliments on my boat. I to am dying to get some pictures of her under sail especially given how good her performance has repeatedly proven to be. I have the new birdsmouth mast all glued up and I am in the process of planing her round. So far the birdsmouth mast is nice, straight, and even stiffer than my new solid laminated mast. I cant wait to finish it and weight it to compare to the solid mast.

plumbertuck
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Post by plumbertuck »

great looking boat !
look at the janet evanovich web site for "plum crazy" stickers, she is one of my wifes favorite authors, with a character named stephanie plum
man now I wanna build a sailboat
I have some friends that have a place over near milltown campground up there on hartwell, If I get my od up there I will have to look yall up
good luck !
welcome to the home of the 80 grit rodeo

swidm
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Racing the C12

Post by swidm »

Thought I would post the results of two small boat races I have participated in for my sailing club. One race was informal and the other was official but for both my main competition was a member who was sailing a sunfish with fairly new sails. This member has also been sailing this same sunfish for 20 years so has a lot more experience with it than my boat.

I used the Portsmouth ratings for the Penguin of around 1.21 as suggested by Jacques. The sunfish has a rating of around 1.00. The first race (informal one) we had winds around 8-12mph. While we were fairly evenly matched on speed, the sunfish was quicker to accellerate and held its speed a little better when the wind slacked off. However, I was able to sail closer to the wind than the sunfish. Annecdotal evidence is that the rating of 1.21 might be too generous.

The second race (actually 2 races) was an official event with committee boat, bouy's and everything. The only thing we really didn't have much of at all was wind. Both races the sunfish finished ahead of me but I easily adjusted above him using the Penguin's rating. The second race I was fairly close behind. His ability to accelerate and coast better helped in light air as did his lengthy experience with his boat.

As a result of both of these races my club has decided to take measurements and try to calculate the handicap for my C12. I will be very interested to see the outcome.

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Cracker Larry
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Post by Cracker Larry »

They always do that when you beat them :roll:
Completed GF12 X 2, GF16, OD18, FS18, GF5, GF18, CL6
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swidm
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Post by swidm »

I have made three masts for Little Gem. My first mast was recycled from a previous boat and served well with the standing lug rig. I tried it with a tabernacle for the gaff sail with its longer luff but it had too much bend in it and I was worried about the sturdiness of the tabernacle given the mast is too far forward for shrouds. I made a larger diameter second mast laminated out of 2X4's and it worked well but I was bothered by a warp in the mast. I wanted to try the birdsmouth method for making a hollow mast so I made a third mast that is 3/8" larger diameter and wound up being a lot stiffer but the same weight.

These pictures shows mast #2 on the right and #3 on the left.
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Here is mast 3 on the boat it is stiff enough that I am going to eliminate the forestay.

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gk108
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Post by gk108 »

#3 is a fine looking mast. How did the process of making a birdsmouth mast compare with the laminated one?
CC, D15, V10

swidm
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Post by swidm »

It was an interesting learning process to say the least. I cut out the staves for the mast out of a 16' spruce 2X10 using a table saw. The birdsmouth mast requires two 45 degree cuts on one edge of the stave which can be challenging to get perfect on a table saw so I ended up cutting a few extra staves. I then planed and belt-sanded a taper in at both ends. After I finished, PAR posted over at messing-about the idea of not making the birdsmouth symetrical:

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Once I got the staves cut then I had the fun of trying to heard them all together into a mast shape. I found this impossible to do until I built a form using plywood nesting frames. I used thickened epoxy to glue everything together and it was very hectic getting it all together before the epoxy went off. I used shock cord wrapped around the mast to clamp everything together. I didn't glue everything together though. I left two joints unglued so I could split the mast in half to insert plugs at the foot and head to reinforce where the mast goes through the deck and for attachment points at the top of the mast. When I did split the mast apart I saw plenty of squeezed out epoxy on the inside which indicated good joints though there were some gaps on the outside that I later filled with thickened epoxy. I then glued everything together. The final step was rounding the mast which I did with a hand plane.

I was very pleased with the results especially the stiffness which was a lot greater than the solid mast. Much greater than the 3/8" greater diameter would account for. Must be the alternating grain in the staves.[/img]

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