Montana built D5

[bratzcpa]

Well - - - - the dinghy is in the water and hard at work. We used it as a tender on our recent trip on the Pacific Ocean - near the town of Tofino, British Columbia, Canada.




After we got home, I've been working on the rest of the sailing rig. We took it for a test "sail" last night and found that it works great. With the wind over 10 knots, though, it gets pretty wet - lots of splashing from the bow. I'll post some sailing pictures (in action) after this upcoming weekend.

I also have some leakage. I've inspected the outside of the hull very carefully and am (mostly) certain that everything there is super water-tight. I am pretty sure it's coming from the centerboard trunk. It looks very good where the trunk joins the bottom of the hull . . . but I think the problem must be "inside" the little skinny opening where the centerboard slides, probably in one of the corners. I'm planning to mix up a batch of fairly thin (runny) wood flour/epoxy/putty and find some way of applying that in the corners (all four vertical corners).

mark

[bratzcpa]

Well - - - out and about with the sailing rig. Yesterday was really quite windy (doesn't look it in the pictures), and the D5 did great. It doesn't (obviously) slice through the water like a typical sail boat would, but rather kinda "plows" through it, or "over" it. Wind was up to 15 mph or so.

Here are a few pictures of the D5 (named "Zingy Dinghy" in action:

[Charlie]

Your sail is positioned so the center of effort is too far to the rear by about one foot.
The pilot should sit in the middle so the boat trims closer to level. The rear transom should be up out of the water as much as possible because it causes drag.
When you get it all together you do this.But you can't be hanging onto the sail cause you have to hang onto the boat.

[bratzcpa]

thanks for the feedback on the sailing position. I didn't notice the way it was tilted back in the water (bow high) when out there, but now that you point it out . . . . it's obvious.

Next spring, I'll try and sit a little closer to the mid seat.

Do you have any more pictures of your sailboat underway?

markb

[Charlie]

Here's the whole gallery;
http://gallery.bateau2.com/thumbnails.php?album=343
You have to keep in mind boats this short are slow. They are slow going from A to B and they they lose speed fast when you are manuevering to change tacks. So things like trim become much more impotant than they would in a bigger boat.
Also, you will be very busy if you get caught in a high wind situation. One hand is needed to control the sail and the other the tiller. My sail is much smaller than yours but in a stiff breeze I can be very busy keeping the boat headed for my destination and staying upright. Even with two belays the sheet can pull so hard it cuts off the circulation in my fingers. With your larger sail you'll have to figure out how to hang it and what kind of tackle you'll need to keep control of it. It looks like a Sunfish sail so that woud be a place to look for rigging.