I'm very proud to announce the launching of my C12 "Kanevedenn" (a briton word to say "rainbow").
Here are some pictures and comments.
The pictures first :
And the comments.
The boat :
I've made a couple of changes to the original plans :
- the most visible is the addition of the gunwales for both comfort and aesthetic (although I know that Jacques said in an other post time ago that he doesn't like them ...)
- also visible is the pivoting rudder
- the mast partner seat has been extended a bit forward to allow for enough flottation volume to comply with the french legal requirement (see pictures)
- I've also added a boom vang and a cunnigham. The fist has proved to be very usefull when before the wind as the shrouds are (as per plan) not enough far behind the mast. The downhaul is then required to "close" the sail leech and to prevent the mast to move forward; note that this also give more efficiency at this point of sail.
- the total surface of the sail has been extended slightly up to 7.7m² by giving more round to the top of the leech. This give more power in small air, but obviously makes her more difficult in the breeze.
I've not weighted her, but we have been estimating her weight to about 70kgs when we returned her for painting. Her total weight is probably about 85-90kg with the rigging and all stuffs.
At sea :
She has been tested by three of us, two with a quite impressive sailing background, one in particular in Laser dinghy, the third (me) with a decent, but not exceptional experience in sailing.
The wind was 10-12 knots (3-4 Beaufort) at the beginning of the sailing session and went up to 15-18 knots (4-5 Beaufort) in gusts at the end. We have been testing various configuration, each of us sailing in turn solo and with another crew.
The general comments go from "very good" to "excellent". Congratulations to the designer...
Crew : in actual facts, a crew of one if a bit too light to have her in her true waterline. This is achived by having a crew of two on board (see pictures). This won't however prevent me to sail her solo most of the time ...
The cockpit is large enough for two adults; or probaly one adult and two kids. The placement of the payload has a big influence on her behaviour ; we've discovered that the ideal place for the crew is on the middle seat for more or less any point of sailing.
Close hauled : excellent ablity to go very close of the wind. She is _very_ well balanced and require really minimal input on the tiller. If the tiller if released, she continues on the same direction, then slowly heads up. The rudder is very sensitive and the boat react on all input; however, the movement of the tiller needs to be straight when tacking. Tacking is very straight and the boat start immediately on the other tack with minimal loose of speed.
Before the wind : very good. A tendance to head up quickly when the tiller is relased. Gybing might be a bit tricky in the breeze as she heads up very quickly at this time (Jacques, how do you say "autoloffée"?) and the tiller really needs to be pulled quickly (the water being still too cold to push the expereience to its end).
What I would change if I had to build her again (which may happen, but not immediately ...):
- have the shrouds 15cm more aft.
- make the middle seat 20 cm larger on its front side. As this seat id really the right place for the crew, whatever she is sailed solo or with a crew of two, a larger seat would make the life more comfortable when sailed with two (or more) on board.
A general conclusion : believe me, I will really enjoy this boat ...
Regards,
Michel.
