Wow Skip ! Not only is that gorgeous, but you went for a nice, long walk- to Chicken Ranch Beach !!! You are more apt to get moisture from Kay than we are.
Wow Skip ! Not only is that gorgeous, but you went for a nice, long walk- to Chicken Ranch Beach !!! You are more apt to get moisture from Kay than we are.
I also hope someone tells us the answer soon. Otherwise, we will be moving on. Plenty of twists, turns, and adventures to report. Here's something to chew on in the meantime: what class boat did my brother and I race in the Olympic Trials that had a solid lead rudder. And why?
Last edited by sleddog; 09-08-2022 at 06:25 PM.
So I'll try again...
Perhaps the marbles were intended to roll around - or perhaps move more vigorously - inside the hull to break up or loosen accumulated crud and maybe also some rough fiberglass inside the hull so it could be removed by rinsing or vacuum cleaner. Sort of like shot-peening a fusty old car frame prior to restoration.
It would probably work best to take the boat for a long ride on the trailer rather than sailing.
Tom K
I read a very funny book a while ago, titled " Good morning Captain" In one chapter, some shipyard workers were building a large, steel trawler for a grumpy man who did nothing but complain. In the spirit of " Don't get mad, get even" they placed a large ball bearing into the hollow deck beam that would be right above the grumpy owner's bunk, so that it would keep him awake at night, rolling back and forth. Using the same concept, good friend and talented metal fabricator Joey Hulse put marbles in the tanks of his Laser to keep himself awake at night during his successful rounding of Point Conception in his Laser.
Hi Ants, Thanks for the guess. Also kudos to MillyB for answering the marble riddle. No, my brother and I were not racing a Tempest in the Olympic Trials. Not only did our Olympic class boat have a lead rudder, but a mast that was kept vertical in the boat no matter heel angle of hull.
My wild ass guess;The led rudder was on a 5.5
Thanks MillyB, I needed that marbel explanation, I tried to Bully the answer out of skip, but he held firm.
Thanks Howard. It was a very Joey thing to do.
My guess on the lead rudder is the Star Class, and probably because they were very young and very lightweight
Good Grief! In this day and age, one does not expect a newspaper or online news source to employ a weatherman. But the NY Times reporters really outdid themselves this morning in describing approaching Tropical Storm Kay. These are just some of the descriptive words used in their report: "barrels closer," "churns along," "crawls up," "hovers," "sweeping," "posing," "threatening," "veers closer to Coast," "veers away from Coast," "parallels Coast."
Sounds like they might need a Grib and Tonic.
Howard was correct that my brother and I competed in the '68 Olympic Trials in the 5.5 Meter Class. At the time, spade rudders were not allowed, and rudders were hung off the back end of the keel. In an attempt to minimize wetted surface, 5.5 Meter designer Brit Chance came up with the bright idea of making the keel area smaller by making the attached rudder out of lead. The problem was this put the rudder nearly in the center of the boat. As well, you got to turn a very heavy hunk of lead weighing hundreds of pounds with a tiller and extension.
Further forward, the mast butt was stepped on a trailer hitch ball. And the shrouds went through large sheaves in the deck at the chainplates to a hydraulic ram below decks. This allowed the mast to be canted to windward as the boat heeled to leeward. How well did this work? I can reveal that on occasion the hydraulics would fail and the mast, with a loud whoosh, would cant itself to leeward instead, which with the lead rudder, made for a festive event. The name of the 5.5 was OUTTA SIGHT, and unfortunately we were, but not in the intended direction.
Last edited by sleddog; 09-09-2022 at 11:21 AM.