New Boat 4 Sled

[AlanH]

The balanced lug rig is a good rig. Now, the way I see it, there's a community of "alternative" boat nuts who just hate bermudan rigs and love lugs. They're gotten so hardnosed about it that now there's a reverse snobbery thing going on. .... to be in the cool peoples club, your boat HAS to have a lug rig of some kind. A distant second place which will leave you with associated club membership status is a sprit rig,but anything that looks bermudan is just bad, bad, bad.

Once, before I bought the S2 7.9, I was down at the Alameda Marina, at the end of the small boat dock, the dock farthest west. Some homeless guy had stripped the Cal 20 that he was living on of everything metal..mast, winches, blocks, gudgeons...mast base... jib tracks, EVERYTHING, and cut it loose in the Estuary. It had drifted over to the Alameda Marina, where a tenant had kept it from beating up on some boats there, and tied it off to the end of the dock.

I seriously considered picking it up...getting an aluminum tube (3-inch diameter straight tube, 20 feet long is about $80 at Allan Steel in Redwood City) and turning a mast base and masthead fitting out of hard maple, on a wood lathe. A few more pieces of wood, and a cut-down secondhand mainsail....some old blocks...make a new rudder out of a 2 x 12 and voila...I'm "big boat" sailing again for cheap.

I didn't do it, but there are days.....

[AlanH]

If someone wanted to make a relatively simple Oughtred design that has a flat bottom so that it beaches relatively easily, the Skerrieskiff 15 and 17 are very good candidates. The designs were put together so that high school shop classes could build them.



the skerrieskiff is primarily intended for rowing, but the plans make allowances for a daggerboard.

[sleddog]

Heads Up.

There's an Olson 29 in Olympia, WA For Sale in the classifieds. My thinking is there is no better boat and bang for the buck for an experienced sailor to sail in the SHTP and vie for both 1st to Finish, and Overall prizes. The Olson 29 is an improved O-30, faster and more sea kindly by a little and a lot. It would be a good catch for the right person.

[sleddog]

If you've ever sailed on Bill Lee's MERLIN, or just want to attend a fun, once-in-a-lifetime event, tomorrow afternoon at Santa Cruz Harbor MERLIN is being recommissioned after a long absence to the Great Lakes. MERLIN is legend, and in attendance tomorrow will be sailing legends, much of Santa Cruz's sailing and boat building community, as well as MERLIN's original 1977 Transpac crew when they set the elapsed time record that stood for 20 years.



MERLIN stories will be rife. Remember when MERLIN, under Dave Wahle's command, powered down Santa Cruz Harbor in reverse at 8 knots, spun on a dime as the closed Entrance, and motored back to her slip, again full speed in reverse, to satisfy the Transpac Race inspector's motoring requirement? The onboard inspector from S.Cal fled in terror and was not seen again.

Here is the proposed schedule:
Sunday, 2/26/17

1:00 - Move Merlin to the D dock end tie on West Side from Harbor Marine slip on East Side. - Everyone is welcome.

3:00 - Party starts - Hosted keg beer and wine on MERLIN.

4:00 - Ceremony starts, Chuck Hawley, Karen Trap, Bill Burr.
If the size of the crowd is large, we may do some of the presentation at Aldo’s

4:30 - Hors d’oeuvres at Aldos - No host beer and wine too

Weather looks to be sunny, but cool and possibly breezy. Bring warm clothes, and be sure to ask any MERLIN crew member to describe the famous "Cosmic Flush," and the "Cosmic Squeeze."

Bring your favorite MERLIN stories, and Get Licked By MERLIN.



Evening Trivia:Was MERLIN named for

A) the most fascinating figure in Welsh mythology and Arthurian legend: the great wizard, prophet and adviser to several kings, including King Arthur.

or B): a small, fierce falcon bird of prey of great speed.

or C): the legendary 12 cylinder Rolls Royce engine that powered the Spitfire and Mustang P-51 fighter jets, as well as many other aircraft. The Merlin could develop 1,620 horse power and pull the P-51, a prop plane, above 440 mph. You can hear the distinctive Merlin engine approaching from several miles away.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?annota...&v=Y5rGyP6SSYM

or D) all of the above

[Wylieguy]

A
All of the above,however. A) As a retired English Prof. I recuse myself. B) As the father of a raptor walk leader I recuse myself. C) As a RC boat sailor who sailed against a WWII Spitfire pilot on the Kensington Palace's Round Pond and listened to some wonderful stories, I recuse myself.

The "Rolls Royce 'Merlin'" that powered P-51s presents a controversy. The engine was build under license by Packard in the U.S. The Brits bristle when they hear about the Packard engines or "Packard Merlin" engines used in P-51s. No matter what, though, the RR Merlin turned a mediocre fighter design into perhaps the best piston-driven fighter plane of all time.

[sleddog]

WYLIEGUY:
Spot on. Despite recusing yourself, you've correctly answered for what MERLIN was named "All of the above."... Chicken dinner winner will have to be a chicken pot pie for the moment. But come on down for a visit anytime.

Here's an undated photo of Bill Lee in his Merlin Wizard get up, which he wore to launchings of his Santa Cruz built boats.

[Dazzler]

Sled: Very tempting to be there for the MERLIN party. I was at Moss Landing for the original launch party 40 years ago. I suspect today's date was selected to mark that 40 year anniversary. I recall that at the original launch party my daughter, not yet 2 years old, enjoyed exploring MERLIN. Best wishes for a fine day with lots of good stories.

[sleddog]

Sled: Very tempting to be there for the MERLIN party. I was at Moss Landing for the original launch party 40 years ago. I suspect today's date was selected to mark that 40 year anniversary. I recall that at the original launch party my daughter, not yet 2 years old, enjoyed exploring MERLIN. Best wishes for a fine day with lots of good stories.

A sunny afternoon for MERLIN's 40th Birthday celebration. Many familiar faces among the 150 paying homage, with the docks filled, tours below, and the cockpit filled with smiles and mandolin music. Much emotion too, realizing we are all 40 years down the road. Yay, MERLIN, bringing us together again.





Bill and Lu Lee (Bill in his red 1977 Transpac crew shirt)


Surviving 6 crew from MERLIN's 1977 Transpac record run.


(left to right) Don Snyder (navigated by celestial), Phil Vandenberg (cosmic flushed), Bill Lee, Bos'n Dave Wahle, Jack Halterman, and Bobbo Larson. RIP Harvey Kilpatrick and Rob Wade.

[sleddog]

For a fun and informative, real time sailing adventure, one could not do better than follow Rob aboard his NM-45 TIGER BEETLE as he makes his way south along the Pacific Coast. Rob calls it as it is, and writes and photographs with brevity and clarity that is a pleasure to follow.

Currently TIGER BEETLE is approaching offshore Cabo San Lucas at the tip of Baja. Rob will bypass Cabo enroute to Banderas Bay, where he hopes to pick up a replacement dinghy outboard for the one that swallowed a lot of sand in a dinghy upset at Bahia Santa Maria.

Rob's adventures are never boring, and he also helps out other cruisers by explaining in clear to understand technical advice.

Rob couldn't understand why his autopilot stopped working one windy night along Baja and TIGER BEETLE went into a rounddown after having the cockpit pooped by a breaking whitecap .....we've all been there, done that. However the reason BEETLE's steeriing locked up was not the autopilot's fault. Rather, a soggy bean bag had been dislodged and repositioned hard against the wheel, preventing movement.

Join Rob aboard TIGER BEETLE for some singlehanded sailing fun. https://tbeetle.wordpress.com/

[hodgmo]

...Join Rob aboard TIGER BEETLE for some singlehanded sailing fun. https://tbeetle.wordpress.com/

Thanks for the tip, it's a great read!