George Ray
08-28-2005, 09:52 PM
How does one one sea trial a gaff schooner?
What should one expect? We are struggling and having little luck getting any good feel for the boat. It seems there might be some rig balence issues but it could just as easily be us as we are newbies and currently over our heads on this vessel/rig.
We have a Tom Colvin clipper pinky schooner. LOD 40' , Beam 10.5', Draft 5.5' and it is just over a year since we started refitting her. The sails are new and are per Colvins sail plan for the vessel. We have Colvin's profile drawing for the hull and for the sails/rig. The vessel has been checked fairly carefully to see that it matched the drawings prior to having the new sails made. (Andy Soper - Kingston Sail loft)
One of the things I expected (naive perhaps) was that the vessel would balence well under foresail alone. We find that only by ballasting the vessel down about 6" in the stern will she start feel glorious and dancing about under foresail alone. When she is one her design lines (albiet 6" deeper than datum draft) she has weather helm under fore alone and can hardly be made to fall off and head down wind.
We are currently rigged with a tiller so balence is readily apparent. I am thinking about the kind of thigs I need to do to define and charactorize the behavior and balence of the hull and rig. (a)Lay a hull. (b)Fore Alone, (c)All lowers. (d)Main & Jib. etc etc
Many pics and specs available on request.
A few pics are avail at:
http://home.earthlink.net/~sailsouthport/
What should one expect? We are struggling and having little luck getting any good feel for the boat. It seems there might be some rig balence issues but it could just as easily be us as we are newbies and currently over our heads on this vessel/rig.
We have a Tom Colvin clipper pinky schooner. LOD 40' , Beam 10.5', Draft 5.5' and it is just over a year since we started refitting her. The sails are new and are per Colvins sail plan for the vessel. We have Colvin's profile drawing for the hull and for the sails/rig. The vessel has been checked fairly carefully to see that it matched the drawings prior to having the new sails made. (Andy Soper - Kingston Sail loft)
One of the things I expected (naive perhaps) was that the vessel would balence well under foresail alone. We find that only by ballasting the vessel down about 6" in the stern will she start feel glorious and dancing about under foresail alone. When she is one her design lines (albiet 6" deeper than datum draft) she has weather helm under fore alone and can hardly be made to fall off and head down wind.
We are currently rigged with a tiller so balence is readily apparent. I am thinking about the kind of thigs I need to do to define and charactorize the behavior and balence of the hull and rig. (a)Lay a hull. (b)Fore Alone, (c)All lowers. (d)Main & Jib. etc etc
Many pics and specs available on request.
A few pics are avail at:
http://home.earthlink.net/~sailsouthport/