Welsford navigator video

[keyhavenpotterer]

here's a great video of a navigator sailing in wonderful sunny southern hemisphere conditions, dream on for us freezing northern hemisphere sailors

http://lukefoster.com/dauntless/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/dauntless-pirate-12.wmv

http://lukefoster.com/dauntless/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/dauntless-pirate-12.wmv

[Thorne]

Very nice! Still one of my favorite designs.

Should they have a bit more weight forward, or is the boat designed to reach well with that much of the bow out of the water?

[David G]

Very nice. Looks like they're having beau coup fun.

[John B]

Thats a great performing small boat isn't it. Where is it.. its got the look of any generic Northland NZ coast ( not that it couldn't be elsewhere)but I don't particularly recognise it .

[keyhavenpotterer]

this is the link to the blog, Mercury Bay is the video location

http://lukefoster.com/dauntless/

Brian

[J P]

Sweet. Thanks for posting that (looking out my office window at rainy, snowy, half frozen half muddy northern March).

The footage looks a lot like the east side of the Coromandel. Hahei maybe?


edit to add: Thanks Brian, that answers that. Thought I recognized those white cliffs. They are living my dream.

[ChaseKenyon]

Should they have a bit more weight forward, or is the boat designed to reach well with that much of the bow out of the water? __________________


I had the same thought.

If racing move one person forward to where the mast is, which will make use of the full waterline length. It would be a faster, But also much much wetter ride.

Just having a sail I'd do as they have and have a fun dryer ride.

CHase:D

[John B]

this is the link to the blog, Mercury Bay is the video location

http://lukefoster.com/dauntless/

Brian

Thanks for that.. Makes sense now. I spent a lot of time around Hahei and that area when I was younger. Land based though.
Had the mercs and perhaps mercury bay on our itinerary this christmas cruise but the weather didn't cooperate ,unfortunately.

[john welsford]

Going upwind it pays to have the stem down in the water, but reaching and running, especially when the speed gets up past 10 knots it pays to have the bow up so she does not dig that fine forefoot in and try to steer herself around it. The boats designed to do that without moving the crew weight around.
Max speed is about 15 knots, after that the steering gets very sensitive. Mind you thats an S/L of over 3 so its not hanging about.

JohnWelsford

Very nice! Still one of my favorite designs.

Should they have a bit more weight forward, or is the boat designed to reach well with that much of the bow out of the water?

[David Geiss]

That video really captures the magic qualities of that vessel John!!!!!

Does the plan specify a pivoting CB or a dagger?
Do you have any completely free standing rig drawn for her (fore/aft or otherwise)? Or perhaps a gunter......I can imagine easily being caught out in conditions which would really justify the ability to keep the height of the mast lower that that depicted in the video with its beautiful sloop rig.

I see the benefits of the yawl rig and I know everyone will say that it's still easily single handed, but to my eye it just looks like a lot of sticks and strings that detract a bit from the elegance and beauty of the hull.

That's a dinghy that I could see being happy with for many decades.
Nice middle ground between the Pathfinder and Rogue with enough seat of your pants feeling to get the piss and vinegar flowing, yet neither big and unwieldy nor having the slighter bearing of the Rogue when it comes to bluewater stuff and some fresh breezes......am I missing something or is Navigator just about a perfect day boat..looks, performance, function, everything........?
Dave

[davidagage]

All I can say is...
Looks like great fun, keep it up.

[matoi]

Very nice! Congratulations!

I noticed mainsheet in somewhat unusual arrangement, but couldn't figure out from the video and pics exactly how it's setup. It seems as if there was a greater purchase in the middle of the boat than at transom - shouldn't it be the other way round?

Thank you + best wishes,

m

[David Geiss]

Great ppodcast of John Welsford interview from 2007.
Fascinating and erudite guy!
http://cdn4.libsyn.com/noeld/furledsails-podcast-114.mp3?nvb=20090628021735&nva=20090629022735&t=0e7ca0964fee668ad2510

[john welsford]

That was a fun interview, I enjoyed the chance to chat, thanks for the compliment.

JohnW ( The erudite one, I like that!)

Great ppodcast of John Welsford interview from 2007.
Fascinating and erudite guy!
http://cdn4.libsyn.com/noeld/furledsails-podcast-114.mp3?nvb=20090628021735&nva=20090629022735&t=0e7ca0964fee668ad2510

[David Geiss]

Yes, John your approaches to sailing, designing and life in general come shining through. That furledsails.com is a great site...always nice to hear audio of some stellar designers, such as yourself.

There is a fellow right up the road (New Paltz) who has invited me to look at his Walkabout build in progress. Maybe when it is done, I can grab some video of her as I am not aware of any Walkabout video now posted.

Video under press of sail tells a prospective sailboat owner so much more that lines on paper or even photos of a completed build.

For example on the Navigator video, there is a moment when the wind freshens up a bit and you can see the helmsperson scooting forward just a bit and also slightly outboard.......little nuances like that tell me that:
1. that helmsperson is a capable sailor
2. that Navigator is a boat that responds well to sail trim, ballast, and helm.

I keep going back to it, especially when things get hairy at work....is there something wrong with me......aren't I supposed to be watching 20 something females in scanty swimsuits and worse......

Dave