whisp strakes

[davebrown]

when i started my whisp about 2 months ago, i did not envision that, thanks to the kindness of a fellow forumite, i would come into possession of some of the plans for themythical shearwater 18.

hence, my goals for whisp are changed. i wanted a boat primarily to row, and occasionally sail, and now i want a skiff primarily to sail, since the SW18 is going to be set up for rowing.

that, plus i can't ever, never, ever follow a plan as the designer intended. usually this works out, as robb white would hvae said, good.

i cut a fourth strake for whisp. it is not installed. will i gain much for sailing by adding a fourth strake? i figure i will get a little more freeboard and a bit more height at the stem, a tiny bit more rise at stern. i will sail this boat mostly on lakes, except for an occasional trip to sausalito.

weight added will not be much. she's a light boat, and remains so.

i have a 59 sq ft spritsail from my skerry that i want to use.

watcha think fellers?

and don't forget i am hardheaded. i might not be able to heed advice. the sheer looks damn good with that fourth strake clamped on.

[JimD]

I think you should add the fourth strake. It might not row as 'good' though.

[Woxbox]

Nope. I've got a Whisp and she's designed just right. With that little sail you plan to use, all will balance out just fine. But she's not designed primarily to sail. The adjustment to improve sailing would be a bit more beam, not depth.

[davebrown]

adding a strake will increase beam at sheer,slightly, but not at bottom.

[Woxbox]

Another thought. If you really wanted to turbocharge a Whisp, you'd treat it like a sailing canoe -- deck it over except for a small cockpit, add huge sails and, of course, a hiking board.

The thought came to me because the hard part with the Whisp in the puffs is leaning out far enough to counter them. You're sitting down in the boat, not on any deck, so you can't quickly lean out to weather. Higher sides would constrain you even more. A bit more beam would increase initial stability, of which this boat has very little.

[davebrown]

i think i need to leave it alone. even though i cut a beatiful sset of fourth strakes to add to the shear.
i don't think it will improve anything to add a strake. i spent an hour in the garage staring at it. it's a fine looking boat as is. it will add more leverage to upset an already tender hull by raising the height of the shear.

[Steve Lansdowne]

I found my Whisp to be rather tender. I solved this problem somewhat by replacing the tiller with a push/pull model that allowed me to sit on the floor rather than some other way where it was difficult to steer. I also placed a 5 gallon plastic water 'can' under the center seat. This adds considerable stability, and when rowing I put it aft next to the transom, which gets the skeg a bit lower in the water. The nice thing about this is I use lake water to fill it, thus I don't have to transport a filled 'can' to and from the boat.

One guy who used to sail in heavy wind did sit on the side and noted that this was a bit much for the boat's construction. Someone added an "M" to reinforce the center seat to guard against damage to the hull when hiking out. This was on the boat that Phil Maynard finished.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3414/3344851455_f160c298ca.jpg?v=0