Michael Storer Talk at Clint Chase Boatbuilder

[Clinton B Chase]

Monday, November 2, 2009
Michael Storer Talk and Messabout at Clint Chase Boatbuilder

From my blog clintchaseboatbuilder.blogspot.com

On November 1st I was pleased and honored to introduce Michael Storer, an Australian Boat Designer reputed for his simple, elegant, and approachable boats, to a group of 21 members from the wooden boat community in Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. Some knew of Storer's work, others have built his boats, and many knew him as an important name and wanted to learn more about the man and his message. His message was simple: that we can vastly improve our boats by paying a great deal more attention to three areas: the centerboard and rudder foils, the spars and sail, and the hull itself. With regards to the foils, Michael convinced is audience that it is the way they are made -- with care towards fair, accurate foil shape and towards a smooth surface -- that most matters. Michael has taken research in optimal foil design and applied these foils to boats that, without them, would not sail nearly as well upwind and would be much trickier to handle. These foils are flat in the middle, thin for reducing weight and wood use, and closely approximate the hydrodynamics of a true NACA shape, without the expense and fuss and awkwardness of a wing-shaped foil in a square centerboard box or rocking around on a flat work bench during shaping.

With regards to spars and sails, Michael's point was clear that the most important aspect of spars is that they flex and bend in the right way, the right amount. Spar bend is critical to the ability of a sail rig to absorb a gust, reducing heeling and putting the energy into forward momentum. The sail need not be a 600-dollar racing sail, but a simple polytarp will do cut with round to create the draft necessary to create power in the sail. His PDR Oz boats are a case in point. They all sail with polytarp sails, about a $30 dollar investment. And because they all use the same cloth, they can race against each other without the "upping the ante" attitude that has cause racing to be more expensive and less accessible to more and more people around the world.

(MIK: The polysail is not as good as a sail made from proper cloth but it is cheap allowing for experimentation and cutting the cost of something like a PDRacer substantially. But nice boats deserve nice sails. However the flexibility aspect is important for all sails.

(MIK: Additionally I think a lot of the discussion about best performing sails is misguided because the lessons of the last 100 years or so of competitive racing have not been applied equally when sails meet. The single most important is controlling twist. A gaff or lug rig where twist is controlled correctly will outsail a bermudan rig where the twist is not controlled. The two traditional rigs that control twist to some degree are the triangular sprit boomed sail and the balance lug. The lug tends to be favoured in storerboats because of the reefing ability, but the sprit is liked for its simplicity and incredibly rapid setup)

Interestingly, Michael left the hull out for last. He says the hull is less important because of the way quality foils and spars can make a good boat go faster than it should. The PD racer is a square hull and wide flat bottom. As evidenced by the messabout after the talk, it does go beautifully. Why? Because of the foils and spars, but also because the hull is light. Michael discussed the keys to making a hull light, using light plywood in a hull that is reinforced the right way, using stringers, fillets, butt joints, and interior compartments that create a light, stiff structure with nothing more than 6mm plywood. Fiberglass is heavy and Michael stressed that fiberglassing adds weight with little gain in structural integrity or even abrasion resistance. Most boats being glassed with 6oz cloth do not need it for structure and are not being used in such a way they it is needed to protect the boat from abrasion. Cloth as light as 2-oz cloth will be enough. He said that builders have also succumbed to the "upping the ante" mentality, trying to do things better and better and better than anyone else, ending up with heavier boats and poorer performance.

Australia saw another 25-plus years of wooden boat development that America and Europe did not see because of the way that market forces drove us to Fiberglass boats much sooner than they did in Oz. The result is much further refinement of glued-plywood construction and testing in the small boat racing circuits around the country. We are just now learning here in the States, thanks to Michael's generous knowledge sharing and this trip he has made to the USA.

(MIK: Australia and New Zealand had a huge amount of rivalry that helped things move forward too with at least half the work being done by the Kiwis. South Africa also did a similar thing with some of its indigenous classes)

Afterwards we enjoyed some great rowing and sailing off Portland's East End. We had a PDR, an MSD Rowboat hull #1, my Drake Rowboat hull #1, a mini-bagger, a sailing canoe, a Nutshell Pram. Pictures of the messabout can be seen at the WoodenBoat Forum and at Michael Storer's own Oz Forum:

http://www.woodenboat.com/forum/show...19#post2372819
http://www.woodworkforums.com/f169/

Folks will see many of Michael's philosophies played out at Clint Chase Boatbuilder in the Spruce-Composite oars, Birdsmouth masts, and soon foils, tillers, and other components made to improve the performance of customers' existing dories, skiffs, dinghies, and utility boats.

Posted by Clint Chase Boatbuilder at 5:58 PM

[Eric Risch]

Hello gang,


I am new to the forum. It was great to play with our little boats after hearing all the cool things we can do to tweak performance. The message I heard from Michael was: keep it simple, but do your homework and build it right. My little Echo Bay Dory Skiff has had the benefit of 25 seasons of tweaking and modifying from my original design concept--all have been the result of trial and error and learning from others who've been there before. I also wanted to give credit to the construction of her original hull as it was built by a friend in a small boat shop. He needed some work and I had no shop at the time. He taught me a great deal while working on the original boat. That hull has remained wicked tight over all those years so he did great work. He however so hated epoxy that I became “Mr. Grinder” for untold hours feathering the goo. Over time I rebuilt essentially the entire interior construction, rig, rudder, and sails as my learning curve progressed in sailing her. Most of that reconstruction took place about 18-20 years ago when I finally had a shop. I even (painfully) chopped the sheer down as I wanted a prettier shape...which meant all that joiner-work had to be built from scratch...again. With Clint’s encouragement, I recently redesigned a dedicated rowing version of the boat for the Compass Project. Needless to say, due to Michael’s most interesting talk, we likely all have yet another list of “tweaks” to apply to our little boats!

Eric

[Geoff C]

Originally Posted by Boatmik

Hi Geoff,

I didn't realise ... how close is your boat to the original Yakaboo?

I know the sliding centreboard is not there and the rudder is a nice addition (!) but is the hull pretty similar?

MIK

Hi, Mik-

The original Yakaboo is 17' long and 40" wide. I made a 9/10ths scale version of it that is 15' 6" long and 36" wide. I chose that size for easy cartopping and because I could get the whole boat, including bulkheads, out of four sheets of 4 mm Okoume ply (only 10 lb./ sheet).

I chose to use the Yakaboo as inspiration because it had fairly firm bilges and sufficient rocker to tack well (W. P. Stephens knew what it was all about). I squared off the stern somewhat to take the rudder and to give it a little more tracking when used as a double paddle canoe, otherwise the hull is pretty similar, given the change to plywood construction. It goes like the wind with two people paddling it.



In the future I may make a full size Yakaboo complete with batwing sails, or I may scale the present design up 50% to make a 3 man sailing canoe that can also be used for camp cruising, somewhat like William Atkin's XLCR.

[Ray Frechette Jr]

Originally Posted by rbgarr

One of the things I'd look for were I to have someone build/repair/refinish a boat is a clean shop. It takes less time to keep things in their place and clean as you work than it does to search (and not find, thus use the wrong tool), struggle with a dirty tool or workspace than not. It's a good management habit and often interpreted as a sign of respect for the customer. I've seen potential customers walk out when they see that the paint shop is a mess, for example. The best shops I've seen have regular daily cleanup and weekly (rotating) assigned responsibilities for machinery, blades etc.

I agree by and large, But there is clean and there is clean.

I have walked my share of shopsin the state and Clints is without question the most immaculate I have ever seen.



Hodgkins yard, Morris, and many othewrs have neat and tidy, But I could n't spy a speck of ducst.

I wcertainly was impressed, and I am not criticising Clint. Just overwhelmed by it.

And if ti is what he wants I don'rt argue afainst it. My commnet was light hearted and toungue in cheek.

[The Bigfella]

Great thread. Good to see you behaving yourself over there Mik. We didn't think any more Aussies would be allowed into the country after the Dingo visited.

[David G]

Dingo is the main reason we decided to organize Mik's visit. Initially, we thought that Mik might be too polite, self-effacing, and soft-spoken to put on a good show during a N. American Chataqua. After Dingo visited, we figured those Aussies might be a bit of alright after all Of course we did worry that we might have to supply translators at every stop Turns out Mik speaks better American than I do (and certainly better than Chuck L. - he speaks Texan ).

[Clinton B Chase]

And MIK speaks Chinese which came in handy!

Clint

[Hwyl]

Originally Posted by Eric Risch

Hello gang,


I am new to the forum.

Nice to meet yo Eric. I hope that tire got you home.

[Ray Frechette Jr]

OK Clint,

I have been stewing and pndering for a few days.

Your shop condition is truly inspiring.

While Iwill probably never come close to that level of clean, I can respect it and very likely we can all learn something from it.

How about starting a new thread on the building and repair board as to shop cleanliness techniques?

[Clinton B Chase]

After a nice drive to Logan Airport, I had the honor of deporting MIK...I mean dropping him off fo his flight home. Definitely a bit sad to see him go, but so happy to have gotten to know him and I believe I speak on all of our behalves! I have to say that I'm really happy that the WB crew were so good to him. They take care of good folks up there. Happy travels to BoatMIK from all here in Maine and the States! We look forward to having you back.

[Hwyl]

Clint, I thanked you on Sunday but wanted to formally thank you again, for the organisation and hosting of this. I had not realised that you also drove Mik to Logan, that was above and beyond. Please also thank the person with whom Mik stayed (the GIS owner) whose name I've forgotten in my dotage.

Would you do me a favor and also convey thanks to your good lady wife, (Elli) she was a consumate trooper to put up with all this, especially given your new baby.

Many thanks, I know I speak for everyone who was there and I hope, everyone who has read this thread.

[Canoez]

Clint - thanks for post #51 for those of us who were AWOL.

[StevenBauer]

Well said, Gareth. Thanks, Clint. And Mik.


Steven

[Eric Risch]

Originally Posted by Hwyl

Nice to meet yo Eric. I hope that tire got you home.

Yes, thank you for asking. I figured that original flat tire wasn't going to go anywhere while we played with the boats. Fortunately, the spare got me home in good shape and now I got my snows on. I again wanted to thank everyone who assisted me that afternoon after the outing.

Eric

[rbgarr]

I was going to get new studded snows but the starter fried yesterday... and there went that money! Watch out for me when driving on ice this winter!

It was nice to see your shop all set up Clint. I hadn't seen the finished product, etc. since Steven started it a while ago. Nice skylights!

Your "cousin-to-Dancing Feather" dory looks like it will be a good one.

[Clinton B Chase]

Thanks guys. MIK is back in the land of OZ.

I appreciate all of your comments and look forward to doing this again next year with another speaker (TBD) and a Fall Messabout.

--Clint

[dpeter]

Just a quick thank you to Clint and MIK and everyone in
attendance last Sunday. This is my first post on
the forum and I've been lurking for far too long!

It was a great pleasure to spend a day with such a
wonderful group of folks and I am looking forward to
another outing!

Peter

p.s. My shoes have finally dried out ...

[Daniel Noyes]

Looking forward to the Clint Chase audio interview with Michael Storer.