I had stopped by the boat yard on our way to a job yesterday and found the crew blocking her up. Gregg, the yard foreman asked me if I had time today to lift the super structure? So, lets see, work on the boat project, or go to a job site??? Anyway, we were back at the boat yard in about 90 minutes after unloading the service truck, andloading up the welder, some chains, and a spreader bar. The yard had some issue with the crane, and we decided to put another pass on the lifting rings that were welded to the cabin top. Once we had the crane in the right position and had the chains rigged to lift level, the lift went quick. We re lifted it a inch or so to push the structure closer to the lines, then unhooked her and cut the crane crew loose. What was left of the afternoon was spent moving tools on board, and eyeballing what was going to be required to pull the structure around to fit on the lines. Things are close to fitting, but need some tweaking.
In terms of my building this boat, this is probably the most rewarding day of the project. It finally looks like a boat, and while Im guilty of being biased, I think shes a fine looking vessel.
Paying work is going to have to wait another day as Im headed down to the boat yard to finish fitting the structure. I doubt well get all the welding done today, but well be close. If all goes well, I should have the windows installed and have her protected against the weather by the weeks end.
Howdy Bailey is a long-time friend, from long before we moved to USA. Howdy had bought plans from me for the Pratique 35 and we visited him in Norfolk, Virginia, on our first trip to USA in 1983. I was a young designer, not yet through with my studies at Westlawn School of Yacht Design (now named Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology) and was totally unknown. Yet, based solely on the design that he had bought from me and a few hours chatting over dinner, Howdy Bailey had the confidence in me to commission the design of a 64ft charter yacht that was to be built for a consortium in Norfolk. That design is the Dix 64 and the boat was launched and went into the St Thomas charter trade as "Rising Sun".
Dix 64 "Rising Sun" shows off her exquisite finish.Howdy Bailey in the red shirt.
"Rising Sun" was beautifully built in steel, finished in flag blue Awlgrip that displayed her blemish-free surfaces to perfection. Rigged as a staysail schooner for ease of handling by a small crew, she surprised all who sailed on her with her speed under sail and characteristics.
Over the years and on opposite sides of the Atlantic, Howdy Bailey and I maintained a lasting friendship and worked together on many projects. They included the Echo 38 cruising tug "Echo" and the Little Creek 47 "Flutterby", now owned by Howdys son Dylan Bailey.
"Echo" at home on a backwater of Chesapeake Bay.
Little Creek 47 "Flutterby" waiting to start a Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race
Howdy was instrumental also in me receiving the commission to design "Sabbatical II" as a custom design for a local businessman and friend. Howdy and his very capable crew turned her into a work of art, with beautiful detailing of a complicated boat.
The ketch-rigged "Sabbatical II" sailing in sloop configuration.
I have always thought of "Howdy" as a nickname, maybe short for Howard or some other name. Not so long ago I asked him what his real name is and he replied "Howdy". He was named Howdy at birth. Howdys interesting name carries through to him being one of the most interesting people that I have had the pleasure of knowing in the boating industry. He no longer builds boats and instead works in the marine service industry. He and his small crew take on service work of all types, from rebuilding joinery to rerigging and new plumbing or mechanicals. Whatever you need done to bring your boat back to pristine condition, Howdy and his guys can do it. Custom metalwork is their specialty, able to produce aluminium and stainless items to a very high standard. They are currently completing the keel/engine support structure in steel for the Didi 950 being built in Ohio.
Howdy also has great community spirit. He introduced me to some surfing friends a year or two after we arrived in Virginia Beach and I joined their very informal Iguana Surf Club. Every year this club hosts a fun day on the beach as a fundraiser for the Norfolk-based Childrens Hospital of the Kings Daughters, with surf contest, fun events and a big party afterwards. The past few years Howdy Bailey has really come through with large amounts of cash that has been donated by his customers and local businesses toward the fundraiser. Howdy has a big heart.
Ever since we met, he has done business from various buildings near to Cobbs Marina at Little Creek, an inlet off the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. It was always an interesting place to visit, with all kinds of fascinating bits and pieces hung on the walls or suspended from the roof. Howdy is a collector, not of "stuff" but of "interesting stuff". His workshop just wasnt big enough to display all of his eclectic collection.
City codes have now forced a relocation and Howdy Bailey Yacht Services has moved into a larger shop at 7527 Avenue J, Norfolk. This has much more open space and it has been put to good use to show off Howdys collection of toys, bicycles, boats, signs, classic cars, old tools and a host of other things. The heavy items are on the floor and lighter items are hanging from the roof or along the walls. Even if you have no interest in boats or quality metalwork, Howdy Bailey Yacht Services is an interesting place to visit.
Main entrance to Howdy Bailey Yacht Services
Howdy in red shirt and Larry Foster, long-time colleague.
View of the shop from the front entrance.
Lots to look at, in every direction.
Howdy and I go back a long way and I look forward to continuing that way for many years to come. If you have some boat work that needs doing by competent people, visit Howdys shop or call him on 757-480-0058.
To see more of our designs, please visit http://dixdesign.com/.
Those who followed our abortive Cape to Rio Race on the Didi 38 "Black Cat" and my recent blog posts about it will know that we went through situations that were demanding of quality seamanship, a cool head and total commitment to the well-being of boat and the other crew members. Those qualities come from thousands of miles sailed in all conditions, good and bad, sometimes under much pressure.
Our navigator on "Black Cat" was professional sailor David "Wavy" Immelman and he proved to have all of those qualities and more to spare. At any time that there was tough work to be done on the boat, Dave was there to do it or to assist. We had never sailed together before but Dave proved to be very capable and a sailor with whom I will be very happy to sail in the future.
Dave had prepared the boat for the race and onward voyaging. He was to take over as skipper after my departure in Rio and was to take her to the Caribbean for cruising and racing. He had committed to the owner of "Black Cat" for long term voyaging and racing. Unfortunately those long-term plans disappeared into the blue with our rudder, so Dave is looking for another boat.
Dave Immelman is RYA Ocean certified, with experience that includes Volvo Ocean Race, Americas Cup and Solent Racing. He is also tough, having rowed single-handed across the North Atlantic.
If you know of a racing, cruising or charter boat that may have a suitable opening, please message me so that I can put you in contact with Dave to supply his CV.
Who would have thought boatbuilding would involve so much math?
I was reading Glen L. Witts Boatbuilding With Plywood and realized what should have been obvious to me: The waterline of a boat is calculated beforehand. I guess it makes sense that boatbuilders dont guesstimate their designs only to drop their boats into the water and see what happens. On top of that, many of the handling characteristics of a boat are built into the design, including balance.
With our cabin shifted back from the center, this would shift the balance toward the back. Add to that the weight of the motor and fuel and we have a potential problem. So far, Ive been assuming symmetrical bow and stern as many barge boats feature, but in order to increase buoyancy in back and shift the center of buoyancy forward, I can reduce the rake in back to get more of the hull in the water there. This explains some of the barge boat that did feature a smaller stern rake. How would I go about calculating that? That is something I will have to think about.
But as an interesting exercise, I can calculate the waterline height as a function of the rake angles, length and width of the boat, and overall loaded weight of the boat.
I had to go back to my algebra and trigonometry reference books to look up how tangent and the quadratic equation worked. The last equation gives us the waterline height hw as a function of
w = overall width/beam l = overall length h = height from bottom to deck (or to the top of the rake) ?b = angle of bow rake ?s = angle of stern rake Vw = volume at waterline (= the weight of the displacement of loaded boat)
Simply put, the total volume of water displaced is equal to the sum of the water displaced by the bow, stern, and center. The volume of each of these can be calculated geometrically as a function of our unknown, the height of the waterline.
We then solve for the unknown and get an equation in a quadratic form (the forth one from the bottom). So we use the quadradic equation (which Ive always hated) to solve for hw.
Taking our equation for a spin
Lets say the total weight of the boat plus gear plus people plus 25% safety margin is 7000 lbs. Then the calculated volume of the boat at the waterline is 193,846 cu in.
Well say the boat is 8 foot (96 inches) wide, the length is 20 foot (240 inches), and the height from the bottom to the deck is 2 feet (24 inches). The bow rake angle is 45° and the stern rake is a modest 10°.
So plugging in the numbers, and taking the plus-or-minus of the quadratic formula into account, I get:
hw = 370 inches or -9.28 inches
So either my boat will have a waterline 31 feet above the keel (that is to say, the boat will be underwater), or it will float 9 inches out of the water. No wonder I always dreaded the math part of a real-world problem.
Checking my math... ah I forgot a negative sign! New solutions:
hw = 9.28 inches or -370 inches
Thats much better. If we throw out the negative solution, we have a waterline 9 and a quarter inches above the keel. Cool.
This past month I have had the opportunity to go through all my old photos of sailing, raising our girls, and looking over some pictures of the beginning days of HBBWs . Rachel and I will be off sailing for a couple of years or more so were taking this time to reminisce.
Since posting some of these old pictures of my flats boat designing and building days I have gotten a very nice amount of responses with thank yous and lots of skiff questions. This has been fun for me .
On my facebook page I have had a bunch of freind requests from avid skiff owners and fisherman. Lots of these guys do not own one of my past skiffs but just want to talk skiffs. This I like doing very much.
From their profile pages I get to see lots of different skiff pictures.
A few years ago coming back from the West Indies to St. Augustine to build a trimaran I collected a bunch of stuff from my time at HBBWs when passing by our place here. I wanted to pass some things on to Scott Peterson who had bought HBBWs from the bank after it went bankrupt. Scott had reintroduced my name back into HBs history so I wanted to say thanks for this by giving him the original Whipray half model that I had made to take the lines off of to loft the skiff. I also gave him all the original sale brochures , a hat and the photos that I took of building the Whipray plugs and molds under a plastic tarp up in ST. Augustine. Scott and I talked for an hour and he graciously lent me my old mold for the ultimate dinghy. My original skiff had been stolen the year before in the Grenadines
So I got to build a new one. While waiting an hour for Scott to show up to meet me , as he had forgotten about our appointment I got to look around my old shop and talk to a couple of past employees. I have to say my time with Scott and seeing how the shop was being run was a big let down. Was not impressed.
Fast forward to this year my daughter emails me to look at the HB facebook site and watch the video of Flip , Chris and one of HBs employees listen to Flips version of how we came up with the Whipray design and what HB was all about at that time. This was Chris Petersons promo of re selling the idea of a legend. Flip tells his tale and fortunately includes Hal Chittums name in this. Of course Hal no longer exists in the current HB lore as I guess Chris Peterson is miffed at him for starting another company and dissing HBs old designs to promote Hals new boat ideas. Lots of things Hal has said about our original ideas and his new ideas are true. Did not bother me. I dont agree with Hals new boat construction and all the hoopla that goes with it but I like some of his skiffs details. One thing I find disconcerting for Hal is claiming to spending a quarter mill on R&D for this skiff when he spent less than $35,000.00 on my Whipray design and all the plugs and molds. Inflation I guess ?
By my count Flip tells about 10 little fibs and miss truths in his recounting of how it all came about.
Some glaring miss truths are ,
- I did not make the half model in front of him .
- The photos I gave to Chris Peterson , they did not come from Flip.
- I am a boat designer and builder but not a flats fishing person, so why would i need to hook up with these two to build three skiffs when I could do this on my own at any time. I have never owned a flats skiff.
- When we started HB none of us had a clue about Vacume bagging. Thanks for the allocades Flip, but iam no genius .
- When I sold out to my three HB partners I was making over six figures in salary with company sales going through the roof with very little company dept. The company failed after I was bought out and left.
I could go on. But why? Does not make a difference to the skiffs being built. But if you are buying into a name brand it would be nice to know how it all really came about. You are spending your hard earned money to be part of this.
I contacted Chris Peterson about this via email and said that a lot of what was said was off ,I could live with it but that the part of us partners not being good businessmen was not to my liking.
Chris emailed back and said it was Flips version and he had nothing to do about it. But he would like to know my version and he would post it on his web sites.
This started a few emails back and forth with me sending him my story to read and the photos of the early boats in my career to explain that Chris was alining himself up with a dubious tale.
This I did before posting on my blog, to give him first shot of what really went down with all the paperwork and photos to go with it. I had written my history down 2 years before but had not had the time to post it here. I felt it would be great for the current owner of a company that was being promoted as the end all to flats fishing would want to be part of this. I offered him copies of all the original lines drawings and all the info I had of HB. The very essence of the beginning of the " legend". For free, no strings attached.He never emailed back after receiving all you see on this blog.
I have not heard from him since.
When Chris Peterson bought Hells Bay he bought all the building processes, the ideas , the experience of Flip, Hal, myself and the employees that made Hells Bay a major player in the flats word. This he did with a bit of money.
The interm owner, Chris and who ever makes decisions in designing there has changed the bottoms a bit, made different models, but what makes Hell Bay Boats work is how they are built. Lots of other boat companys now benefit from this building , design, and engeneering process. Iam proud of the part I played in this. I really like seeing all the clones and the use of these past ideas. Some are getting it and improving on HB.
Today Hells Bay Boatworks is a major name brand in the industry. This has been accomplished by very good advertizing , marketing, and the money it takes to make this happen. Its not cheap.
Its very nice to see all the clout of HB going to all these good causes.
I wish the best for the Petersons and HB but till this company comes out with a new ground breaking design by their pro staff they are just living and reinventing the past.
And so are all the other companys that are making facsimiles .
Flip Pallot , Hal Chittum in the first production Hells Bay Whipray at 12:00 at night at the boat ramp in Tittusvlle dying to go for our first ride. I just finished rigging the skiff. The photos are taken by me as Rachel was on the boat with our kids. We were still living on the original Hogfish.
Flip and Hal untying the skiff
Hull number one of the Whipray. The skiff you see with Flip in on HBs facebook site is the hull I built in St. Augstine.
The real Founding Fathers of Hells Bay Boatworks. Hals wife Jamie owned 26% but stayed out of the picture .
This is a picture of Flip on HBBWS facebook page today that states he is the founding father of Hells Bay.
This is the skiff I built under the tarp. It would be nice if Chris Peterson would tell the complete story of HB instead of rewriting it.
Boy that old skiff is sitting low in the stern , but Flip is a big guy. See the low Chines.
Whipray hull # 1 which was the prototype at Frank and Liz Steels Fly shop in the first few weeks of moving to Tittusville and starting up HB. This is the water tank that we had just done at the Huston Shallow Water Boat show.
Starting to build the predecessor of the Whipray on an island in Marathon Florida.
My daughter Lillian in this picture turns 20 next week. Give me a project and I will build it anywhere.
Myself , Tom Gorden , and an onlooker while we bag the first HB skiff. My Bilabong is starting to show!
Stan Nash and I making patterns for the first skiffs.
A bit of the past, now what shall the future hold?
Saturday was our second sail of the year, and it was, shall we say, very interesting.
The forecast was 5-10 mph winds with temperatures in the low 50s (12c). Since the winds were forecast to be light, I decided to take Nina, our cocker spaniel, along. Nina loves to sail, although its been a few years since her last one. Turns out shes lost her sea legs, but more on that later.
We arrived at the Port of Everett ramp around noon. The winds were light, just as forecasted, and the sun was warm in the gentle breeze. I parked a short distance away from a family that was rigging a Macgregor 26. Maybe its just me, but I still have trouble embracing the concept of having a 60 HP outboard on a sailboat, towing a water skier. To each his own. The owner gave me a thumbs up and a "Nice boat" on his way to the ramp, and I returned the compliment.
We launched Ellie about 45 minutes later, but struck up a long conversation with a very friendly fellow boatbuilder at the dock. He was genuinely impressed with Ellie and had quite a few questions. There could be another Navigator plying the waters of Puget Sound someday soon.
By the time we finally departed I noticed that the wind had picked up. A lot, in fact. Flags were blowing horizontal so it had to be up to 10-15.
We raised all sail and headed south, inside the jetty, towards the sound with Nina on her leash in one hand and the tiller in the other. Nina was excited to be at sea again. Shes very curious so she had to explore every square inch of the boat. A couple times she would put her paws on the side decks and I told her to get down. The third time she did, the boat hit a wave, Nina lost her balance, and overboard she went!
Steve, over at Arwens Meanderings, has recently written several very interesting blogs about safety gear. One of the many items he has written about are life lines. Fortunately for Nina, she essentially had a life line and I was able to use it to reel her back on board. It all happened so fast. I dont think she was in the water more than 10 seconds, but it was frightening to see her being towed through the water at 6 knots until I could grab her. It would have been more frightening had she not had a lifeline. Would I have been able to drop sail, fire up the outboard, and been able to find her? How do lifelines work? If I had one, would I clip myself up near the bow, so Id function like a sea anchor, or near the stern where Id probably get towed along like a giant crankbait?
Nina was fine. She was cold and wet, but didnt appear to have inhaled any water. She shivered for a little while but dried out pretty quickly.
By the time we finally got out to Possession sound the wind had really picked up. Whitecaps everywhere and the water was like the inside of a washing machine. This was not in the forecast! I stopped and put in a double reef in the main. We sailed around for a little while. Ellie handled the conditions just fine, but it was too rough to get any videos, I was getting uncomfortable and I was worried about Nina falling in again so we headed back to safety inside jetty island. Conditions there were great. Calm water and loads of wind, so we had a blast sailing back and forth for a couple of hours.
A sailboat race had just finished and the boats were all returning to the Everett marina. Several of them sailed up to us to give us compliments. "Nice boat!" and "What kind of boat is that?". One of the crew members was a fellow I work with, and another fellow invited me to join the dinghy races that they have on Fridays that I didnt know about.
The wind seemed to be calming down so we headed back toward Possession sound again, but kept the double reef in to be safe. Conditions had improved enough so that I could get out the cameras. I attached one to the mizzen mast and filmed a bit with the other. Nina was completely warm and dry by now so we headed out towards Gedney island.
The wind dropped a bit more, and the sky cleared up so we shook out the reefs and sailed on.
By the time we got about halfway to Gedney, the wind completely died! The GPS said we were moving 0.0 knots, occasionally 1.5 knots, with all sails up.
We waited for a while, but still no wind so we dropped all sail, fired up the outboard, and headed back.
There are many different types of roller furling systems. This furler is a "Wykeham Martin" or "wire luff" type. This popular design has been in continuous use worldwide for over 100 years. It requires a jib that has a stainless steel wire sewn into the luff, or has a "jib set flying" (a jib that does not attach to a stay). If your jib hanks onto a fixed forestay or needs to wind around a forestay this furler wont work for you. The furler you need would be more like this one.
This furler, as illustrated below, is sized for my 15 Welsford Navigator, or any similar sized small sailboat. It is comparable to a Ronstan RF76 or a Harken 434 dinghy furler. It can be scaled up in size and strength for larger boats by substituting a stronger eye-bolt, stronger u-bolt, upper swivel, and ball bearing thrust bearing.
Here is a test run of the furler
Origin
In issue #58 of Small Craft Advisor magazine, Kirk Gresham wrote an excellent article on how he designed and built two roller furlers for his 17 cutter Eider for a mere $40 each using bits of scrap and a few bits and pieces of hardware from a local hardware store. This saved Kirk a whopping $670 off the $750 price tag he was quoted for two furler units from a local Port Townsend chandlery. I knew from the moment I read Kirks article that I wanted to build one of his furlers too. I love building things. Id much rather build something than buy it, even if it ends up costing me more. But in this case building it saved me a bundle too. Thats a two-fer for me!
I had some questions after reading the article, but I knew Kirk attends the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival every year, so I met Captain Kirk at the festival. He answered all of my questions and allowed me to take some close up photos of his furlers.
Being a mechanical designer by trade, naturally I couldnt resist making some improvements to the design. I used bronze thrust washers in place of the steel radial bearings Kirk used, and I made the spool with a core of solid hardwood instead of using a section of PVC pipe. These two changes significantly increase the strength of the furler, make it operate more smoothly and increase corrosion resistance. I also used an ABS end cap instead of the bent aluminum strap used to contain the furling line. It looks better and does a much better job of containing the line.
So, here I present my improved version of Kirks $40 roller furler.
Click to enlarge
Making the Drum Assembly
The drum is made from an inexpensive 3" ABS drain pipe end cap available at any home center that sells indoor plumbing supplies, like Home Depot, Lowes, Grainger, etc. The cap I used is a Mueller 2979H. (Note: a 3" cap is actually 4" in diameter. It caps a 3" inside diameter drain pipe). Caps are available in a variety of sizes if you want a larger or smaller furler. You will also need a stainless steel eye-bolt. I used a 1/4" x 4" Stanley V2161, but welded eye bolts are a better choice as they are much stronger. To make the drum assembly, drill a 1/4" hole in the center of the end cap for the eye-bolt. Drill 7/8" diameter holes every 45 degrees around the outside for access to the furling line. Locate these holes so they are 1/4" below the open end of the cap.
I also drilled a series of small drain holes in the bottom of the drum.
Use locktite to secure the two nuts on the eyebolt.
Making the Spool Assembly
To make the spool assembly, first I cut two plywood disks from 1/4" plywood. The outer diameter of the disks should be just slightly less than the inner diameter of the ABS cap. We dont want the furling line to slip through the gap and jam the furler. Sandwiched between the disks is a piece of oak (or any other hard wood) that is 2" in diameter and 7/8" thick. Glue these three pieces together taking care to align them accurately. Drill a 1/4" hole through the center for the eye-bolt. Drill two more holes to match the stainless steel U-bolt legs. The U-bolt I used is a 1/4" x 1-1/8" x 3-1/2" Stanley V2193. Drill one extra hole in the upper disk for the stop knot of the furling line. Paint the spool with several coats of enamel paint. Cut and file the legs of the U-bolt flush with the nuts. Use locktite to secure all four nuts.
Assembling the unit
To assemble the unit, place the spool onto the eyebolt of the drum assembly. Then add a 1/4" stainless steel washer, your thrust bearing, and a locknut. Additionally secure this locknut by drilling a tiny hole near the end of the eyebolt and adding a cotter pin, or use Locktite (blue not red). The thrust bearing is simply two or three 1/4" I.D. sintered bronze thrust washers. These strong, inexpensive corrosion resistant self-lubricating washers should be readily available at any good hardware store, or you can order them here. Once in a great while, apply a drop of motor oil to the thrust washers. It will soak into the porous metal and lubricate them for a long time.
A ball bearing can be used instead of the thrust washers if you prefer. They are more expensive but may operate more smoothly under high tension. The exact size you need will depend on the diameter of your eyebolt and the space available inside your u-bolt. The style of bearing you would want is shown below, and a source for stainless steel thrust bearings in many sizes is here. Ive tested both the thrust washers and the ball bearings on my boat and there was no noticeable difference.
Tie a stop knot in the end of your furling line, feed it through the hole in the upper disk and out through one of the holes in the drum. Spin the spool to wind up the line.
Upper Swivel
A swivel is required at the head of your jib to allow the wire luff to spin and roll up the jib. With this type of furler you want a swivel that spins easily. I have tested three different swivels on my boat that have worked well for me.
This anchor swivel, is a good choice provided your luff tension is not too tight. If your jib uses a jib halyard, this swivel will work for you. It is extremely strong, very inexpensive, and spins well under moderate tension. However, since its not a ball bearing swivel, it can stick when tensioned too much.
Ball bearing swivels are a better choice. The Ronstan RF75 swivel is considerably more expensive, but is an excellent choice for larger sailboats with higher luff tensions. And this jumbo sized (size 10) fishing swivel is an excellent choice for smaller sailboats and sailing dinghys. It is the largest ball bearing fishing swivel Ive been able to find and works very well on my Navigator. It is rated to support up to 810 lbs. Do not rely on this fishing swivel to hold up a mast on anything larger than a sailing dinghy.
A word about strength
Make sure you select components that are strong enough for your application. An easy and conservative way to do this is to look at the diameter of the stainless steel cable used to make your jibs luff wire. My jib uses 1/8" cable, which has a Safe Working Load (SWL) of 352 lbs. 3/16" cable has a SWL of 740 lbs, and so on. The SWL of each one of your components (eye-bolt, u-bolt, swivel, thrust bearing, shackles, etc) should be at least as high as that of your cables. Youll be able to find the SWLs on the products packaging, at the manufacturers website, or with a bit of Googling. That way youll know your furler is stronger than your luff wire.
$40 furlers around the world
Click here to see Barrys UK version of this furler. These young folks are enjoying their furler on their homebuilt catamaran John Hows Fulmar SailCanoeFan in Montreal Conclusion
This furler has performed flawlessly on my Navigator Ellie for over 5 years now, and I couldnt be more pleased with it. If you have any feedback or if you build one of these furlers for yourself, Id love to hear about it. Please leave a comment below.
I dont recall the logic in designating this boat a 54er, which is her length on deck, versus her overall length of 57 but there must have been some marketing guru involved. This preliminary design was prepared for the Hinckley Company of Maine but never came to fruition. The year was 1990.
Here is the general arrangement plan.
Principal Dimensions LOA 57-3" LWL 42-9" Beam 15-6" Draft 5-11" (board up) 11-2" (board down) Displacement 44,966 lbs Ballast 17,000 lbs Sail Area 1,544 sq ft
Some of my supporters have been waiting for this boat for a long time. I have posted sneak previews of the Didi Sport 15 (or DS15) but the design was taking its time to reach completion. It was leap-frogged in the design queue by designs that were much more demanding of my time.
Now the plans are complete aside from some minor details and the prototype is into the final stages of build. This boat is looking very good, with interesting finishes and excellent standard of finish. The builder is creating a work of art of which he will be justifiably very proud.
This design, like the Didi 950 that I introduced last week, is a development from the Didi Mini Mk3. It has a modern hull shape with topside chine aft, built from plywood.
Didi Sport 15 hull, radius chine with topside chine.
The concept of the DS15 is a boat that can be stable and safe for family sailing and raid type racing, exciting as a little ballasted sportboat and super-fast as an unballasted trapeze dinghy. Choose your style of sailing or switch back-and-forth depending on conditions or who will be sailing with you.
Didi Sport 15 rig
The rig combines a reefable square-top mainsail with self-tacking jib, as working sails, with an asymmetrical spinnaker on retracting bowsprit to supercharge it downwind. It also has a light drifter/reacher Genoa for light airs when your wife is aboard and doesnt want the excitement of the asymmetrical.
Didi Sport 15 Prototype, round bilge from plywood.
Didi Sport 15 plywood framework ready for stringers.
It can be built by amateur or professional builders, from plans and offsets, from plans and full-size Mylar patterns or from plans and a CNC plywood kit. Go to our pricelist to order plans or plans and patterns. Go to our USA kits page to order a kit of all plywood components, accurately cut by CNC router.
Please visit our website at http://dixdesign.com/ for more info on this and our other designs.
We raised all sail and headed south, inside the jetty, towards the sound with Nina on her leash in one hand and the tiller in the other. Nina was excited to be at sea again. Shes very curious so she had to explore every square inch of the boat. A couple times she would put her paws on the side decks and I told her to get down. The third time she did, the boat hit a wave, Nina lost her balance, and overboard she went!
There are many different types of roller furling systems. This furler is a "Wykeham Martin" or "wire luff" type. This popular design has been in continuous use worldwide for over 100 years. It requires a jib that has a stainless steel wire sewn into the luff, or has a "jib set flying" (a jib that does not attach to a stay). If your jib hanks onto a fixed forestay or needs to wind around a forestay this furler wont work for you. The furler you need would be more like this one. 
