i be sailing

Paradox

Designed by Matt Layden

Specs:

LOA- 4.2m/ 13′-10"
LWL-4.1m/ 13′-5"
BEAM-1.23m/ 4′ 1/2"
DRAFT-0.23m/ 9"
SAIL AREA-9.3 sqm/ 100sqFt
DISP-640Kg/ 1410 lbs

I found this boat today and I’m really getting to like its features. It has a self righting hull, and despite its size, it’s an all weather cruiser! All sailing controls are located inside the seal-able cockpit, thus enabling sailing in any weather.

Designed primarily as a coastal cruiser, it can handle short offshore passages easily as well.  It was made by the designer for making offshore passages between Florida and the Bahamas and it has done so several times without incident. Incidentally the distance to Florida to the Bahamas is roughly comparable to the distance of Manila Bay to Puerto Galera

As a solo coastal cruiser it can store more than a week’s worth of supplies in its several storage compartments.

As a camp cruiser for two this would be great. For a couple camping with a kid, I’m not sure. The designer said it can be scaled up to 20% with no loss in performance. So I guess we can squeeze one more in.

I found out today that Jarcat 5 and 6’s are not really suited for coastal cruising or short off-shore passages, its relatively narrow beam (8 ft.) would be prone to capsize in rough open ocean conditions. I’ve ridden a 25 foot banca on the passage from Batangas city port to Puerto Galera, and believe me, sometimes it’s not pleasant. Once flipped over, a Jarcat (like most cabin cats) is almost impossible to right. sure it wont sink but…what use is an upside down boat?  . so I started looking for other designs, which led me to the Paradox. 

<=== How’s this for Stability?

There are smaller boats or boats that are of similar size, that are roomier and better looking, but I don’t think any of them can measure up to this one in terms of performance and safety. It is a relatively new design (1998, I think) and despite that, it already has quite a following.  It even won in a 300 mile endurance race in the everglades in 2003, against 70 other boats, some of which were bigger than her. Paradox won a full day ahead of the next competitor

With Jarcat out of the picture, If I do get to building a multihull it would probably be something with a much wider beam (therefore bigger and more expensive), like Richard Wood’s Janus, a Wharram Tiki or Dudley Dix’s Threefold 6 folding trimaran.  The Threefold holds a lot of promise, though primarily designed as a protected water cruiser and advertised as one. I think she has a lot more potential than the designer is saying, with a 16ft. sailing beam, (twice as much as a Jarcat 5) she can be very stable. it also has three single berths, and room for a small galley, so accommodations are good. There is one problem with the threefold 6 though, I think one has yet to be built. But this  could be a good thing, as plans for previously unbuilt boats are usually sold at a substantial discount or given away for free in exchange for build photos and completed boat pics. However, as it is a totally untested design, you wouldn’t know if it’s a lemon or not. (maybe the reason fo the conservative stance)

3-Fold 6

LOA 6.0m [19'8"]

Beam 5.0m [16'3"]

Mainsail 14.1sq.m [152sq.ft]

After consulting the all knowing forums. I found out about nesting dinghies.

A nesting dinghy is the same as any other dinghy, except that it can be separated into two pieces, and the smaller half is "nested" in the bigger half for easier storage or transport. So in essence a 10′ boat can be reduced down to 5′1". cool eh!?

There are several designs to choose from. I’ve seen one from Bateau (designers of the D4) and a couple from B&B yacht designs. a simple Google search on "nesting dinghies should also turn up several others.

I particularly like B&B’s Spindrift here’s pictures of one being built. The dinghy is actually built as a whole dinghy and then cut in half after the hull building process. The spindrift comes in 9,10,11 and 12 foot versions.

The Spindrift 11N ("N" designates nesting version) or S11N can take up to 3 people sailing and up to 4 people on row or motor. the S11N LOA (length) is 11 ft. with a beam (width) of 4′ 6" and nests down to 5′7". This means it can easily fit in the back of my uncle’s Toyota Tamaraw. Plans cost US$45

a motorized S11N.

One of the things I want to do with my first boat is learn to sail. However, I’d also like to be able to take the family out sailing once I learn to, or at least go camping with with a friend.

I’ve been reading some and I’ve been having some doubts about the carrying capacity of an 8ft pram dinghy when sailing. If it’s just rowing, it wouldn’t be a problem, a small pram like a D4/D5 or a Nymph can take two or three easy. But sailing? sure it would be more stable, but will it move??

Bigger is better when it comes to capacity but, anything exceeding 10 ft. just won’t be car toppable… hmmm?

This would be nice though…

Martens-Gossens CV-16 "Caravelle"

It’s also a pram, more like a stretched d4. but 14′ 4"!! that’s longer than my car!

Maybe I think too much…

I better ask the all knowing newsgroups hehehe…

Nothing to do with sailing, but I found out about these unusual craft at this page while (window) shopping for sailboat plans. Facinating stuff about these experimental Wing In Ground Effect planes (or er…craft). Half airplane, half boat.

I found this definition of an Ekranoplan:

An ekranoplan (Russion: экранопла́н, literally ’screen plane’) is a ground effect vehicle resembling an aircraft. They operate on the principle of the ground effect. This effect can be felt when landing in a commercial air liner; just before touchdown, the angle of descent can be felt to decrease. Ground effect vehicles skim just above a flat surface, with the height being dependent upon the size of the vehicle.

During the Cold War, ekranoplans were sighted for years on the Caspian Sea as huge, fast-moving objects. The name Caspian Sea Monster was given by confused U.S. intelligence operatives who were puzzled by the huge vehicle, which looked like an airplane with the outer halves of the wings removed. After the end of the Cold War, the "monster" was revealed to be a secret airplane of the Russian military, designed to fly only a few meters above water, thus saving energy and staying below enemy radar.

photo of Korabl’ Maket "KM " Better known as the "Caspian Sea Monster. Man! that thing is huge!. check out the 10 jet turbine engines! All of them are actually only used to get the vehicle up to speed and off the water, once there, it only used two engines to propell it forward.

More information about Wing In Ground (WIG) craft can be found at the WIG page

" In a nation of 7000 plus islands with steady monsoon breezes, cheap marine ply and lumber, it is a crime not to build and sail!"

- Perry Gamsby
Author of: StreetWise Philippines! - An expats guide to living in the Philippines

I quoted that from the Dinghy Cruising newsgroup on Yahoo! Groups. Leave it to an expat to see what should be blatantly obvious.

Also found this nice article: "Small is beautiful"

I just found a free boat plans for a pram dinghy, that is very similar in specs to a nymph, (a narrower version of a Rubens nymph).

The D4/D5:

Since plans are free, cost of building the boat should be less (around P1500 less). however, The D4 is almost a foot  narrower than the Rubens Nymph, which means it has less capacity and wouldn’t be as stable. But I reckon we can probably scale it up by 10% and get the boat we want. The fact that the plans are free means a lot of people have built these boats over the past few years, I literally found more than a dozen websites with pages detailing the construction of these  things. It also looks pretty safe with built-in floatation under the seats, It also has a center board instead of lee board so it should be easier to sail.

D4 with jib.

Since I started on this obsession with boats I’ve amassed quite a number of links to some very informative site. My bookmarks are getting pretty long, so I thought I should share some of them with you.

Here they are, arranged in no particular order:

http://www.instantboats.com/boats.html
Dynamite Payson’s instant boats page. contains a good selection of plans, all of them for sale though… no free ride here. Prices for plans range from 20 to 50 USD
http://www.boatshop.com.ph/
A company in Cebu that builds really neat multihulls. The company is owned by Mike Allen and makes boats for notable multihull designers like John Marples and Jim Brown. Their "Visayan" class of catamarans are very nice and they’re designed for Tropical Cruising. If I had money I’d probably buy a Visayan and save myself the trouble

http://pocketcruiserguide.com/BoatsUbuild.htm
A page that links to other designer’s sites for pocket cruisers. Most of which are DIY boats.

http://www.ace.net.au/schooner/sites2.htm
Bolger boats on the Net - a page that feature bolger boats that have been build by many a boat builder.

http://www.greatkicks.com/diary/default.asp?page=6&order=id
some guy’s blog. He built a Rubens Nymph though, and fully documented the process with articles and pictures

http://www.westsystem.com/ewmag/14/RubensNymphr.html
this is an article on how someone built a Rubens Nymph using the very popular and very expensive West System Epoxy and Fiber Glass.

http://www.cat2fold.com/index.php?page=pictures
A guy who designed and built a 30ft. folding catamaran

http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/r/articles.htm
Duckworks is an online magazine for backyard boat builders. It has some very informative articles and they also sell plans. Most of the articles though can only be accessed with a paid subscription.

http://members.aol.com/polytarp/weekend.htm
A guide to make polytarp sails from a kit

http://www.shallowwatersailor.us/swsmanual/
A shallow water sailing manual

http://sailing.about.com/od/learntosail/a/shouldyousail.htm
Newbies to sailing should probablly start on this one, it’s a article entitled "Is Sailing for you?"

http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/rhturner1/j5-6.html.
The official Jarcat web page of Ross Turner. Not much to look at and it kinda leaves you wanting for more. best place to get info on jarcats is probally the Jarcat Yahoo discussion group

http://marina.fortunecity.com/breakwater/274/michalak/date.htm
Jim Michalak’s newsletter on boat building see previous blog post

http://members.optusnet.com.au/~ingle.m/index1.html.
A guy in Australia who’s building (or built) a Jarcat 6. Well documented with photos, I’m not sure if he’s finished it though, Last entry was June 2004 and he hasn’t posted any updates since.

http://www.multihullboatbuilder.com/
a forum for those who build multihull boats

http://www.northsailsod.com/class/optimist/optimist_tuning.html
The Optimist is a popular sail training pram, they say 90% of sailors have trained on these. this site shows sailing videos of optimist sailers. Amazing the things you can do with small boats

http://d48677.u24.wsiph2.com/index.php
Republic Chemical Industries - Makers of Mighty Bond Super Glue. What is this doing here you say? They also make Marine Epoxy. essential in making any boat.

http://www.amya.org/sailmanual/table.html
The American Model Association’s sailing manual

http://www.hobby-boatbuilding-index.de/
a guy who built a V12 Dinghy

http://www.friend.ly.net/~dadadata/oddsails.html
the cheap pages - how to make cheap sails from polytarp

http://www.angelfire.com/ex/ti/FWmain.html
An expat in Bohol who made a Bolger designed boat from locally available materials in bohol no less.

http://www.westleyfarm.co.uk/history.htm
An inspiring story of a couple that built their own catamaran in England and sailed it across the atlantic, to Mexico. the couple ended up here http://www.hikuri.com/ and run their own business in Mexico while helping indigenous people of that area.

http://www.andy-smith-boatworks.com/
Andy Smith Boat Works - an expat in the Philippines who builds boats in Bohol. Their company’s specialty is building Wharram Catamarans.

http://www.znw.com/homepage/zephyr_faq.htm#photos
a nicely done homebuilt Bolger Long Micro, nice FAQ section

If money was not factor, I’d definitely go for a catamaran (multihull) I like the non-heeling characteristics of multihulls. I’ve been a land lover most of my life and traveling at an angle is not something i’m used to.

Characteristics of Monohulls that are different from Multihulls:

• Large interior volume
• Self righting (depends on design) in the event of a capsize
• Sails with a heel (at an angle)

Characteristics of Multihulls that are different from Monohulls:

• Large deck area (because of its bigger beam (width))
• Stable in strong winds (less heel)
• Difficult to right when capsized
• Does not sink
• Faster than a monohull

Monohull vs. Multihull

One big concern for me was interior space. most multihulls less than 25 ft. do not have room to hold a double berth (bed) and sleep aboard accommodations are limited to sleeping on the open deck. In a monohull however, a yacht that is as small as 15ft. can have live-aboard accommodations for 2 (though a bit cramped) and I want something that should sleep at least 3 people.

There is said to be a long winded debate about which is safer. And with the articles I’ve found, it seems multihulls are winning hands down. Article on safety that or monohull enthusiasts are defending themselves pretty well.

When dealing with budgets as small as mine, boat length is definitely an issue. The more boat you have the more expensive it is, both in terms of material costs and construction time. Whether mono or multi, I think one would probably use the same amount of material, whether you’re making a 20ft mono or 20ft. multi. A small boat (less than 25ft.) also means you can trailer it. And for someone who probably can’t afford mooring costs, much less a yacht club membership, that is definitely a good option.

Though I’d like to have multihull catamaran, I initially thought, that a monohull like the Bolger Micro was all I could afford. It fit all of my requirements (see first post), had a hull length I can afford, and it also had a bonus of the hull being self righting, meaning that it would go upright by itself in the event of a capsize. Capsizing is not an experience I’d like to have in the open ocean, it’s nice for a boat to have that feature. 

Then I found this. The Jarcat 5 and 6. A 16 and 20ft. sailing catamaran with a double berth. And designed for amateur construction (oh yeah!, oh yeah!) and being a multihull, it’s lightweight (no ballast) and fully trailerable behind a Mazda 323.

look at all that space! cabin of a jarcat 6

Jarcat 5

Jarcat 6

Here’s a page with some nice construction photos

.

I’m still doing research on Jarcats. just joined their news group and hoping to learn more.

Probably the best resource on the net on backyard boatbuilding is Jim Michalak’s Newsletters. It has hundreds of articles from dozens of news letters he has written over the past 8 years, there are also hundreds photos and diagrams from both from Jim and other boatmakers that have used his designs. Articles cover a wide range of topics, useful for any would be boatbuilder and sailor.

Most of the language in his website is still beyond me though, but it’s slowly making sense.

Messabout - A Messabout is a gathering of amateur boat builders and lovers where YOU get to see and usually try out many different amateur built boats.

Now that would be neat. now if only more people would start building their own boats.

I guess it’s time to put up the Philippine Small Boat Messabout Society. Can I see a show of hands on who wants to be a member? oh yeah, I’ve got to build my boat first.

also found another cool link on designs for pocket yachts. nice

Just found this sailing manual, that details the basics of sailing. It’s a good read. I’m printing it out and plan to read through it over the weekend. it looks pretty daunting. can’t be much harder than learning to play the pipes though

by the looks of it, leaning the terminology can be very confusing too, look at all these parts. you have your halyards, clew, tack, luff, leach, shroud etc… most of it is greek to me. I’m not one for remembering names and shi+ but I think I can manage.

This manual is based on a flying junior., a popular class of racing dingy, it’s about twice as long as the Nymph i’m planning to put together. and has a serveral differences. the manual explains things in very basic terms though that applies to most boats.

The Rubens Nymph is very similar to the Optimist class of boats. Not sure I want to build one of those though. I think they have Optimists in the Taal sailing school.