Sailing a Wooden Classic

I was brought up in an environment where building ones own boat was part of competeing at the local Yacht Club. Im talking about the early sixties and seventies, and Im grateful to have been around for the experience. Why dont people build their own boats for competition any more?

These days it seems that dinghy racing revolves around the purchase of an off-the-shelf production boat, whether it be new or second-hand. Well, in the past there were a lot of good boats designed for ordinary people to build and race, and one of the most prominant designers was Jack Holt. Tens or even hundreds of thousands of his designs were constructed by amateurs - Mirror Dinghy, Heron, Enterprise, GP 14, 125 to name just a few.

Arguably, one of Jack Holts best designs was the Lazy E or as it is currently known, the National E. It is said that the Lazy E was designed as a successor to both the Enterprise and the GP 14, and that she had all of the virtues of the preceding designs with none of the vices.

A few months ago my middle son, David, bought an old and fairly rough Lazy E. He was hesitant at the time, being in a position where he had to be careful with his money, but decided to go ahead anyway. The old boat has proven to be a great success, and here is a short video to show what fun one can have with somebody elses cast off equipment. This shows Dave and my oldest boy, Geoffrey, enjoying a simple day-sail off Manly, Queensland, Australia. Dave on the tiller, and Geoff on the trapeze. Despite what some people say, I believe in the new generation!

Enjoy the video - you can do it as well!

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Teaching at The Wooden Boat School Tradional Modern Oar Making

After work at Shaw and Tenney, I had my debut teaching job at Wooden Boat School. One of my favorite (and most labor intensive) specialties is oar making, so I was to teach the traditional way and the modern way, using composite blades. Each students chose an oar type of their choice to fit a boat they had or wanted to have. We had everything from 7 flat blade Spruce oars (for a Nutshell Pram) to laminated plywood spoon blade sculls to a Greenland style kayak paddle.

 

We were able to get out for two solid rows where CLint coached some fixed seat rowing and we all just enjoyed learning how to use oars and be comfortable in rowboats. We were able to use the schools fleet of rowboats, including this Joel White Shearwater.

 

Students quickly learned that oar making is mostly a wood removal activity, but they also learned some of my tricks, like adding decorative laminations on the outside of the upper looms. They also learned that there is a bit of engineering and art in making oars. Because we were able to get on the water, we also so the clear link between how we shape oars in the shop and how they react on the water.

 

Finishing oars after sanding is as much work as shaping them. One of my big pet-peeves is that oars are balanced and we spent a couple hours balancing everybodys oars with a little lead in the handle. It does not make the oar heavier, effectively, because the oars weight is on the gunwale. Therefore, it is the balance that makes oars feel lightweight. Leathering the oars is a project as well as sealing and varnishing. Everybody left with the oars largely done. One student had a good challenge. He brought in a pair of hollow sculling oars and wanted to make a replacement (or back up) pair in a week. So, we made the loom solid, sized down, and laminated a pair or plywood blades much like I do in my shop for customers oars, over a laminating jig. The blades are glued on the shaped loom and the finished result looks like this, and I might add he is very happy with them. In fact they are no heavier than the original, hollow sculls!

 

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Wooden Boat Festival Port Townsend

I will be at the Wooden Boat Festival at Port Townsend, in Washington State, next weekend. This is the 39th edition of this annual Festival, which is claimed to be the biggest of the type in the world. With hundreds of boats on view on land and in the water, many suppliers exhibiting their wares, boatbuilding demonstrations, a very full schedule of seminars and live shows in the evenings, there is plenty to keep lovers of boats and the water occupied for a day or more. Add in the wide array of food and beverages served by vendors at the Festival and nearby restaurants and you have the ingredients for a wonderful weekend to help wind down the summer.

Didi Cruise-Mini "Seque" on the 2014 Wooden Boat Festival.

The Festival runs from Friday 11th through to Sunday 13th September. I will be participating in one shared seminar session and be hosting two of my own. For those who would like to catch one or more of them, here are the times and locations.

1) Yacht Designer Panel Q&A. Moderated by Jay Benford, we designers will give our opinions in response to whatever boat-related questions you throw at us. This type of seminar shows that we dont always agree on the best way to do something. Just as well, or all boats would look alike. Friday 11th 2:45 to 4:30 in Maritime East "Cascade" room.

2) Plywood Boat Construction. In this PowerPoint-illustrated seminar, I discuss the various plywood boat construction methods for which I design and have designed in the past, showing the details used and covering the advantages or disadvantages of the type. Saturday 12th 2:30 to 3:30pm in the Explorer Room.

3) Plywood Kits for Larger Boats. Most people think of kit boats as applicable to dinghies and other small open boats, not for much bigger ocean cruisers and racers. In this PowerPoint-illustrated seminar I show a wide range of plywood kit boat options, from trailer-sailers to cruiser/racers, traditional to modern craft and both mono- and multihulls. Sunday 13th 1:15 to 2:15pm in Maritime West "Olympic" room.

If you live in the Pacific Northwest or will be visiting next weekend, spend some quality time with boats and boating people at the Wooden Boat Festival

Our main website - http://dixdesign.com/
Our mobile website - http://dixdesign.com/mobile

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