Process of "Design" (JohnS)
It's happened to me again. I read with dismay Roy's article on the new tri or double outrigger canoe hull shape with flat bottom and V'd slab sides. It almost made me go to the shed to burn my latest creation in the early stages of construction which, of course, has a flat bottom and V'd slab sides and, so I dreamt, would be unique, revolutionary and definitely record breaking.
The exasperation stems from the planning days of my present skinny hulled outrigger canoe. My dreams of this supposedly rapid and extraordinary craft were dashed with disappointment when at Rutland water some 3 or 4 years ago. PeterB arrived with his Wharram designed virtual replica of my intended creation. He had the nerve to win the sailing-paddling race hands down with only a bizarre crab claw sail and a log for an outrigger, much to the consternation and mutterings of those sailing behind in relatively high-tech designs. Some things are better forgotten!
After the healing process of a couple of years I put pen to fag packet once more to create one better than Peter's. This had a totally V'd hull and a beam of 16 inches and looked very lean and mean. Sea trials on the Peak Forest Canal however did not go well. The draft was about 9 inches and resulted in the requirement of two tug boats to make the thing go about. It virtually dammed the canal when broadside on.
The application of a jigsaw to the bottom improved matters by a factor of one and a half tugboats and a subsequent well profiled rudder blade helped even more until it reached the standard of barely acceptable.
Sorry I got carried away! Back to my exasperation with the new design.
The new boat is supposed to overcome the problems of the previous, having a keel width of 12 inches and should only draw 4.5 inches. I talked it over with IainH, who similarly dabbles in non-conventional designs, and he had the audacity to say it's a little like an International Moth. It is a bit! However I still adamantly claim it's my own design despite Roy's article, the Moth's existence and any other evidence to the contrary.
It's been suggested that I should build a more conventional proven design with a track record of winning races! I've not done so because to me it's not as much fun. I still have the misguided idea that I may just once come up with something meaningful. We all sail and even race for different reasons. I'm not competitive with others but am a little with myself. Not winning doesn't bother me but making a thing of my own conception and creation work well gives me one heck of a buzz so I'll see if this boat does the trick.
New technology does open new avenues. To see one product of it I suggest you search on the International Moth web-site photographs. You can see what can be done with a big sail and a couple of water wings. However let's hope that 2006 is rewarding for all of us for whatever reason we sail.
Concerning Exploits Else-Where And -When (RoyB)
In the beginning was the MacGregor, and the... Well it wasn't really and I've found a book to prove it. My family, being well aware of my eccentricity ("Where's Dad?" "Where d'you think, in the workshop, gluein' an' screwin'!" - uttered with feeling), have now found the default Xmas/birthday present - a book with a photo of water and a boat on the cover. I have lately received two such, the first, 'Barrow's Boys' by Fergus Fleming, describing the British Navy's feats of exploration in the 19th and early 20th centuries (ISBN 1-86207-502-6). John Barrow was Second Secretary to the Admiralty after the Napoleonic wars and decided that the largely redundant navy should be given something interesting and patriotic to do. James Ross, John Franklin, William Parry were examples of men who benefited and/or perished from his urgings. It all ended 100 years later with Scott. It's a good read, but what struck me before I even turned a page was the subtitle: 'A Stirring Story of Daring, Fortitude and Outright Lunacy..... part thriller and part black comedy'.
The subtitle of the second expression of filial gratitude reads: 'Epic Voyages in the Most Improbable Vessels'... Perhaps you now begin to understand why I suspected a sub-plot here. The flier which Keith has produced describing the OCSG's activities ("recreational", "sociable", "appropriate equipment and skills") has clearly not been read by my nearest and dearest when they thrust "outright lunacy", "black comedy" and "improbable vessels" between me and the Christmas turkey/ birthday cake. Is it just me or are they taking the piss? It seemed ungrateful to challenge them at the time.
The second offering's main title is 'A Speck on the Sea' by William H (he is American) Longyard, a somewhat rambling pot-pourri of adventures (ISBN 0-07-144029-1). My eye was first caught by the translation of instructions for the inscription on the tomb of a member of Columbus's transatlantic voyage, Diego Mendez: "In the middle of the said stone let there be the representation of a canoe, which is a hollowed tree, such as the Indians use for navigation; for in such a vessel did I cross three hundred leagues of sea; and let them engrave above it this word: CANOA". This was in 1536. And 480 years later JohnS appears to be trying to repeat the feat. Plus ça change... I would be interested to know of an earlier recorded use of the word.
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