__Savi_______________________
Two things you should avoid on a deck design is windage - and weight. This MkII ketch features a large, yet light weight cabin, that covers over the midships,
with a sliding hatch that gives you access to the centerboard.
It may seem a bit complicated to make at first, but it wasn’t too difficult to put together.
The basic design is simple, thin wood sides and roof are glued to two end pieces pegged
down into mast steps. It can be taken off, if you want to change the design, without leaving
any trace, since it is not glued to the deck. You can modify the design to suit the materials,
or patience you have at hand.
Each end was made from 1 x 1 in cedar, with a 1/4 in dowel pegging it in place at each end
into mast steps (2nd and 3rd). The sides and roof were made by cutting off a thin piece of
lumber 1/8th of an inch thick from the face of a cedar 2x4. An alternative material, could be
balsa, box wood (like from an apple crate) or, for a plank look, use wood tongue depressors
(you can buy these at a craft shop, or see your doctor 8^)
At the front end, a 1/4in hole was drilled all the way through the 1 x 1, the end of the peg sticks
through the roof, (you can make it look like a spotlight or vent) this also gives the option
of using it for a mast step if you want to change the sail plan later.
The two end pieces were arched at the top, to arch the roof of the cabin, (to reduce windage).
I also drilled a 1/8 in hole through each end, off to one side, to run the jib sheet through,
but you can also use a couple of fairleads on the deck to run the line around the cabin instead.
A flat roof will be simpler and quick to make, but oh no... I wanted an arched roof.
To make an arched roof the material should be thin enough to bend by hand, use your own judgement
here, since the amount of force needed to maintain a curve will vary, along with the strength
of the glue that you use. I decided to put a permanent curve into the wood, and lessen the
chance of the thing coming apart over time.
The sliding rails were made with two popsicle sticks! The inside edges were sanded at a 45 deg.
angle to form a pocket that the hatch sits into. An alternative way to do this is to glue two
pieces together for each rail, the top piece overlapping the bottom. The sliding hatch was made white plastic cut from a jug. ______________________________
Savi gets its name from Savary Island, a little piece of paradise off the coast of British
Columbia. ______________________________ The laced on sails, hull modifications, cabin, deckboards, paint, varnish, this model was
meant to be a ‘piece of work’ from the start, not something put together in an afternoon. Performance Rating ...
Stability...Good ___________________________________________
contents: Savi
model skipjack
lug rig sailboat
home | Fairlead |
sailing glossary | kit prices
Weight makes your model top heavy, encouraging capsizing, no fun.
Windage, is wind pushing against surfaces other than sails, not good.
I cut the opening in the roof first (coping saw) then soaked the wood in water overnight.
Next, I clamped the wood onto each end and let it dry (at least a day in a warm place) to give it a curve.
The rails are glued onto the roof before the roof gets painted.
The hatch needs to be squeezed a little when popping it in place, sitting in between the two
sliding rails under a little bit of compression.
Its easy to shave down an edge of plastic using a wood plane, just draw the plastic along the
planes blade until you get the exact size you want.
Note the hatch will not slide all the way out, sliding forward, it bumps into the peg, sliding
back, it bumps into the mizzen mast. An unexpected bonus is that the centreboard when removed,
stows inside the cabin when the model is disassembled for travelling.
The inside of the cabin should be sealed at least with a coat of primer.
As it is with making sails with a paper pattern, light cardboard and a bit of making tape can
help you with a cabin design made with more than one piece.
Described as a giant sand dune, about five miles long and a half mile wide, with cottages
nestled in its temperate rain forest. The residents have to be a bit ‘savvy’ too, there is no
electrical service from the mainland, and water needs to be carefully used, there’s only a
hand full of vehicles (the locals want to keep it that way).
Bicycles, solar panels, rain barrels and a lot of creative use of driftwood are routine.
The island is surrounded by superb beaches, some with the farthest reaching shoals I have yet
encountered.
These shoals have warm waters, (the warmest north of Mexico!) and a wide variety of tidal plant
and animal life, sea lions perched on boulders growl off in the distance, while bald eagles
soar overhead. Glacial boulders are scattered in the waters on one side of the isle, keeping
the noise of powerboats away.
I spent a week there at a cottage, and spent the days sailing, the evenings, rigging models
to try out the next day. Often, I had long stretches of beach all to my self, and could count
on one hand the number of people I would come across all day.
The hull was rounded up at the bow and stern giving it more lift and less drag, as you can see
in the photo. This also gave the model good manoeuverability.
The centerboard was made somewhat small, this gives it some extra vertical stability, at the
expense of leeway, and a bit less windward ability.
But the concept was of a model that could
sail in most conditions without having to reduce sail, reducing sail can be awkward when laced on.
The mainmast set in the first mast step is (standard) 16in long, with a 12in. mizzen set in the
fourth step. You will need a couple of fairleads, one for the mainsail, set near the mizzen mast,
and one for the jib.
Well worth the effort, sails well overall, and an eye catcher.
Sail adjustability....Fair
Swiftness...Fair
Manoeuvres...Good
Course stability...Good
Ease of construction...Difficult
View hundreds of sailing art posters and prints... clik here!
The "Skipjack" is one of the most well known of the classic fishing boats to come out of
the Chesapeake Bay area. (Maryland USA) They have been dredging the bottom for oysters for
more than 100 years.
The fleet of Chesapeake Bay skipjacks are the last commercial sail powered fishing fleet left in North America. Their survival is a two fold story of conservation, of the boats and the oyster.
The skipjack evolved from a variety of sailing boats that arrived in the bay area after depleting the stocks in their own waters in the early 1800's.
It was not long after, in 1820 that dredging in the bay became banned due to stock depletion. The ban was lifted in 1865 due to demand for oysters and the development of the canning process that made marketing the oyster possible.
Under the new rules, only sail powered vessels were allowed to work, and only in certain locations, thus, the sailboat and the oyster, remained.
By the late 1890's the skipjack had developed into its traditional form. These were easy and economical ships to build, sometimes built by the fishermen themselves, rarely more than 50 feet long. The large mainsail gave them enough power in light winds to do their work, without a lot of complicated rigging to tend.
Where the name "skip jack" originated may either be from a "skip jack" meaning any type of fish that jump out of, or play at the surface of the water. Or "skip," short for skipper, a captain of a small ship, and "Jack" a British nickname at one time synonymous with any "common" skilled person or tradesman, a "Jack of all trades," a "Jack tar"(sailor) a lumber "Jack" etc.
Only a hand full of skipjacks are left still operating today, low profits and over-harvesting have taken their toll. State, city, local heritage societies and museums are doing their best to keep these boats preserved, for static display or as functional boats used for interpretive day trips.
As for the oyster, a moratorium on harvesting the area altogether my be the only solution.
Single masted, this model could be built on a MkI or MkII kit hull. I built one on each.
The mast is stepped in the first mast step and standard length.
There are no battens on the mainsl', and no roach, the cut is simple and straight. So, you can make the sail from poly bag or vinyl.
The boom is made from a long bamboo skewer and extends slightly over the transom.
To keep the jib working in tandem with the main, the mainsheet leads from the aft fairlead to about midway on the boom where it is held in place by a piece of pierced rubber from an inner tube.
You can adjust where the mainsheet joins the boom with ease by sliding the rubber fore and aft. Also note that on the MkII another fairlead is added just aft the well. (the peg can also be used) This puts a little more friction on the mainsheet for controlling large sails, and also helps to hold the boom down.
The jib is attached to its boom at the tack and clew with more pieces of rubber, and the jibsheet is simply tied onto the knot at the clew. The jibsheet then leads down through a fairlead and continues back through the aft fairlead and is tied to the mainsheet far back enough that it will allow the mainsail to swing out to a full beam reach. The pierced rubber will stay in place along the boom better if you cut a small notch into the skewer where you want the rubber to stay. (Plastic fittings you make, can also be used of cource.)
The forestay loops through the rubber that grips around the jibs tack and boom, this keeps it in place and with a few tugs, the sail can be tensioned. The sail was given a few tabs for 'hanks' tacked down with clear tape, and the head of the sail was attached by simply tying a reef knot with the stay around its head.
The hull... I modified the kit hull to reflect the most common skipjack hull design.
The hull has a sharp concave bow entrance tapering down the first third of the hulls length. This was done with a wood rasp, then sanded down, a spoke shave could also be used (with much less sanding).
The run (under the stern) sweeps up along both sides to form a "V" up to the waterline.
I used a "jack" plane here (appropriate). See the shaded part of the illustration for the
areas that were worked.
These are all round good preforming models, even though the mainsail is not all that sophisticated,
it is large enough to get going underway in the lightest winds, and the low centre of effort
lets you sail in strong winds with out too much difficulty.
Performance Rating ...
Stability...Good (no ballast)
Sail adjustability....Good
Swiftness..Fair
Manoeuvres...Fair
Course stability...Good
Ease of construction...Good
Be sun smart..wear a hat.
The lug sail, like the lateen, originated in the Mediterranean. This type of lug has been called the "Western Lug" and is believed to have been developed by early Spanish fishermen.
The top (head) is supported by a single spar set on an angle sloping forward. The design may have been inspired by the lateen for it is a type of hybrid between a lateen and square sail. The design offered the windward abilities of the lateen and the power of a square sail.
The traditional western lug is free footed, there is no boom to support the sails foot
(bottom). The sails tack would be secured to various positions at the bow and the mainsheet
secured to various positions at the stern and so it required at least two crewmen to sail efficiently.
Just like the lateen, the mast would spoil the sails draft when the yard that supports the sails head would switch over when changing tack.
This could be tolerated for a short while if you were sailing off the wind, but the method used to properly change tack would require the yards forward end to be dipped down and switched around behind the mast. Easy enough procedure in light air, I suppose.
The lug was popular with small and medium size boats, some of the larger with twin masts. The lug was also very fast, but waned in popularity after the gaff rigged sail was introduced by the Dutch during the 17th. century. It is interesting to note the section that sits abaft the mast resembles the gaff rig in profile.
Today, lug rigged boats are still in use although mostly in the Mediterranean, Italy has enthusiasts who hold races and regattas and their colourful sails are crafted with artistic flair.
For this model, I made a boom from a bamboo skewer that stretches between tack and clew.
The mainsheet slips through a pierced rubber cleat that also holds the sails clew in place.
The mainsheet then travels along the boom and through a second rubber cleat near the mast. (see illus.)
The mainsheet then slips down the gooseneck (sleeve) and is pegged down with the mast. This lets you make for-and-aft adjustments to the sail.
Generally, the sail should be adjusted so that two thirds of its area is behind the mast. If too much of the sail is placed forward, the sail will be difficult to control and accidental jibes will be common.
You may find in strong winds that the sail can accidentally swing completely around forward with the clue up front! This happened to me a couple of times resulting with the boat completely turning around to leeward and sailing back to me!
This can be avoided by tying a short line from the tacks clew to the fairlead at the stem with a length that will not allow the sail to swing beyond a beam reach. A line used for this purpose is called a 'preventer'.
The sail is suspended from a yard made with bamboo. To simplify the process, I used two strips of clear tape to attach the sails. There is a space left untaped to tie a halyard to. The halyard ties to the spar, wraps around the mast, loops under itself and continues up to the masthead where it is made fast. Make the halyard long enough so that you can reduce sail when needed.
It is a powerful sail that does not just sail downwind, it charges! Especially with a preventer.
I can sail this model during light winds when other models will just creep along. It does have windward ability, more than I expected, even when the sail is on the wrong tack (pressing against the mast) there seemed to be no problem.
To reduce sail area, a pair of small clips can be made from flexible plastic. The sails foot is bunched up along the boom and the clips "reef" it down, they should not be made so tight that they damage the sail.
The Mk I hull was left unmodified, and given a few coats of dark blue acrylic paint.
The keel was painted the same. The stock mast was shortened to nine inches.
And the kick-up rudder was made from a blue plastic to keep with the colour scheme.
Performance Rating:
Stability...Good
Windward Ability... Good
Manoeuvrability... Good
Swiftness...Very Good
Sail adjustability.....Fair
Ease of Construction...Acceptable
Above is a pic of another model, a double ended MkII rigged with two luggs.
home |
Fairlead |sailing glossary |
buy a kit here 'Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen'. -Albert Einstein
