It certainly tacks the way I had hoped, and not like any multihull I had ever sailed. It comes around as quickly as a little sailing dinghy.
I only had about 10 knots of breeze but the speed seems as good or better than my other canoes.
A few things need to be done before the next sail. It needs a stop thingy on the rudder so that when it's pulled down it stops at the right angle and the mast slot needs a pin so that the slugs don't fall out when the sail is lowered.
I now know more about the effect of curved masts. The mast is a rotating one and having the head curved aft has the effect of over rotating the mast to the ideal angle. Normally with rotating masts, you need control lines at the base to pull it around more than the sail would naturally do, but this one does it automatically.
The wind looks even lighter today so I'll concentrate on the details yet to be finished.
Congratulations on the baptism! I also found a need to put in stop-pins on my aluminum sail-track masts, since my goosenecks go into the slots, and my smaller jibheaded mizzen uses slugs. This also prevented the gooseneck from being pulled out when I tightened the downhaul while underway (I do not always haul up the sail quite far enough to take into account a downhaul tightening).
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Gary! the boat looks great.
ReplyDeleteWhat is it, in your opinion, that makes the boat tack easyer than your other boats?
I'm pretty sure that the increased rocker aft is the reason. I have yet to find out if it reduces the top speed, because as we know everything in sailing design is a compromise.
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