Still turning left

You haven't forgotten Dylan Winter and his video series about sailing aroung the UK in a Mirror offshore tripple-keeler, have you? He is still putting up new videos periodically and his last one is simply brilliant.

Here it is:


More videos here.

Little Grace to Finland

Sometimes small boats make long journeys - but not always by sea. I have just updated the Alacrity blog with a cruise report of the unusual kind. The journey of Alacrity "Little Grace" from Coventry, UK to Finland - by trailer.

The report is here.

Alacrity anniversary

Next year is the 50th anniversary of the Alacrity. I have been asked if I would be interested to be involved in a project creating an anniversary publication. I might be, but I want to check with the crowd if there would be a market as well as if there would be others willing to contribute. Please check this post on the Alacrity site and tell me what you think in the comments.

The ultimate Twin-Keel advantage list

I might just have written about this before in one of the older issues, in which case this is a reprint (or repost). However, it's worth it. Here is the ultimate list of the twin-keel's advantages, according to this study.

I am especially intrigued by #3 as it explains why my boat can go faster than its hull speed, without planing. Just about 10% faster, which is perfectly within the range below.

1. Higher sailing speeds than an ordinary cruising yacht of similar dimensions. Surprisingly, part of the reason for this is the relatively small wetted surface, which yields improved light air performance. Modern twin keels are of high aspect ratio and present less wetted area then a full keel or long fin keel while retaining the steady helm associated with full keels.

2. The twin keels become more effective with increased angle of heel, while a single keel becomes less effective. Because twin keels cant outward at the tip, the leeward keel becomes more vertical and deeper in the water as the boat heels. The windward keel is working more horizontally creating downward lift that increases righting moment giving more power to carry sail. Also with this cant outward from the vertical, leeway forces water up to the root of the fin as opposed to spilling over the tip in a single keel. Hydrodynamic tests have shown that decreasing end tip loss can double the effectiveness of a fin (the sole purpose of keel winglets).

3. The wave pattern reshapes to reduce the fore and aft crests. At hull speed a hollow forms amidship, but the bilge keels cause a wave to form in this hollow, canceling out the stern wave and giving a flatter wake. This increases the maximum speed of the hull, as much as 15 - 20%, in the same way that a bulbous bow or stern bustle works; by reducing wave making resistance at hull speed where it constitutes 85 - 90% of total resistance. To ensure the desired effect is at cruising speed the correct fore and aft placement of the keels and proper proportions must be checked by model testing. This placement is critical, as the model data shows. Too far forward or too far aft and the resistance will dramatically increase.

4. The deep plunging of an ordinary hull is avoided by the stabilizing action of the fins which are also very effective in dampening out rolling motions. The fins also provide a certain amount of lift to the stern at speed when the hull is upright. The effect of this lift is to flatten the trim angle, i.e. reducing squatting, which flattens out the wake and lowers the resistance.

5. Directional stability is markedly enhanced by the fins. This is demonstrated both by tank tests and full size yacht performance.

6. Speed and fuel consumption under power are better then usual. The prop can work in clear water without being shrouded by the keel and rudder. In the case of the motorsailer we were testing, 85 h.p. would produce 14 knots. Also the yacht can be controlled in reverse, which is seldom true of single keel yachts.

7. The rudder areas are smaller for the same reason as the keels. Each rudder is more effective as it works upright, deep in the water.

8. Both keels and rudders can be asymmetrical (more curve on one side than the other) like a wing, and tailored to work on their one specific tack. This again makes them more efficient allowing smaller appendages. Generally it is felt that both the rudders and keels can be made 25-30% smaller because of the greater efficiency.

9. Windward ability equal to that of an ordinary yacht is achieved on a fixed draft approximately comparable to that of a centerboarder without the problems associated with lifting foils. Windward performance in rough water is superior because of the roll and pitch dampening abilities of the keels.

10. Stability is equal to that of an ordinary yacht without recourse to extreme beam. Righting moment and range of stability are at least equal to those of a well designed centerboard yacht of relatively deep fixed draft, because ballast can be placed in each fin the ballast is as low as any keel-centerboarder.

11. The general advantages of twin keels include the ability to take groundings in a level position. This allows the bottom to be cleaned and painted (although the shorter and shorter keels are making this more precarious), without the cost and nuisance of a haul out, as well as being easily shipped without a cradle. When sailing in shallow water, if one should touch bottom, the boat rights and clears itself. This is possible because twin keels draw more water when heeled than upright, unlike single keel boats which when righted dig themselves in deeper.

New editions of the old PDF-newsletters

I have finally found out how to preserve the old PDF newsletters for the future without needing the site any longer. So I have created complete Volumes of the PDF:s per year and published them at Lulu's. Now they can be downloaded volume vise (and the single 1/2008 issue) as well as ordered in print.
The prints are quite expensive as they are full color and I am not really sure if the quality of the original PDFs is high enough to make them look good, but anyway the option is there!

Unfortunately I do not have high-resolution pics for the covers so they are a bit dull...but the inside is exactly as before.

You can find the new editions for free download or print here. The old site will be available for another year as well.

A little self-advertising...

I hope you will forgive me for this little advertisement as it does not have anything to do with twin-keelers. It does, however, have to do with sailing. So, for those of you who occasionally read what is commonly referred to as "nautical fiction", I have finally made my own contribution to this genre. The novel is now available as a pocket book as well as a free download. If you are interested you can read more here. And this is the teaser:

"It's 1808 and Sweden is at war with Russia. The war is not going well. On land, the Swedish army is retreating continuously and all that stands between the Russians and the Swedish mainland are the gunboats of the inshore fleet. The sea war amongst the islands of the Finnish and Swedish archipelagos is a special kind of war, fought in open boats by badly equipped men without proper training. Fighting the weather as much as the Russians, Lieutenant Johan Kuhlin commands a small squadron of three gunboats on special duty. During the short and wet summer, he learns that an independent command isn't all glory and that spies can be more dangerous than Russian guns."

A Near Tragedy

Another yarn from our Caribbean friend Capt Tuna.

Sometimes when we go to sea tragedy is always near and we must always be carefull about what we do and when we do it The sea can turn against us unexpectedly and force us to go right back to basics in order to survive

It was 4.00 a,m and I pocked up my friend Chris at his house We reached our boat a VIVACITY 20 at about 4.30 am and got ready to go to sea A good friend Earle joined us and we pushed off using a 4 HP Yamaha to go on a fishing trip out of our harbor in Kingston.

I was feeling sleepy so I went down into the cabin to catch some sleep. After about an hour we reached the marina at Morgans harbor and hooked up a King fish. Earle and Chris got into each others way and the fish escaped. We continued fishing and decided to go to the marker at the South end of the shipping channel. On the way we got three strikes and landed three King fish.

As we reached the marker I was asleep in the cabin, apparently Chris was at the helm and Chris wanted to use the head. So he gave the helm to Earle and stood on the gunwale to relieve himself. Chris then fell into the sea. I awoke to Earle screaming like a woman who had been raped. I rushed out of the cabin fully awake and grabbed the tiller. “Where is Chris,” I shouted and through my mind I wondered what I was going to tell his wife when we returned. That I had taken her husband out of his bed to go fishing and that I did not know where he was or what had happened to him. Earle stood up and spotted Chris swimming next to the boat. Earle pulled him on board. I was scared, really scared. Chris lost his wallet and his shoes.

Suddenly, the sea started to build. Fortunately, Earle had gassed up the engine as this 4 HP Yamaha has an integral tank. A squall suddenly hit us, bringing rough seas and blinding rain. We could not see the horizon and visibility was about 20 feet. But we knew where the sea was coming from and we fortunately had on board our only true friend, a compass to guide us and the next friend, a depth finder. Now where Chris had fallen into the water , we could almost touch the buoy at South Fairwell. So we knew where we were. But there were reefs around and we knew where we were and the direction to steer to get back to home. We headed ENE and reached the southernmost edge of the main ship's channel. Here the South channel and the main channel converge. Now there was real uncertainty. The sea was rough, the visibility down to twenty feet and we did not know if there was anything else big like a container ship with us in the channel.

I prayed and set off across the main ship’s channel. Eventually we reached Port Royal and then the Marina at Morgans Harbor and we decided to tie up and get some coffee. Chris and Earle decided to have a drink of rum. Visibility was still only about twenty feet and we had to be there for two hours. During that time, my crew drank steadily and so at about 1.00 pm we departed. Chris was trembling and cold. It was pouring with rain. There were some English soldiers at Morgans Harbor that day who came across and asked if they could be of any help. We told them no as we had things under control.

Eventually, we set off and reached the Royal Jamaica Yatch Club and put our boat into its berth. My boatman was there and he helped me to take off the engine and while doing so, my friend Chris in trying to get off the boat promptly falls into the sea again We fished him out but this time he was drunk we were at the yacht club help was available and we were not worried. We took Chris to his home. He made us swear that we would not tell a word off the days events to his wife, Terry. So we dropped him at home and drove off.

Two hours later, Terri rang me breathing fire and demanding to know how I could have nearly drowned her husband and not tell her a single word. I apologized to no avail. The lady cussed me out good and proper. The week passed. Now I know that you must have heard about a hair from the dog that bit you last night. So I decided that it would be good for Chris to go back to sea as soon as possible. So I called up his wife and said “Look I know that I am in your bad books but I think that it would be best for Chris to go back to sea as soon as possible and he should go this weekend.” The heartless lady replied “I think that would be good. There is one condition: Don’t use my husband for bait again.

By Dr. Neil Persadsingh

Aka Capt Tuna

A Knockdown in Kingston Harbour

By DR. Neil Persadsingh, Aka Capt Tuna

Last Sunday the 4th of September we went for a sail and suffered our first knockdown with a Vivacity. We always thought that this boat could never suffer a knockdown. How wrong we were.

It was about 11.00 am and the trade winds had started to blow very early. The wind was about 15 knots gusting to twenty and we had two passengers on board.
A new friend had come on board from Miami where he had been living on a Colombia 36. Normally I am a coward hence the nickname Capt Tuna, but I wanted to create a good impression on my friends. Mistake No 1: I did not want him to come to my home and tell my wife that I was a wimp and afraid of the sea. Mistake No 2: Always be afraid of the sea. It is bigger and rougher than you will ever be.

So we set off for a sail and raised the mainsail. The Genoa remained furled and we sailed out of the docks.
The wind was coming in from the South East and it was varying in strength and clocking from SSE to ESE and varying from 10 knots to 15 knots, sometimes even gusting to about 20 knots. No big deal we were on a reach, sailing across the habour. The waves were about 2 to 3 feet and building. It was time to come in. A tack was called for and Chris was at the helm. I told him to tack the boat. No, instead he decided to gybe the boat. No! I shouted. But the gibe was already under way the boom came across with as you would have guessed considerable force. The boat was on its side and the mast was in the water.

Now, we had three grown men all over two hundred pounds or six hundred pounds of movable ballast on the wrong side of the boat.
We instantly clawed –clambered across the boat unto the right side. The mast came out of the water and the boat righted itself and we were sailing away on a reach.

Lesson No 3: Do not trust anyone with the tiller in rough weather. Even if you are there, just don’t trust anyone.
Now, you may have heard the saying about the hair from the dog that bit you last night --so we had to gybe the boat again to get it out of our system. The wind had gone down, it was now about 10 knots. I took over the tiller, pulled the main sheet in to the center line of the boat and the gybe was completed textbook fashion.
Now it was time to tack. Of course with only the main up, the bow of the boat would not go through the wind. We were in irons. So we fell off and started the engine and tacked the boat using the main sail and the engine again we were on a reach and we headed to the dock to tie up the boat.

The lessons learned:
Do not go out sailing with people you do not know.
2 Don’t let anyone else sail the boat except you or until they get properly used to how the boat.
3 Always remember that you can start the engine and do a wheel barrow turn.
4. If you have a situation when the bottom of the boat is dirty and she won’t tack, you can always go on a run and gybe the boat remembering to always bring in that mainsheet to the center of the boat and then gybe the boat under full control. Don’t trust friends who do not know the boat.
Lastly, you can always go and practice. You will have the skill and knowledge to get the boat to do just what you want.

Vivacity pictures

Giles Watling from the UK sent me these pictures of his Vivacity, aptly named "Boat".

His story: " I have a Vivacity 20 (named 'Boat' - not very creative, but apt) which is very similar to your Alacrity which I keep in the Walton Backwaters - Arthur Ransome's 'Secret Water'. We have everything from quiet little creeks to the busy harbours of Harwich and Felixtowe. If you can cope with the tides it's a great cruising ground. I attach a couple of shots from a cruise this spring, one featuring my friend Bob looking mighty relieved after we got out of the way of a very large ferry. Keep cruising - Giles"

Summer 2009 cruise report

I have finally finished this year's cruise report. It's on the blog here and does contain lots of photos and some video.

This one then?

Another mystery boat. Peter Doyle sent me this:
"I have just started sailing and purchased my first boat in Perth, WA, Australia. I have attached some photos of the boat but the last owner did not know much about it's history. It's GRP over wood and obviously a twin-keeler. The last owner said it was built about 30 to 40 years ago. Any help in finding out more about it would be appreciated."
I think she looks a little Corribee-ish, but not quite. Especially the stern is all wrong.

Is this a Corribee?

I got another mystery boat request, this time from Ireland. However, I am quite sure this is a Corribee, probably MK1. Anyone disagree?

Edit: added a pic of the stern.

Home made outboard well

I received these pictures of a Vivacity that had been modified with an outboard well. A big hole was cut into the bottom of the boat in the aft part of the cockpit and a new wooden structure added to keep the water out of the cockpit. A wooden plug then was added, only leaving space for the leg of an electric outboard.





Now the new owner, Ian, thinks of putting a standard petrol outboard in there instead.

Not Sailing

By George Bollenbacher

When grown men get new toys, they are comfortable for a while just playing, but sooner or later the competitive urge takes over. Not too long after getting a set of clubs, the average golfer starts asking for mulligans, worrying about his handicap, and putting for a few dollars on the eighteenth green. The same is true with sloops, as far as I can tell.

So, over this past winter I got ready to do some racing this season. I signed up with the local racing organization, and paid my fee to get my PHRF rating. I got a list of the open regattas throughout the mid-Hudson region. I recruited a crew of two experienced sailors and ordered matching shirts, so we would at least look competent, even if we finished at the back of the pack.

I also began to educate myself on the intricacies of sailboat racing. I got several videos, featuring such experts as Gary Jobson, and viewed them over and over, until their concepts were mentally ingrained, if not at my fingertips. I read books on racing. I tuned up the boat over the winter, rigging the backstay tensioner that was there but not functional and greasing the jib furler. I bought a whisker pole to improve those downwind legs. I even looked into buying a used spinnaker, but decided that would have to wait for at least a season. By the time the boat was launched in May, I was really ready to race.

Except for one thing. Twenty-five years of recreational running had left my knees more than a little the worse for wear. My orthopedist and I tried to treat them with injections, therapy, and pills for about six months, but we finally decided that my left knee had to be replaced, and the sooner the better. The date of the surgery? June 2, 2009!

The normal recovery from a total knee replacement is about 5 weeks using a cane, and about 6 months until the knee is completely recovered. My case was a little more complicated than that, since the insertion of all the prosthetics cracked my tibia, if only slightly. That meant six weeks on crutches, initially with no weight on the leg, and eventually with a partial use. It looked like the whole summer would be a washout.

Initially, all I could think about, besides getting back to work, was getting back to sailing. The mental picture of Greyhound sitting quietly at her expensive marina berth while all the other boats were gliding in and out was more than a little maddening. And, because her berth is on a floating dock, I couldn’t even visit her on crutches. All I had was her picture on my laptop to keep me going.

I was partly mollified by the fact that in the eastern US this June was one of the wettest, coolest, most inhospitable Junes on record. When I finally made it down to the marina, I encountered boatowner after boatowner complaining that they hadn’t been able to get out on the water. Even sitting under the bimini consuming prodigious amounts of adult beverages apparently got old after a while. They were reduced to working on their boats to keep from going bonkers. What a bummer!

In fact, I did manage to do some work on Greyhound myself. Using my cane to get to the boat (in violation of medical advice) I was able to remove the knot in my main downhaul, so I didn’t look like I was permanently reefed all the time, and install a ring buoy and hangar on the pushpit rail. I pumped out the keel sump, which had filled up from all the rain, and realigned my boom. I was not sailing, of course, but boat work may be the next best thing. It will make the sailing that much better when I can finally do it.

New cruise report

I've posted a new cruise report on the Alacrity blog. A shorty really, but there is video. :)
Link here.

Corribee website refit

The Corribee website is the latest addition to the trend of using blog software in order to make homepages more interactive. The site at http://corribee.org/ does now allow comments to be made and has an RSS-feed.

Red Fox 200T

T-K had an article about the Red Fox twin-keeler in one of the pdf-issues long ago. Now I recieved this first hand account from an owner, Guy Wilkes from the UK.

The Red Fox / Hunter 20 has been around in various forms for a number of years. We have had our RED FOX 200T since the end of 2004, spending 4 enjoyable years with it based on the Norfolk Broads and more recently on the River Orwell in Suffolk.

With a draft of only 0.7m (2ft 3inches), the twin keels of the Red Fox make it ideal for the inland waterway network of the Norfolk Broads, and for the creaks and coastal areas of the East of England. Who needs a depth sounder when you can see the bottom!

Down below the accommodation is open plan but surprisingly roomy for a boat of this size. There is a V-berth up front and two straight side seats giving 4 berths (realistically enough room for 2 adults / 2 children). Moving aft, there is a simple galley with a sink, cold water tap and a stove to port. The separate heads compartment with a sea toilet, sink and cold water tap is situated to starboard. To have a separate heads compartment is quite unusual on a 20’ boat.

The accommodation benefits from having no intrusive centreboard box or lifting keel. The Twin keels have allowed the designers to really use the space inside and we have found that there is more space in this little 20 footer than on many 25-26fts.

We have added a Spray-hood and full cockpit tent, which increases the “usable space” in the evening (or when it is wet) and to allow for a bit more flexibility.

The twin keels of the 200T make launching and recovery a bit more challenging than say with a conventional lift keel yacht. The single axle trailer has a separate 4 wheeled cradle for the boat, which then sits on the trailer and is winched into and out of the water (the theory being that the cradle gets wet and not the trailer). All I know is that from my experience everything seems to get wet including the person recovering the boat. However it avoids those expensive lift in / lift out charges that most of the marinas seem to charge these days.

We trail the boat behind a standard family estate car, which is fine most of the time. However we do struggle on some steeper slipways during recovery. If we used a small 4x4 it would probably be slightly better and solve this problem. However for us we manage.

Sailing the boat, she tends to (and actually needs to be) sailed fairly upright. The keels are set quite far apart with their roots quite close to the waterline. Despite having the shallow draft of 2ft 3inches she remains remarkably stable (which was one of the key requirements for the family). We do seem to sometimes slip sideways more (in certain conditions – lighter airs for example) but perhaps that might be down to the helmsman rather than the boat. The big bonus is being able to sail single handed and having all lines coming back to the cockpit.

Under power we use a 4hp Mariner Outboard which sits in a well in the cockpit. The big advantage of having a cockpit well is that we don’t have to struggle lifting the outboard over the stern. We do of course loose some cockpit space.

We have found that there are not that many boats of this size that can comfortably accommodate 2 adults and 2 children overnight (or even for a week) and that are equipped with a simple (but functional) galley; have a separate heads compartment and on top of this still have decent sailing qualities. For us the Red Fox ticks all these boxes.

The twin keels means that we can take ½ tide moorings and not worry if she sits on the bottom. In fact on our present mooring she is still afloat most of the time. As an added bonus is the ability to be towed home at the end of the season and sit on the drive for the winter months. Suddenly our hobby is much more affordable than one might initially think.

For those that are interested, Select Yachts stopped building the Hunter 20/Red Fox 200 last year when they ceased trading. However the boat is now being built by British Hunter and is now known as the British Hunter Fox 20. It is available with Twin Keels or Twin Lifting Leeboards.

Bimini-top Vivacity

I found these pictures of what I take for a Vivacity in Texas. Now, those Bimini-tops are not pretty, but one kind of understands why they may be useful. However, I wonder how one moves around with this thing up...forward to the mast for example. Or maybe one just doesn't...

A Silhouette in Portugal

Just want to mention this blog about a Silhouette twin-keeler in Portugal. The boat looks very nice, but unfortunately I can't read about her adventures. If you can read Portugese this may be interesting!

Simple self-tacking jib

I read this article in a boating magazine about how to rig a very simple self-tacking jib arrangement, so I just had to try it out. The system setup is like this: a long line is led through a block at the jib, then made fast at the winches. The idea is that when you tack, the jib moves to the other side of the mast and stops at about the same position on the opposite side.

More info and video here.

Another one round Britain

Dylan Winter seems to have set a trend. He is no longer the only one video documenting a circumnavigation of Britain. Nathan Whitworth is sailing his 21 foot Corribee, also a twin-keeler, and his videos are on Youtube, too. There is however quite a difference between the two of them. Nathan's videos are much more personal interest style, while Dylan Winter adds lots of interesting historic, political and environmental background. Also Nathan's taste in music upsets my cat, while Dylan's doesn't. Finally, I have a feeling, Nathan will be done a few years earlier, unless all the gadgets onboard Kudu desert him again...

Nathan's videos are here. He also has a blog.

More about the junk rig

Here is some more information about the junk-rigged bilge keeler in the post below. In a new blog post the owner describes how the boat that should not be able to sail at all, does sail.

When I decided I wanted my own boat there were a couple of things I had to take into consideration. Firstly, I would mainly be sailing single-handed, secondly my arthritis means that clambering on the coachroof or hanking on foresails wasn't an option. After much reading and suggestions I started to look seriously at the junk rig. A single sail, all lines easily handled from the cockpit, reefing being an almost one-handed job. It looked ideal.
Being new to sailing, and having no interest in fitting in with the "Yacht Club" types it even looked odd enough to attract me!

For the uninitiated, I'll just give you an idea of sail handling.
Being heavier than a "normal" sail due to the wooden battens, the halyard has a 4-1 purchase using blocks, which makes hoisting the sail easy. I've added a winch to my coachroof to help with the job as the arthritis gets worse, but rarely use it yet.

The sheet "zig-zags" from the pushpit anchor point up to each batten and back, in use it gets treated as a single sheet.

The only other lines are the yard hauling parrel, this simply pulls the centre of the yard up and in towards the mast, and the luff parrel which moves the whole sail backwards or forwards in relation to the mast in order to balance the boat.

Hoisting the sail is just a matter of letting all the lines go and hauling the sail up! No need to point the boat into the wind, but better if the wind is forward of abeam as the sail will then "weathercock". Once it's hoisted the sheet is taken in and you're sailing! The other control lines can be altered to suit whenever you're ready......
There's no need to haul the sheet in with the sort of force normally used on a "Bermudan" rig, in fact if the sheet starts to feel heavy it's probably better to ease it back off! The stresses and strains on a junk sail are far less than on most other types.

It's often been mentioned how quiet and relaxed sailing a junk rig is, I couldn't agree more!

Read more here.

A junk-rigged Twin-Keeler

According to some, this boat, being a junk rigged bilge keeler, should not be able to go to windward at all. But it does. On this new blog you can read about its adventures. The sail handling really seems very easy. 

Tiller sail self-steering

Anyone heared of this? Might just be interesting to try. 

Sailing: A tiller sail for self-steering: Capt. W. Bligh RN

Publish at Scribd or explore others: How-to-Guides & Manu navigation sailing

Vivacity over the Ocean?

I recieved an email from Peter Jackson who is thinking about taking his Vivacity on a longer ocean passage. 
"I want to take my Vivacity 20 to sea and I want to cross blue water – I’ve been told by the old guys in my club that it’s a stupid idea to even think of sailing any real distance away from the UK in a 20 footer. By the way they only use their boats as caravans so I’m not taking to much notice of them."

So here are my views on the topic:

Thanks for your email. You raise a very interesting topic and I am sure you will be getting very different answers from different people. Most will think that you should get the biggest boat you can afford. However, most people do indeed choose boats for their creature comforts rather than their seaworthyness.

I am myself, somewhat sickly perhaps, fascinated with small boat journeys and have read about quite a lot of them. If you boil the accounts down you get to some facts that may be considered.

As for the contra side first: there are mainly three disadvantages of sailing long ocean passages in a small boat. 1. the smaller the boat, the less wind you can sail in. That means in a gale, the smaller boat has to stop sailing actively and heave-to earlier. 2. the smaller boat cannot carry as much provisions and 3. the smaller boat sails more slowly, making the passage longer.

Now, I did not include accomodation comfort here for a reason. All small boat voyager's accounts tend to agree that a small cabin is a problem only at anchor. While sailing you are either lying down in your bunk, reading or sleeping or sitting down eating, drinking or navigating. You are not, very much walking around anyway.

On the plus side the accounts list: 1. A small boat does often sail dryer as it tends to float on top of the waves like a cork instead of thrusting itself into them like a bigger boat would. This, of course is highly depending on the circumstances like wave length and height, type av boat and so on. 2. A smaller boat is more easily handled, there is less load on the rigging and sails and you can manhandle everyting without the use of electric or mechanic devices that can fail. 3. A small boat is more rigid and less prone to damage. This of course applies to standard fiberglass boats only, steel boats or wooden boats have other characteristics. But a small fiberglass boat is like an eggshell, it's compactness makes it more resistant to impact. Also it is lighter, so the force on impact is less.

This for the general facts. Individually, boats of course are different. While many small boats have crossed oceans, there have been pointed out some things they should have rather than not. Main thing is a sheltered cockpit that cannot collect too much water if the boat is pooped. Here the Vivacity is not favored. It has a comparably large cockpit and not very efficient drains. So probably, if you are going, you should modify the cockpit, making it a little smaller and also make the hatches really watertight.

Now, finally, I am not sure if you are aware of the "Vivacity Mini" website. That guy did some major alternations to his boat (adding a mizzen even) and then sailed it from the US to Hawaii. I am sure you won't really have to make that much changes to you boat to get out on the oceans, but it is at least proof that it can be done.

(Note: the pic shows Alacrity "Hotfly" in a swell).

Arctic adventure

A fast trimaran is probably the most different kind of boat than a twin-keeler. Still, given my faiblesse for small boat adventures I just have to write about American "Captain Tommy's" epic voyage from the Great Lakes out to sea and then via the Nortwest Passage to Alaska. Yes, you go it right. Through the Northwest Passage, singlehanded in a 30-foot trimaran. Now 30 feet may not be small compared to other boats, but for this trip it's not a big boat.

The trip can be followed on this website.

April cruise

We had unusually good weather this month, much warmer than usual for Sweden. So I not only launched my boat in record time, but also have been out sailing several times. The best thing, however, was the little cruise I had earlier this week. The report is here.

Dylan Winter continues to turn left

British journalist Dylan Winter continues his epic voyage around Britain in a Mirror Offshore bilge keeler. After having spent the winter on the hard, his boat is now afloat again. He also has a new address att Youtube.

Voyager 14 - info request

I recieved an email from Mike who lives on the Isle of Man. He found out that he owns a Voyager 14 bilge keeler. Now he wants to know some more about the boat. Anyone can help?
"Have just found out what my boat is after owning it for six months. Im told it is a Voyager from Juxta Mare Marine Ltd - approximate age 1971 - looking for more info on it but cant seem to find any at the moment - perhaps you may know otherwise as I want to repair the keels correctly as the bolt on sections are damaged on the bottom of the keels"

Sailing pics from Shetland

James Robinson sent this cruise report from Shetland:

Last week there was a quiet spell of weather that enabled me to take 'Amity' for a first sail this year.

Shetland can be quite rough weather-wise in the early months and for me it was a bonus to sail, especially as I have only been out a couple of times. It was still a little blowy, but I enclose a couple of pictures for you.
'Amity' is a 17 foot Lysander designed by Percy Blandford as a twin-keel shoal draft little boat more designed for the inland waterways of England yet still capable of sailing around the coast and estuaries.

With 2 jibs set and a reefed mainsail it was an experience I won't forget for a while as we sailed around the north end of Bressay which is situated opposite Lerwick, the capital of Shetland.

'Amity'. I'm not able to sail by myself yet as I am recovering from an operation so Rab helps out when I am able to sail.'Amity' is coming out of the water later on this week for antifouling and a refit. Hope to be back in the water for the end of June.
I think this is the Holm of Beosetter again on the north of Bressay. Known also for the families of seals here.
Happy sailing to all at the Twin-keeler web site.

Wooden keel Alacrity

I have been i doubt that there were fiberglass Alacrites with wooden keels. However I may have been wrong. More here.

Unknown boats: Jaeger 15

Not really a mystery boat, but one we do not know very much about. The 15 foot Jaeger Eastern Seaboard Seabird. Owner Michael Hyland sent us these pictures and is eager to hear from anyone who has more information about this bilge keeler. He writes:

I am not able to find anyone who knows anything about my boat. I purchased her not a year ago to have a restoration project. I was told she was made on Vancouver Island, West coast of British Columbia, some twenty years ago. I found two boat restorers in Maine, they suggested it may have been a prototype. The rudder is not original, neither is the keel. The twin shoal keels appear not to be weighted. The owner was a fella (who has passed on now) apparently was a mechanical engineer who had made a centre keel, weighted. Only 4ft. 6 inches long and approximately four inches deep bolted through the bottom with stainless bolts. One of the sons (retired) had told me, that keel made quite a difference in the stability of the boat.
There is a home made bow-sprit, one of the sons said the old fella had made a jib.

A couple of pictures of the centre keel and one of the shoal keels.The holes above the keel in the cockpit. I cut as the void there was about three inches by three inches wide, and about six feet long I picked out all of the of foam that doesn`t seem to have much to do with floatation. I had been thinking of filling it with concrete? The foam was a very good sponge in that when I dried pieces out in the summer sun.I took some pieces and dropped into a bucket and they soaked water up so very fast.
Not a marine foam closed cell type at all. Since there wasn`t much weight to stabilize the boat in the first place I may just put the centre keel back on.Hope to have her in the lakes this summer.

Mysteries at sea

It’s easy to understand why so many early sailors were superstitious from some of the odd experiences I’ve had at sea. Many strange things, which are frightening at the time and do happen too many people whilst out boating, can be explained now. We can read up about them afterwards, in many of the publications that are available to mariners. Ancient seamen obviously didn’t have that luxury!
Undoubtedly, ball lightening, which I witnessed many years ago in the Java Sea, was extremely frightening. Beating south on a black, humid night, accompanied by rain squalls and the rumble of thunder, a large red fireball suddenly started floating about in front of the boat. This eventually seemed to dissipate, after what seemed a very long time when it was lower in the sky. Knowing nothing of this phenomenon, I was really scared. On seeing two more of these fireballs later that night, but having no real way of gauging their distance to me, I just tried to sail away from them. Perhaps this was a rather pointless thing to do, when thinking about it later, as they moved all over the place. But it didn’t feel that way at the time!
My latest reading about Ball Lightening seems to indicate, that what this phenomenon is, might finally have been solved. It having been re-created in a Brazilian lab, and suggests that when lightening strikes a surface, like the Earth’s silica-rich soil, a vapour is formed. This silicon vapour may condense into particles, and combine with oxygen in the air to slowly burn, with the chemical energy of oxidation. The lightening balls I’d seen back then seemed to appear on my starboard side, where the long coast of Sumatra continued south towards Krakatoa. Maybe it picked up silicon from this land!
Any type of lightening, seen at sea on a sailing yacht is worrying, particularly with your mast waggling around as a great big aerial. Ball lightening is very dangerous. Knowing about it now, does help to take some of the unknown factor away at least!
Single-handed sailing or being alone on watch during a dark night allows your imagination to run riot. Bringing us all much closer to how it must have felt for primitive man. Standing up looking around in the cockpit on a moonless but wonderful night, when pleasantly running down wind in the NE trades. Being punched in the chest by some unknown creature that flapped around the cockpit grating close to my bare feet wasn’t fair at all! My heart missed a beat, until I used a torch and realised, it was only a small flying fish!
More recently, whilst teaching power boating in Scotland I was amazed to see a large waterspout moving slowly across the Largs Channel. After a quick call on the VHF to warn the two other RIB’s, we rafted together in mid-channel and watched it meander slowly east towards the Ayrshire coast. Roughly three or four thousand feet in height, from sea to cloud, its tube of water was a wondrous sight. Reminiscent of many of those I’d seen in the tropics.
However, I was even more astonished to see the workboat with our bosun, having just left the marina go charging down towards it. Andy had seen it and decided to find out firsthand, what it felt like inside a waterspout. He’s a braver man than me! We expected to find him or the boat in trouble, but emerging in one piece he continued north up the Clyde, to begin laying some racing marks off Inverkip.
If Andy had known that waterspouts are ’tornadoes over water’, possibly he might have thought twice! Although their wind strengths are mostly weaker than land tornadoes, they can still pose a considerable danger to boats from flying debris etc., if the wind is strong. And there is no real way of knowing that, until it’s too late!
Asking Andy later what the experience felt like, he just said "noisy, windy and very wet". Bob our boss at the National Centre then, wasn’t surprised at all by this action. Summing it up beautifully by mentioning, that he thought that perhaps "Andy might lack somewhat in imagination, sometimes"!
Yours Aye,
John Simpson

About stability and righting moment

There seem to be quite a few people out there who think that twin-keelers are less stable due to their shallower draft. I found this interesting thread on a boatbuilding forum. The discussion is quite technical but the consensus seems to be that twin-keelers are definitely as stable as fin keelers of the same draft and also if they have shallower draft, given the right construction.

Mast support fixes

This may be of interest for all owners of Alacrities and Vivacities or boats that have a similar mast support beam as those. Sometimes those wooden beams get damaged or crack. On the Alacrity site, two owners show pictures of how they fixed the problem.

A Caprice in Spain

Joaquín Domínguez sails a Caprice on the Galician coast in Spain. He bought the boat in a quite sorry state but has since restored her to her former splendor. Here are some pictures.He also reports that she has in-mast-furling for the mainsail.
"The boat is equipped with mainsail furling in the mast, a Z-Spars. I do not know if there will be many boats like this that take this system."