First sea trial after 2 1/2 years of work!

[Pascal]

After 2 1/2 years, we finally took the new boat for sea trial yesterday. Even though this is not an hatt I know there are quite a few sailors who may find this interesting...

It all started with a blank sheet of paper, and a notepad full of sketches and ideas. We wanted a day sailor with a big cockpit and a small cabin with a 6' vee berth, enclosed head and a sink just in case. Had to look classic with wooden spars and a gaff rig. Centerboard to keep the draft under 3'. Hull shape is loosely based on classic herreshoffs

Ended up with this...

Above WL, hull is strip planked western red cedar over divynicell cored fiberglass frames. Below WL, hull is divynicel cored glass too. Spars are Doug fir. Hull and bright work is West 207 and clear Awlgrip for reduced maintenance. All deck hardware is bronze from Maine. Deck paint is from Kirby, an paint company from New Bedford who s been around since the 1800s, with Exumas sands in for non skid. All of the wood trim is mahogany, hatches and all hand made from scratch but assembled with epoxy versus traditional carpentry... I m no carpenter! Transom opens down to create a smallish swim platform / large step.

I still have quite a bit of work like finishing the interior, some trim but at least we can start enjoying her.

Yesterday was the first test sail and it all went very well. Mario was following with a tender just in case andalso to tow us out of the mooring field. I wanted to play it safe and wasn't going to sail an untested design out of a crowded mooring field... Turned out she sailed very well and is very maneuverable, no issue picking the mooring under sail. She will have an electric inboard, shaft and mounts are place but motor will go in later so for now it s all sail.

We got to the 6 kt hull speed without really trying in 10 to 11 kts wind and without having even tweaked the sails or anything.

All pictures of that first sail thanks to Mario and Yaisi!

Hundreds of pictures of the build in this public FB album, starting with tracing the plywood templates used to cut the divinicel back in July 2011. Not sure how many hours of work it took... There were time when we were away for weeks at a time, I m guessing 2000 hrs so far


https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2102335485286.2121374.1452437519&type=1&l=f5a10e58c8

 

[Avenger]

VERY NICE!! I like the classic lines. I'm sure there's a lot of satisfaction to be had from doing that with your own hands. Congratulations on her maiden voyage and hopefully you'll put many miles under her keel.

 

[captddis]

Very nice. I can appreciate the work involved as I can barely cut a straight line.

 

[TROUBLE]

WOW WOW WOW. And to think, I am nervous about making a battery box. Just incredible

Art

 

[jim rosenthal]

Pascal, who did your hull design; did you loft her yourself? And does she have a name? She's a lovely little boat. Well done!

 

[Pascal]

I don't claim the straight lines are straigh I ve misplaced a few quarters here and there along the way they drive me nuts but nobody else notice..)

Jim, name is Sabrosura (the little cat boat we have as a tender on the hatt is Sabrosa).

Initially we were going to build a 20' Fish but decided to go bigger so the hull shape is close to that but scaled up. I drew each half frame on a sheet of ply, and used battens to draw the curves. Then I cut the plywood patterns and use them to cut the divynicel

 

[rwappleton]

VERY NICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Finalee]

Nice!

 

[LUV'N LIFE]

What a head turner she is. Unbelievable amount of work and patience must have gone into that build. Awesome.

 

[magnawake]

Very cool. I went sailing on a catamaran this afternoon. Could be additive.

 

[lumina]

Hi All,

Holy Moly Pascal, she is a work of art and labor of love I'm sure.

She reminds me of the legendary Concordia yachts built just down the street from us, known for their highly varnished hulls.

My dad built me a 10 foot row boat from plans he found in Popular Mechanics when I was 9, does that count.

Did you have all the wood working tools needed to form and shape everything. In the spirit of Art's post, "and I'm worried about laying hardwood in the galley"

 

[Vincentc]

Beautiful boat. Impressive design, features and execution.
I enjoyed viewing your series of construction photos.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[hyperfishing]

Congrats Pascal! It looks lovely. The strictly sail show is coming up soon, be sure to sail back and forth in front of the docks. You may be busy making more just like her!

 

[carolinacoast]

That is well designed and gorgeous. Thanks for sharing.

Nat herreshoff would be proud (I think) to see his legacy of design recreated and then shared on another classic boat forum.

A sailboat with one engine is just another boat with two completely independent propulsion systems.

Pascal personifies the total seaman with this accomplishment.

Our boats might actually increase in value one day if boaters of all sorts were more unified and that created more demand for Anything that navigates the water. As a properly accused 'blow boater' and 'stink potter', I think the worlds' enjoyable navigable waters need many types of vessels and crew. We should all be ambassadors.

Thanks Pascal.

 

[Seabrooke]

She's lovely Pascal. Very pretty indeed.

I expect, like me, you will look at your work and see the things you'd like to have been better but everybody else will see the beauty and grace of the boat you have created.

I hope that you are very proud of your work.

There is really something about a timber boat...............

 

[Pascal]

I had never used a router or table saw before... I could have had the western cedar ripped and then routed with bead and cove but felt that would have been cheating... It was pretty easy anyway.

The mast was another tricky part. I built it using the bird mouth method which is 8 staves, each with a notch for th next one to fit on at an angle and a hollow cored. The challenge is that to get the mast to end up tapered each stave needs be tapered... Tapering a 32 foot wood strip isn't very easy if for no other reason that it is flexible and needs to be supported. I ended up using an electric planner doing multiple passes each stopping a couple of feet before the previous one.

I have to say that modern materials like west system epoxy made the job a lot easier than it seems. Using divinycel as a core for the frames, keel, decks, etc.. Also helped a lot. It s a great material (heck, hatteras uses it...) providing very light yet stif panels.

 

[Fanfare]

Beautiful job Pascal. I will look forward to seeing her.

Jim Grove

 

[LUV'N LIFE]

Pascal, you need to add this vessel to your signature.

 

[bostonhatteras]

Wow That is a real source of pride for you! I cant even imagine the man hours involved let alone the engineering obstacles you had to overcome. I think all of us are quite envious of you in the best ways possible. You now have a beautiful boat where there was previously empty space! Congrats...oh and you know what? YOU DID BUILD THAT! Russell

 

[pmurphy]

Pascal-
Unbelievable work. I can't imagine where you found the time to research and execute. Well done.