Cindy and I launched the Northeaster Dory, "CindyLu" today in light breezes and mild temps.
We're very happy with the boat. What a gas. Here's a link to the video of some of the building process and today's launch.
http://gallery.me.com/jimkozel/100196
Best to all of you builders - Jim
And here's the YouTube link...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpOkV1DJp1s
Great boat Jim. I like the bow treatment you did. Wish I was as adept as you at making videos. SEEYA Jack
Hey Jim,
I think I passed you on 422 headed in the opposite direction. Did you launch at LaDue? I saw a trailered wood boat and craned my neck to get a better look. Sure looked like a Northeaster.
Ross
Ross!
Yes. We launched at LaDue. If it was being towed by a red wagon, that was us. Hope to see you and Renee soon.
Jim
I notice your Dory has slotted rails and does not use the sloop rig. Is that a set of options available in the kit?
Who?!
Just kidding... great looking boat. Isn't it a wonderful feeling sailing her the first time, knowing you built her start to finish?
FrankP
RC - The slotted inwales and the balanced lug rig are not kit options. I ordered an extra set of rails from CLC to have the raw materials to fabricate the inwales and stripped larger breasthook. There's still two outer rails, the innermost one was rabbeted to create a 1/4" deep cap to cover the plywood edge of the mahogany sides. The inwales added about 25 hours to the project.
The balanced lug mast partner, mast, spar and boom was built from scratch using materials from the local Home Despot, and sail by a local sailmaker. John Harris was a huge help in fine tuning the position of the sail and rig. It has the same sail area as the sloop rig and steps into the mast step provided in the sailing kit.
Frank - Funny about CindyLu. I named her in honor of my partner, Lucinda, then was later reminded about CindyLu from The Grinch. Yes, it really felt great to sail her. We really love the sound of the water gurgling against those strakes.
We're planning to get on the water a lot this coming weekend and a friend who has good video camera skills hopes to get some better video.
Jim,
I enjoyed your photos and video on YouTube. I will be building a Northeaster Dory the last week of April.
Based on the video, I too am opting for a lug rig, with a sail similar to yours, ordered by John Harris. (I am 6'3" and don't enjoy ducking down far to reach something on the leeward side of a boat or having to lie down when someone else takes the helm.) John told me some other folks are also starting to opt for the lug rig.
Questions:
I did a rough calculation of the sail area based on the video, which came to about 95 square feet (compared to the 68 square feet indicated for the standard sails, combined. Did John advise you to shift the mast position and rake so that the center of effort would remain above the daggerboard?
Do you have one or two blocks on the masthead? (in the video, it looks like two.) How do you have it/them rigged and attached to the mast?
Do you have a line attached to the boom that is looped around the mast to keep the boom tight to the mast but allow it to swing? If so, do you have beads on it to reduce friction?
When you are sailing before the wind in gusty breezes, does the boom tend to rise up too high? If so, have you considered adding a boom vang?
Is the downhaul line (cleated to the mast) sufficient to hold the steep angle of the upper yard? If not, have you considered adding a downhaul line to control the angle of the yard?
Thanks for your help!
Jim, I neglected to mention that I have seen diagrams in old books of a downhaul for lug sails that is attached the masthead, runs through a block positioned half-way along the yard, then runs to a block on the masthead a foot above where the line is attached, then runs down the mast, where it is cleated. Such a downhaul would allow finer control of the angle of the yard and be similar to the second halyard on a gaff-rigged sail. It would also take some of the pressure off the existing downhaul that holds down the forward end of the boom.
Beautiful dory! It looks like she slices along with barely a whisper of breeze. I noticed the registration tags on the bow... Does Ohio require that you register non-motorized vessels??
~Chris
Nice work on the boat and on posting the video. I like the lug rig as well, and will do that if I decide to build another boat. Very nice treatment of the inwales and the rabbet to cover the exposed plywood edge. Wish I had thought to do that on my Wherry. Thanks for posting.
Jim