sailrig DONE and fUN....working out some issues with leeboard

Builder's Forum
1

After many moons, I almost completed the sailrig in time for the annual pilgrimage to Westport MA (the OTHER Westport...).  Spent one more day at the beach finishing and then sailed....

[IMG]http://i49.tinypic.com/2zquczn.jpg[/IMG]

Had a rudder attachment failure, quickly fixed with the appropriate part from West Marine in Newport (should have done it right the first time...) and then, while enjoying some decent wind, the leeboard started cracking and snapped, while sailing with it on the windward side.  Boat still sailed home fine with some lateral slippage...

[IMG]http://i45.tinypic.com/2nm0ffk.jpg[/IMG]

leeboard was built to design with a layer of 4 oz glass wrapping the outside.

Fortunately, I had supplies with me so I smoothed out rough edges, layed a layer of 6 oz glass through the split and wrtapped the whole thing with two layers of the 4 oz that I had as well.

[IMG]http://i50.tinypic.com/zxmids.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i50.tinypic.com/143f08y.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i50.tinypic.com/2qnb5vk.jpg[/IMG]

Having repaired it AND reinforced it, I decided to see if it made any difference....

[IMG]http://i48.tinypic.com/2lc2ogp.jpg[/IMG]

Better wind next day, it worked well, even under strain. It would bend a little more on the windward side than leeward, I noticed.....might be because more of it is out of the water on that run...? Held up well under similar stress to that which broke it previously...sailed up and down and around with only issue being the need for a few paddle strokes about half the time when tacking. I also added the weight of an @ 50 lb rock to the front cockpit as I was sailing solo and sitting in the back of three cockpits - definitely helped.

On my last run coming back into the Westport river mouth from Buzzard's Bay, I was surfing along some waves with a good breeze pushing me (awesome...) when a large fishing boat blew by and sent a couple of good sized waved right against the leeboard...SNAP!....sailed it back to the boathouse (home) with some lateral slippage and decided to enjoy the other recerational opportunities, and my family for the remainder of the week.

I talked with some local sailors and a wooden boat builder about the leeboard issue and the consensus was to beef up leeboard and/or add a cheek plate or more surface area to the leeboard bracket.

I'm curious if anyone else had experienced issues with the leeboard failing..? I'm SURE someone will have some advice to share.. (please!)

 

Thanks!

PS -TONS of compliments on the kayak and sailrig from sailors and non alike, of course - thanks CLC!

2

Another try at posting pics after reading the directions.... :

1st sail w/ daughter Abbey:

http://i50.tinypic.com/2uh239z.jpg

Broken leeboard:

http://i45.tinypic.com/2nm0ffk.jpg

Final repair:

http://i50.tinypic.com/zxmids.jpg

http://i50.tinypic.com/143f08y.jpg

http://i50.tinypic.com/2qnb5vk.jpg

Fixed and sailing hard....for a bit....:

http://i48.tinypic.com/2lc2ogp.jpg

second break was in same spot but NOT the repair....

3

Funny that you should mention this. It just happened to me last week. I have a LT17 with the MKIII sail rig and had been on approach to Catalina Island from San Pedro. I was probably a few miles offshore of the Island when the seas got nasty. Had  NW swells up to six or seven feet, had a SW swell, had a current, and wind, and it all turned into a real blender. I was running and surfing south towards Avalon, fishtailing and even had an accidental jibe that swung the boat 180 degrees! But when I started heading south again, I decided to crank the leeboard further down to help with the fishtailing and very soon after it just snapped off with a loud crack sound. Adios! The real bummer is that 10 minutes later, I was in calmer water. Had it lasted another 10 minutes...

I will rebuild one and coat it in carbon fiber. It broke even closer to the bracket than yours did. actually, it broke right at the bracket. I agree that the bracket is in need of more surface area. Although John says he has never broken one. Considering all the additional structural reinforcement I did to the boat to handle the MKIII, I simply will redesign a new bracket also - might as well.

On the return trip from Avalon to Newport Harbor, I really missed it! In all my trip was about 65nmi of open ocean and most of it was without the lee board. But I have a large rudder, so that helped me out.

4

Gentelmen,

As sailors we all know redundancy is key to servival. After reading these fine post I will add a leeboard to the starboard of the sailrig I am building. The original sailrig had two, I wonder why?

5

Oops, survival!!!

6

I noticed an interesting thing on the video of the sailrig from Japan, which is on the CLC page describing the sailrig kit:  if you look closely at his leeboard (going to full screen helps), it has been reinforced with extra layers of ply at the top.  I'm very tempted to add extra ply to my leeboard in the same fashion.  The extra weight would be minimal, and it would add extra strength right where it's needed.