More Dragon Boat Class paddles

Not sure but we seem to be the only  South African company with the past expertise to make the correct pattern Dragon Boat paddles,we have made hundreds in the past.It all started when the class was begun here in Cape Town, the insurance company Old Mutual decided it was a good venture to support and placed a very large first order for paddles with the then Commercial Lumber cc,which later became CKD Boats cc as we moved into the kit boat market.

This pair are not brand new but restored,they will live to paddle another day,one was sold yesterday,there are others but the best option soon will be to remake as new.The blades of the new ones will be epoxy and glass reinforced,probably with some carbon added to increase the blade strength.

An original Old Mutual Dragon Boat paddle,its a reminder of the hours of hand shaping done to cut them from a single plank of Spanish or Red Cedar,we can now use American White Poplar (cotton wood) but use the CNC machine to cut and profile,ensuring they are all the same.Weight was never an issue,they all came in under the 800 grams allowed.

On the first batch made we just copied the original paddle as brought in from Hong Kong,those had a handle pegged in place with two hardwood 6mm dowels,we soon found that to be a weak spot.These handles are hiding the double rebated and socketed then epoxy glued into place method we now use.

Contact me for new paddles.

R McB

A sailing Lynnhaven canoe?

We get asked can a Lynnhaven canoe be fitted with a sail,if so whats involved? I think wewill have one very quickcanoe with this rig on it,as the boat length is twice that of an Optimist.

Some words on the subject by the designer,Dudley Dix are below.

I have not drawn a sail plan for the Lynnhaven but I was approached by someone who wanted to fit an Optimist rig to the Lynnhaven 16 that he was planning to build. I added the Oppie rig to a Lynnhaven profile to show how it would look. I think that this is a viable solution that will be easy and inexpensive. There should be many old Oppie rigs available to buy one and drop it into the boat. It would attach to the aft side of the forward seat, held with U-bolts or similar.

The hole in the bow is to make a simple carrying handle and attachment for ropes. There is a similar one aft as well.

R McB

Cape Henry 21 bulkhead kit

This is the bulkhead set to a new (local)  build of the Dudley Dix designed Cape Henry 21,this version will have Bilge Keels to allow a more open interior space.

 Note the stepped scarph on the left hand sheet,thats one of the larger bulkheads and will join to another panel to make up one large bulkhead.This certainally makes life simple for the boats builder.

Note the 9mm dowel or peg holes,they ensure the scarphs are lined up 100%.

 A stepped scarph,left click any picture for a larger view.

The panel on the left is the inside of the transom,the hooked section is part of the bow stem.

How hard can this be?

R McB

This is what the bulkhead and related kit parts will end up looking like,picture and words taken from the Dix Design web pages on the Cape Henry 21 design.

"Mehala" was owner-built by South African Mike Smith, who lives in Darien, Connecticut. He berths her at Norwalk Yacht Club on Long Island Sound, where he is a past commodore

The traveling Imp

Time came to move our customers 998cc Hillman Imp (singer chamois sport) we used the same car lift company as before,its such a pro service and also very safe and easy to have loaded.

The Gardens Towing trailer

Off loading is done as you want it and very easily by the truck driver on his own.

Ready for the next stage

The 1966 Imp is dwarfed by a so called Modern.

This is the longest distance the car has done on its own wheels in some while,even then the engine was not used.

My thanks to Clive who took all the pictures.

R Mc B

Hout Bay Yacht Club opening cruise 2011

The day will be on saturday 22nd of October,Jean says rain is due but the club house has a very good roof in place (with a bar underneath it) so sailing or otherwise,we will see you at the club!

The club is in the harbour,about center in the picture below.What a great place to sail and keep your boat.

Picture by R McBride using a Sony Cybershot digital camera.Left click on the picture to enlarge it.

A balanced Lug rig for the PDRacer

To me the Lug rig looks so nice,sort of French? PDRacer plans are just U$20,thats a low R170 right now.We can of course supply the boats materials and even CNC cut the plys,you make your own sail from reinforced plastic sheet.

R McB

Monday, October 22, 2007

Lug Rig for OZ PDR

I have just finished additional drawings for a lug rig version of the OZ PDRacer.

I would like to think I am something of an expert on lug rigs ritted to small boats. I have sailed countless hours with such rigs including weekly club races against conventional boats through to classic boat regattas.

My website has probably the best resource on the web (and maybe anywhere) for setting up lug rigs to sail really well – almost equal to “modern” boats.

So why has it taken me so long to draw up a lug rig for the OZ PDRacer?

The only answer is the time involved!

Timber Requirement
The timber list in this section is a complete replacement for all the mast and boom material in the standard OZ PDR plan.

Experience sailing a OZ PDR with a lug rig.
I did put the much larger Goat Island Skiff sail on one of the Queensland OZ PDRs earlier this year as an attempt to take the maximum sail area record from the Americans (right). I was only game to sail in quite a light wind as the standard OZ PDR mast is too lightweight and flexible for such a large sail area – I was worried about breaking it.

As you probably know the sail area on the OZ PDR is quite large as standard (82sqft) but lug rig was much larger (105sq feet).

The PDR handled the big lug rig beautifully, sailing upwind and down sedately under control and accelerated quickly to quite high speeds in the light breeze. It tacked and gybed reliably as well.

I don't think there is much point in going smaller than the standare PDR rig as the lug rig is easy to reef to match the wind.

Advantages and disadvantages.
The lug rig has a number of advantages and only one disadvantage that I can think of. So let's talk about the disadvantage first.

There is an extra spar to make up and I do recommend that it be made round to make best use of the flexibility to get an improved gust response for sailing in strong and fluctuating winds.

It probably adds around 2 to 3 hours to the building time.

The advantages are
1.The sail can be reefed easily for different wind strengths and sea conditions. I have made use of this capability by making the sail slightly larger than the original sprit rig. There is no discredit in sailing around with the sail reefed in moderate winds – particularly when you can use full sail in light winds and blow everyone away with the performance.
2.The spars are shorter allowing for easier stowage and cartopping – a maximum of 3.9m (13ft) – three feet shorter than the original rig.
3.Shorter spars reduce the timber cost and maybe reduce the weight slightly.
4.The centre of effort of the sail is a little lower allowing a larger sail to be carried.

The lug rig plans are available to all purchasers of OZ PDR Plans at no cost. Any other PDRacer owners can get a copy which includes all the information for the spars and the homemade sail by purchasing an OZ PDR Plan for $20 from duckflat, duckworks or seawing boats.

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the PDRacer

Now the cheapest simplest sailing boat in the world, the PDRacer sails REALLY well.

It's an ideal first boat for adults or kids and a great way to take the first step into boat building as well!

Search PDRacer.info or follow any of these links for a gold mine of information!

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Blog Archive

• ► 2009 (13)
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    • First OZ PDR with the lug rig option launched
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    • High Praise For Steve!
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• ▼ 2007 (30)
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    • Lug Rig for OZ PDR
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    • Dakota (age 11) builds a

The Lynnhaven Canoe by Dix Design

This is a revisit to argue what a designer offers for what you pay,whats up front,whats hidden?

Some plan sets may look expensive when stacked against another design,size for size is not the
only issue,its what a designer gives for his fee? The Dix Design Lynnhaven Canoe plans set costs U$10 more than say the other canoe featured recently but that U$10 extra also includes a full set
of paper templates you can lay out on your plywood to enable instant setting out.Due to the size of the package there is also a post and pack fee of U$15 but this still represents excellent value.

Note,some cheaper plans options barely give you dimensions,some never give a materials list.They may supply the dimensions to the bottom of the boat if its a flat sheet but not the hull sides as they are curved and too complicated to draw,with Dudleys designs you get the full package and with the Lynnhave Canoe an extra six inches too!

DUDLEY DIX YACHT DESIGN

Lynnhaven 16

Plywood Touring Canoe

Prototype of the Lynnhaven 16

~ Attractive and capable touring canoe ~ 1-3 Person capacity ~ Paddle as a canoe ~ Fit rowlocks and oars for a small pulling boat ~ Integral buoyancy/storage in seats ~ Easy amateur build ~ Ideal school or family project ~ Plans include full size patterns ~ Illustrated step-by-step instructions

MENU Home Overview Email Designs Materials Articles Testimonials Bookstore PRICES ORDERS Fax/Mail Credit Card LINKS Boat Sites Communities General TRANSLATE

The Lynnhaven 16 is designed for those who want a family fun boat that they can build themselves. I built the prototype in 3 weeks of weekends and evenings, total less than 100 hours of single-handed work. This is about as much boat as can be built from 3 sheets of plywood, with very little scrap left at the end of the project. I built the prototype from 6mm (1/4") plywood, which produced a robust boat but a bit heavy at 32kg (70lb). It can be built from 3mm (1/8") plywood to about 20kg (45lb) or anything between. Construction is stitch-&-glue, so it is suitable as a first time boatbuilding project. The plans include full size paper patterns showing every plywood component, nested for marking straight onto the plywood sheets. A set of step-by-step instructions is also supplied, including more than 40 colour photos of the entire building process. The Lynnhaven 16 is suitable for exploring your local rivers and lakes, or it can be car-topped across the country for camp cruising waters far away. Pre-cut plywood kits will soon be available from suppliers in various countries.

Follow this link to print a material list for this design. You will also find answers to questions about construction in our FAQ pages.

CHARACTERISTICS

LOA 4.70m (15'5")

Beam 0.9m (3'0")

Weight 20-32kg (45-70lb)

Plan Prices (includes full size paper patterns) USA & Canada - US$75 Order now Shipping $10 North America, $30 elsewhere

This design is drawn in metric and has both metric and inch dimensions added.

OUR CONTACT DETAILS Click here to contact us by

The HBYC Opening Cruise 2011

We have just one short week to prepare our boats for the annual (again) Opening Cruise event,some yachts are hand built wooden classics,some are pop out GRP moulded boats,all are welcome,Figaro V is one of the oldest and most historical that will be out there on the water next Saturday.

Figaro V,a picture I took some years back and has never before been published.You will not see her looking like this though,as I am pleased to say she has reverted to her original white hull paint job.

Figaro V,for sure the most exciting and very quick wood built classic yacht in cape waters.

 all pictures taken by Roy McBride

Look out for this classic and dip your ensign in salute when she passes you,as your unlikly to be sailing past her!

See you out there,the time is on the water mid aftrenoon and a sail past at 1600 hours,or 4pm on your old type wrist watch Tick Tock (thanks dad)

RMc B