Clinker boats bigger than they are

dylanwinter

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Not as crazy as it sounds

I am just editing my latest film where I had a chat with a Southwold fisherman working on his traditional clinker built wooden boat

he said that clinker is better because it grips the water

foot for foot, weight for weight a clinker built boat will feel bigger than an equivalent smooth sided boat of the sames size.

I thought the use of the word grip was marvelous

he also had a powered winch on board that was made from an old triumph herald diff

brilliant

However, any clinker boat owners out there who would say the same thing

Dylan
 

prv

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I have a pretend-clinker fibreglass boat. Can't say I've noticed any extra gripping going on. Seems like it would add stiffness though (in the fibreglass version).

Pete
 

dylanwinter

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I think what he means

I thought the general idea was to slide through the water with as little resistance as possible ....

I think what he means is that the boat rolls less - it feels more stable. The example he gave was that a 20 foot clicnker boat feels as stable as a 24 foot smooth hull of a similar shape

so do all the ridges reduce roll?

Dylan
 

Robby

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Clinker and Winches

foot for foot, weight for weight a clinker built boat will feel bigger than an equivalent smooth sided boat of the sames size.

I thought the use of the word grip was marvelous
Dylan

I always thought that clinker built boats seemed easier to row and a program on the tele "Genius of the Vikings" showed streams of bubbles trapped by the edges of the planks breaking up boundary layers of water under the hull so there may be something in that too.

he also had a powered winch on board that was made from an old triumph herald diff

brilliant
Dylan

We built a winch from a rigid Morris 1000 back axle. I shortened the drive shafts and the tubes they ran in, bolted drums onto the brake drums, machined a flat belt pulley from a tractor brake drum which was bolted onto the prop-shaft flange. It was driven by a flat belt from a pulley welded to the crankshaft pulley on the BMC 2.2 diesel. A jockey pulley on a lever and a pair of levers on the hand-brake cable brackets allowed the drive to be increased or decreased and directed to either or both drums. A bit of a juggling act to get it right but with a little bit of practice, we could get both otter doors up simultaneously.

Ah, happy days.



The hydraulic jobbie with dog clutches, decent band brakes and a capstan drum makes it a lot easier these days....


Rob.
 
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