First sail report and questions

[Bill1]

Thought I'd report back after you guys gave me such useful advise on renovating the keel and ask a few more questions.

Well rigged Pippa, my ancient westerly nimrod, after a fashion and launched without any problem. Then had an eventful 2 weeks day sailing.

Firstly and most importantly she sails very well indeed but we did have a few "learning experiences."

1 Keel wire snapped had to moor in deep water until high tide. I brought her in and as the tide fell I fixed a halyard to the anchor and pulled the boat over on its side. I then replaced the wire with a nylon tape which works reasonably well but tends to slip on the winch drum.

Question does anyone know how the wire attaches to the winch drum it seems to disappear through a hole in the drum, do I have to completely dismantle the winch to get at it?

2 Rudder blade snapped just below the stock (its supprising how quickly she rounded up!! and why did it happen afer 2 days sailing and the first time I ventured across the shipping channel ("Milford haven port control this is Pippa Pippa please can you delay your next very lage tanker as I will be drifting in your deep water channel for a few minutes while I sort myself out" didn't actually happen but I had visions of having to make the call!!)) I made a temporary replacement from exterior grade ply which worked but I guess wont last long.

Question: the original seems to be 2 pieces of ply laminated together and covered with epoxy(?) filler is this the best way to go for a replacement or is there a better way?

3. Kicking strap - I know about boom claws for use on a reefed sail but how does the kicker fit onto the boom when its not reefed? there is a fitting that runs in a groove along the whole length of the boom and is fixed in place with a wing nut is that for the kicker? Also because the boom is only about 18" above the coach roof how are you supposed to get a decent anglel for the kicker without having it very close to the mast?

Well dispite the problems had a great time, off again on the bank holiday weekend no doubt to discover more about ancient boats.


Bill

 

[Evadne]

Well, it's nice to hear that your efforts have paid off and you're just getting on and enjoying the boat. I'm impressed by the calmness with which you coped with a rudderless boat, I look forward to reading a full story in PBO!

Regarding the winch, I'm not familiar with the Nimrod but most small wire winch drums will have the end fixed onto the drum with a small screw-down block. It doesn't have to be strong, it's only to stop it pulling off the drum when the wire's wound all the way out; the friction of the 4 or 5 turns that should be left on the drum hold the weight, so at a pinch you could attach a bulldog grip to the end of the wire.

Regarding the rudder, it sounds strong enough but if it snapped then maybe you will be thinking of making it heavier or stronger? Or did it fail for some more obvious reason? On my boat the rudder is made of two pieces of solid wood screwed and glued together much as you describe with the plywood, not epoxied but painted and antifouled. That way it can dry out in the winter if it gets water in it, whereas epoxying will seal it in. "Old Salt Oz" has posted some comprehensive "how to" advice on fibreglassing and epoxying rudders in the past, so if you want to do it that way you could do a lot worse than googling for them.

Regarding the kicker that sounds like the place for it. I've got a similar groove tho' not the full length of the boom, so no wing nut is needed. Roughly a 45 degree angle and a 3 or 4 to one purchase seems to work ok.

Dave

 

[William_H]

I would suggest for the rudder that you start with a piece of ply shaped the way you want it but much thinner. You should cover this with fibreglass and polyester resin. Put multiple layers of glass and resin so that the glass is at least 3/16 inch thick.
In effect the original plywood is only a male mold for a fibreglass rudder so the fact that polyester doesnt stick to wood very well doesn't matter.
You can lay extra glass on the sides of the rudder up into the stock to give more stiffness to avert another failure. You can benefit by using unidirectional cloth or even pull strands out of woven rovings to give a lot of glass from the top down diminishing as you get near the bottom to strenthen the area likely to break. You might even buy carbon fibre strands for even more stiffness.
I assume the old rudder broke off below the bottom of the cheeks of the stock where it no longer gets side support. In strong winds with a lot of weather helm you can get huge side forces on the rudder. I expect this is what happened to the old one. In inb fact have a similar rudder and I lengthened it by 2 inches to give better control down winf under spinnacker. You can also make the rudder extend further forward to give a lighter helm. (more balance ie more rudder forward of the pintles)
I would not use epoxy because of cost and the fact that it doesn't like UV exposure. If you do use epoxy however paint it well.

As for the kicker position on the boom. You will realise that it doesn't matter much where it is. If you go nearer the mast you get more upp down angle but you have a larger lever to the boom end (where the force is needed) while if you go out toward the boom end you have a smaller lever but have a worse pull down angle. So 45degrees is usual.
You will find the vang (kicker) is almost useless for sail shape control and only helpfull to stop the boom rising when the sheet is right out running. My boom is similar in height from the cabin with a large mainsail I don't have a vang but rely on a wide traveller track for the mainsheet.
The wire onn the winch possibly went through a hole in the drum with an overhand knot to stop it pulling through.
Good luck with the rudder. There is lots of info on this forum books available or PM me for help on fibreglass work. It really is quite fun. olewill

 

[Bill1]

Thanks Dave
A rudderless boat with an outboard is not a real problem!!

I do want to make the rudder stronger but not heavier, I was wondering about using the old broken one for making a mould for a fiberglass one. I'll follow your advice and do a bit of searching.
I think the kicker will just have to stay faily ineffective I've come from dinghy sailing so expected more!!

Bill

 

[Bill1]

Thanks William full of good advice

Your right the rudder smapped just below the stock, its a kick up design the main part of the blade is about 1.5" thick then reduces to about 1" where it goes into the stock it also reduces in width at the same point. It struck me that the rudder was therefore weakest at exactly the point where the greatest forces occur. I think it failed because previous owners had drilled holes through the stock and rudder to locate various pins to keep the rudder up or down these had let the water in and caused it to delaminate though not rot. I managed to save the rudder blade so I have the original to copy, it seemed to work well so I think I'll stick with the original dimensions. I had thought about using the old rudder blade to make a mould then build perhaps a foam cored replacement but I've never done anything like that before, your idea of using a male mould sounds much simpler. One question though how would you finish it off, I've built canoes ie gel coat first, but can you apply gel coat last then sand it flat?
Your right the vang is useless! I have a mainsheet traveller across the whole width of the transom I've had to disable it for the moment at the centre as the stops don't work but eventully I'll sort it out and I'm sure that will help down wind.
Looks like I'll have to dismantle the winch to replace the wire ho hum wish I'd done it when I had the keel out!!!

Bill

 

[William_H]

Hello King Billi what a grand name.... Yes get the main sheet traveller working with a decent tackle each end. Forget the stops. I use a 3 purchase that works out well for racing.

Ok to finish the rudder after many layers of glass let it go reasonably hard beyond tacky. Then get straight resin and put filler into it. Microballoons are sold for the job or use talc. From then on it is a process of let it harden sand it smooth then add more resin and filleruntil it is just so... Then you could use a layer of resin with pigment or better still paint with a 2 pack polyurethane paint or any old hull paint.
Just as a matter of interest or is it bragging my kick up rudder is 140cm long 40 cms chord and has about 130cms in the water with crew in the cockpit. I just rushed out to measure it it is in the backyard for the winter. There is about 6cm of the chord ahead of the pintle line. (balance) all this on a 21 ft light weight. regards olewill