Lakesailor
Well-Known Member
I posted this on Scuttlebutt, but no one seemed to venture an opinion, perhaps one of you may know. It was on Windermere at the weekend.
Morecambe Bay Prawner?
- Thread starter Lakesailor
- Start date
Phoenix of Hamble
Well-Known Member
She is a real beauty though isn't she!
andrewbodenham
Well-Known Member
Ouch! What a horrible reef! Poor boat.
Looks way too small for a Prawner, but I'm ready to be proved wrong.
Looks way too small for a Prawner, but I'm ready to be proved wrong.
PeteCooper
Well-Known Member
The only Morecambe Bay Prawner I knew was at West Stockwith Yacht Basin in the 60s, and it was a lot bigger than that - similar lines though.
Talbot
Well-Known Member
almost no wind and he still has one reef tied in?
Phoenix of Hamble
Well-Known Member
scuse my ignorance... but whats so horride about that reef?
(ignoring tha fact that the sail is hung limp through lack of wind, and that he really shouldn't have been reefed anyway)
(ignoring tha fact that the sail is hung limp through lack of wind, and that he really shouldn't have been reefed anyway)
Lakesailor
Well-Known Member
I thought they were bigger. I'm thinking it may be one of the early Windermere Class boats based on the Prawner.
I should have asked him. He wasn't going anywhere.
I should have asked him. He wasn't going anywhere.
reginaldon
Well-Known Member
I seem to remember them being a fair bit bigger, but I was only a kid in the early 40s when we went out for a trip out of Morecambe - no engine of course.
srp
Well-Known Member
What's so horrid about the reef?
He's tied the reef points round the boom for a start. And I can't see how the clew has been made off, but I would expect to see it tied off to the end of the boom. And the gaff is peaked up too tight and the throat is too slack. And with the wind so light everything should be much looser to give the sails a bit of shape - they're much too flat.
But it looks as though it's had a lot of time and effort spent on it - perhaps its the first time out after a major refit, and the owners just getting used to it. I'm sure people look at me sailing and wonder sometimes!
He's tied the reef points round the boom for a start. And I can't see how the clew has been made off, but I would expect to see it tied off to the end of the boom. And the gaff is peaked up too tight and the throat is too slack. And with the wind so light everything should be much looser to give the sails a bit of shape - they're much too flat.
But it looks as though it's had a lot of time and effort spent on it - perhaps its the first time out after a major refit, and the owners just getting used to it. I'm sure people look at me sailing and wonder sometimes!
mainmarine
Well-Known Member
Re: Morecambe Bay Prawner?[ Re: Magna Carta]
Neil
The reefing lines are tied round the boom, they sould only be tied to the sail.
Malc
Neil
The reefing lines are tied round the boom, they sould only be tied to the sail.
Malc
cliffordpope
Well-Known Member
Re: Morecambe Bay Prawner?[ Re: Magna Carta]
And the lee runner should have been freed off - it looks as if the boom is touching it in the second picture.
But these are quibbles, and I'm sure we've all done worse things at times.
Lovely boat.
And the lee runner should have been freed off - it looks as if the boom is touching it in the second picture.
But these are quibbles, and I'm sure we've all done worse things at times.
Lovely boat.
Mirelle
N/A
Not, but lovely boat. Small Victorian yacht.
Looks very like Kestrel, but our fellow-forumite would not be a one to tie his reef points round the boom, methinks.
Oh, and the runners should oppose the jib halyards.
What a bunch of nitpickers we are!
Looks very like Kestrel, but our fellow-forumite would not be a one to tie his reef points round the boom, methinks.
Oh, and the runners should oppose the jib halyards.
What a bunch of nitpickers we are!
kestrel1891
Member
Re: Not, but lovely boat. Small Victorian yacht.
Agree with Mirelle. I think it's just a very pretty yacht, similar size and age to Kestrel. Mirelle's is right about Kestrel's reef points. A well tied in reef is a joy to behold but it's not easy to get right.
Looks to me that the mainsail is suffering the same problem Kestrel had when rerigged - a bendy gaff. I built a new high tech 4" x 16' hollow gaff in Douglas fir and it made a huge difference.
Can anyone put a name the boat in question?
Agree with Mirelle. I think it's just a very pretty yacht, similar size and age to Kestrel. Mirelle's is right about Kestrel's reef points. A well tied in reef is a joy to behold but it's not easy to get right.
Looks to me that the mainsail is suffering the same problem Kestrel had when rerigged - a bendy gaff. I built a new high tech 4" x 16' hollow gaff in Douglas fir and it made a huge difference.
Can anyone put a name the boat in question?
cliffordpope
Well-Known Member
Re: Not, but lovely boat. Small Victorian yacht.
I think the gaff is bending because the upper half is not supported properly. With the long span set up the way it is, most of the strain will be on the lower end, leaving the upper section to overhang.
I think the halyard (never can decide how to spell that word!) should start at the peak of the gaff, then go in to a block on the mast, then back to a block on the span, then back to another block lower down the mast.
The trouble with merely having a span is that it invites the span shackle to adopt the easier end, so leaving the other unsupported. In an extreme case, if the gaff drops below a cerrtain angle the shackle will slide all the way to the inner end, and the gaff will droop unstably.
I think the gaff is bending because the upper half is not supported properly. With the long span set up the way it is, most of the strain will be on the lower end, leaving the upper section to overhang.
I think the halyard (never can decide how to spell that word!) should start at the peak of the gaff, then go in to a block on the mast, then back to a block on the span, then back to another block lower down the mast.
The trouble with merely having a span is that it invites the span shackle to adopt the easier end, so leaving the other unsupported. In an extreme case, if the gaff drops below a cerrtain angle the shackle will slide all the way to the inner end, and the gaff will droop unstably.
Mirelle
N/A
Bendy gaff.
I'm about to do exactly the same. But it took me far longer than you to realise what was wrong with the old one.
I'm about to do exactly the same. But it took me far longer than you to realise what was wrong with the old one.
Blueboatman
Well-Known Member
Well, In the absence of any prawner owners here,I think prawners would have a rounded counter stern in plan form (the piccy shows a straight one),I would expect to see more beam ,a bit more sheer and the hint of a curve in the stem that continues back underwater into a well rounded forefoot,easier for short tacking.So there! Also the beautiful boat pictured looks a bit small for a prawner? Try a Watson design maybe or similar from the Clyde?
Lakesailor
Well-Known Member
Hmm. I really annoyed I didn't circle again and ask the guy what the boat is. If I see him out again I will.
I am thinking it's one of the original Windermere 22' (lwl) Class yachts from before the current 17' boats.
I am thinking it's one of the original Windermere 22' (lwl) Class yachts from before the current 17' boats.
Gerry
Well-Known Member
definitely not a Morecombe Bay Prawner. Look up Ziska, used to be sailed by Ashley Butler who crossed the Atlantic in her!
Lakesailor
Well-Known Member
I can see that. The Windermere Class boats were owned by "gentlemen" who employed Prawner crews to race them. So there were a lot of similarities. I do have some pics somewhere of original class boats. Just a question of finding them.
snowleopard
Well-Known Member
I have owned a Prawner. The picture is of a gentleman's yacht of similar period.
Typical prawners were around 35 ft though there were a few built along the same lines down to 25 ft including the one I owned, Maid Marian, which was built as a yacht but looked just like a miniature prawner with added cabin.
The classic Prawner lines have a short elliptical counter and a curved stem. The hull form was beamier than yachts of the period.
Typical prawners were around 35 ft though there were a few built along the same lines down to 25 ft including the one I owned, Maid Marian, which was built as a yacht but looked just like a miniature prawner with added cabin.
The classic Prawner lines have a short elliptical counter and a curved stem. The hull form was beamier than yachts of the period.
