Wayfarer - great little boat

[hmm]

Had a sail in a wayfarer today (single handed)

Heavy boat on its launching trolley - so thought it would sail thus.

It flew - even with a reef in.

The tiller was humming, there was a zinging noise from somewhere.

It was like a steam roller on land and then zoom.

But why !!! does it have a swinging centre plate pivoting about a bolt which is below the water line???? I thought I was going to sink until I found the source of all the water.

Still - very enjoyable sail - pulling it back to the park was a laugh (not) with all the water - biceps hurting already.

 

[jimi]

hi, there should be balers, open them when boat going fast on a reach (cos you don't need to concentrate as much then as when running or hiked when beating) this will suck the water out, then close them.

 

[hmm]

No, didn't have them.

And are those floor boards necessary to spread the load (stop you putting your foot through the hull) coz all these ones did was come loose and get in the way.

AND, what if you drop something down the inside and it rolls under the floor boards?

 

[gandy]

Floor boards also provide a flat and dry surface to sleep on, if you're so inclined. They make bailing by hand more difficult. We once lost a Twix under the floor boards, it kept sloshing into view from time to time, but it was halfway through the season before I retreived it.

Our floor boards were one-piece, one full-length board each side. Some people use separate for and aft sections for ease of removal, like if you drop the car keys under.

Centre board bolt leaks - the recommended cure is to use washers from Grolsch beer bottles.

 

[Sans Bateau]

Learned to sail on a Wayfarer, great little boat.

Did my learning in Paxos, Greek Islands (well it was warm!), had to tack out of a bay into about 18 - 20knts of wind and a short chop one day, it coped well!

 

[Twister_Ken]

Little? In dinghy terms, it's Mirabella V.

BTW, if you want a Wayfarer, but don't like the weight on land, think about a Wanderer, which is a slightly scaled-down version.

 

[AIDY]

Yes Wanderer named after frank and margeret dye who sailed there wayferer from scotland to iceland and norway, going through storms. I had an interesting chat to him a few weeks ago standing next to his boat in the national maritime museum in falmouth, I had to shake his hand.

my trip the next day from falmouth to brest seemed nothing compared to what they did, and the limited gear they carried.

 

[jimi]

[ QUOTE ]
I had to shack his hand.

[/ QUOTE ]

Did you leanto the right and say "Hut do you do?" as you did it?

 

[AIDY]

/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[GeorgeP]

I had one for a couple of years. Great boat and very safe too.

 

[Captain Sillyboxes]

Hey I just stumbled upon this thread, I too am considering removing the floorboards from my new wayfarer to 1) make it lighter on the trolley and 2) make it easier to keep clean inside. In my case I'm not going to be sleeping in it (or if I did I could always put the floorboards back). Are there any other reasons why I ought to leave them in place?

 

[Kelpie]

Removing the floor boards doesn't sound like a good idea. They add negligable weight, and make it much easier to move around the boat. Standing directly on the hull skin is not advised- even when afloat, but definitely never when the boat is ashore.
I don't really see the argument about losing things that you drop... If you drop something, it's going out the self bailer anyway...

 

[EdWingfield]

Wayfarers are said to be difficult to right after capsize.

 

[Ruffles]

Wayfarers are said to be difficult to right after capsize.

I never found that. However they come up with most of the sea inside which can be inconvenient.

 

[UK-WOOZY]

used to sail them when i was a teenager single handed and took poeple out sailing on them at a local parks lake (danson park) when there used to be a little sailing club before the council took over things. long before i got a yacht and joing a YC. great dinghys

 

[EdWingfield]

I never found that. However they come up with most of the sea inside which can be inconvenient.

Exactly. In a seaway you cannot bail them, or even prevent them re-capsizing whilst you are trying.

 

[Ruffles]

Exactly. In a seaway you cannot bail them, or even prevent them re-capsizing whilst you are trying.

Agreed. They should come with a soap dish.

On the other hand, having no or little buoyancy at the sides means it easy to reach the dagger board.

 

[DJE]

We had one for 18 years and did quite a bit of camping under a boom tent. Never could bring myself to cut the holes in the bottom for self bailers - we had a pump. Floorboards were clipped down but had tendency to come loose if you got a lot of water in the boat.
They are heavy boats but they have a big powerful rig. When racing I seem to remember that we had a similar handicap to the Lasers and we could beat them upwind but they beat us downwind.

 

[Ruffles]

- we had a pump.

Now you mention it the one I learned to sail in had a pump. An excellent idea.

 

[alant]

Had a sail in a wayfarer today (single handed)

Heavy boat on its launching trolley - so thought it would sail thus.

It flew - even with a reef in.

The tiller was humming, there was a zinging noise from somewhere.

It was like a steam roller on land and then zoom.

But why !!! does it have a swinging centre plate pivoting about a bolt which is below the water line???? I thought I was going to sink until I found the source of all the water.

Still - very enjoyable sail - pulling it back to the park was a laugh (not) with all the water - biceps hurting already.

Still based on a plywood design.
You should try a Kestrel, similar in size, but Ian Procter's first true grp design - round bilged & great sail.