Glen-L.com

Last week we launched Island Spirit a 17' LOA (14' LOD), Gaff Rigged Sloop which we had build from scratch the past 2 months.

She sat nice and level in the water when launched, no leaks as she sat in the canal at her temporary mooring for the better part of 4 days, and sailed well under both full sail and reefed to 75% of the main sail area.

The solid mast is not too heavy, helm balance is slightly to weather both full sail and reefed and she heaves-to quite nicely to lower the sails prior to motoring back in to the canal or launch ramp.

We learned a few things, mostly adjustments to some running rigging and have already made design changes. The biggest problem was that we located the mast and boom according to plan and there is very little if any head room when coming about. Funny thing was I engineered the tabernacle out of 3x3 square aluminum tubing and actually cut off the excess over plan length which I now realize I will have to add back into the mast box to raise it up where I need it to be. This only raises the COE of the main by about 10" still in a safe position since the Gaff Rig is a low aspect sail plan.

Once we have all her changes made and can find a place to make our transfer lettering according to the font we want (Pieces of Eight - a Pirates of the Caribbean font), we'll schedule a formal commissioning and give her a proper introduction to the world.

Very, very nice and congratulations. The gaff rig looks really classic. I can't believe you did this in 2 months. Any close up pictures of the hull? What type of construction was it?

I'll update my picture blog page @ http://www.islajavacoffee.com/wb_images ... Build.html

I do have many more pics but decided at some point to build more than blog as the former put me on the water

Congratulations. That is a real classic. You should be very proud.

Bruce.

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Bruce.

~~ Do what you love, and love what you do. ~~
~~ To me - only my boat is not yet perfect. Everybody else's is to be admired for I know the path they have walked (Dave Lott, 2010) ~~
Dow's Monaco Project

Thats the quickest build I have seen with that many parts and rigging. Nice job.

Nice job, especially since the plans left a little to be desired judging from some of your posts.
How do you plan to use her ? Daysailer, weekend camper, etc ?
Glad to hear she's so well-mannered.

A bit OT, but did they scrap the centerboard altogether when they drew the SS plans ? Seems most Vac and Weekender builders left it out with no ill effects.

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-Brian

"Do or do not. There is no try."
- Yoda

Thank you all for the compliments. I can say at this point that I put in both blood and sweat, but no tears on this.

I am very happy with the results, however they did not come without getting through lofting errors and other issues i found with the plans (this is NOT a Glen-L design, I might add).

I guess this would be considered screw-and-glue construction though I have to admit I deviated for the lazarette bulkhead and transom-to-deck joint from the plans - they had me kerfing structural components which just didn't seem right - cut halfway through a joint stringer just to get it to curve?? No Way!

So these joints were classic stitch-and-glue.

My construction also deviated from original materials list in the following ways:

use of marine ply and quality hardwood vs exterior plywood and spruce/fir/pine
use of solid wood spars vs windsurfer spars (which turned out to be very expensive compared to the "salvage" spars the designer got for $5 apiece - composite spars from a commercial source would have cost me $400+
use of an 6000 series aluminum square 0.125" wall tube for mast tabernacle instead of galvanized gate hinges
fiberglass reinforced exterior chines, keel and transom/hull joints when there was none
2-3 coats of epoxy to saturate and build up the durability of the marine ply in and out - West System
My own design boom crutch to support both the boom AND the mast - leathered to avoid chafing the aft deck and spars
Sailboat quality blocks and rigging components as opposed to hardware store pulleys and gate hardware
Quality kernmantle nylon rope for running rigging instead of what looked like clothesline
use of West System marine epoxy and zinc dichromate screws instead of Gorilla glue and drywall screws
Use of composites for rudder and rudder head as opposed to one made from exterior plywood
Use of classic standing rigging for bowsprit as opposed to a single aluminum strap
Use of dacron for homemade machine stitched/hand-finished sails as opposed to polytarp sails held together with duct tape
Use of Pettit Easypoxy one part polyurethane as opposed to exterior latex
My own design for spars and commercial rigging components
Jib downhaul when there was none
Gaff vang and swivel block when there was none
Boom brake to slow boom swing on tack/gybe when there was none
Slab reefing system built into the sail when there was none
Curvature gathered into the jib via boltrope stitching technique when there was none
Addition of a reinforced, keel-stepped samson post to heel the bowsprit (as opposed to U-bolt), and to provide a mooring//anchoring belay
Jackline engineered into the jib to allow the clubfoot boom to lower properly (required for clew angle less than 90 degrees) when there was none - most owners of these boats have to untie the outhaul to get the clubfoot and the jib to lower completely

And the list goes on.

The web site I posted gives a good idea of the basis of the building sequence and structure - I'll post more pics and update this thread as I have time.

The build can get done in 2 months with patience, diligence to utilize every spare moment available, and the most important component of all - an understanding WIFE! Without her buy-in and patience this would not have been possible.

Here is a closeup of the hull on its "drydock" while I was making and seizing thimbles to the standing rigging in the driveway before moving to the trailer. I used Dyneema 1/4" with SS thimbles and waxed poly for the seizings according to the instructions in "The Sailmaker's Apprentice" by Emiliano Marino.

Incidentally I didn't mention that I lofted, seamed, machine stitched and hand finished those two dacron sails you see in the pic. The main hull and spars materialized in 2 months, but I rounded up blocks, ropes and started making the sails as far back as January. Making the sails alone probably saved me close to $1000. I used the techniques in Marino's book to draw the sail plans to scale, estimate the amount of 4 oz dacron sail cloth, hardware and "software" (twine, thread, etc) and these sails were lofted against the designer's sail plan with enhancements in the hand-finishing department, which included a jackline for the jib.

I'll use her as daysailer this season and add weekend camper with the addition of a boom tent and cockpit hammock next season.

Yes, there is no centerboard - I did a design calculation for one and determined using the centroid method that there was no fore-aft change of CLR with the centerboard down and very little (inches) shift in up-down CLR (at least in the computer) - this was confirmed on the water.

Windward performance doesn't suffer at all without it probably owing to the deep forefoot keel. I was using a Windex with the tabs at +- 32.5 degrees (65 degree no-go zone) and sailed to the tabs on both port and starboard tack without issue or unwanted leeway. I did use the gaff vang to control head twist to windward so that may have had something to do with it.

I had no choice as the wind was an offshore wind all three days I had her on the water coming out of the direction of the canal where she was moored the week I was up north with her.

Next season may see a tops'l as well for light air, even though she makes about 1 to 1-1/2 knots with the shroud tells barely fluttering.

Wow! It looks great.. Can you upload more pictures of the gaff rig. You really did a good job. Thanks for sharing it.
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