Sailing

,

S P A C E G H O S T!

,

Nick wants you to know that the Phantom is not your Grand Dad's Mirror.
Hi Joe, A look at the modern Phantom! Regards, Nick
PS Please post a better pic of the Phantom!

http://flashstar.zorpia.com/zShow/zShow.swf

I'll give it to Nick, that's a pretty cool boat. I wonder how it would do on the bay?
A big thank you to Nick for the photos. Cheers mate!

Tags: , ,

Powered by Qumana

, ,

Old Macdonald Had A Finn, E-I-E-I-O

, ,

There be a horse on that sail matey.
Philippe Kahn sailing his Finn between Diamond Head and Koko Head, Honolulu,
Hawaii, June 2002. I have it on good authority that Philippe's favorite boat
is a sailing outrigger canoe.

Old Macdonald had a Finn, E-I-E-I-O
And on his Finn he had a cow, E-I-E-I-O
With a "moo-moo" here and a "moo-moo" there
Here a "moo" there a "moo"
Everywhere a "moo-moo"
Old Macdonald had a Finn, E-I-E-I-O

Old Macdonald had a Finn, E-I-E-I-O
And on his Finn he had a pig, E-I-E-I-O
With a (snort) here and a (snort) there
Here a (snort) there a (snort)
Everywhere a (snort-snort)
With a "moo-moo" here and a "moo-moo" there
Here a "moo" there a "moo"
Everywhere a "moo-moo"
Old Macdonald had a Finn, E-I-E-I-O

Old Macdonald had a Finn, E-I-E-I-O
And on his Finn he had a horse, E-I-E-I-O
With a "neigh, neigh" here and a "neigh, neigh" there
Here a "neigh" there a "neigh"
Everywhere a "neigh-neigh"
With a (snort) here and a (snort) there
Here a (snort) there a (snort)
Everywhere a (snort-snort)
With a "moo-moo" here and a "moo-moo" there
Here a "moo" there a "moo"
Everywhere a "moo-moo"
Old Macdonald had a Finn, E-I-E-I-O

Photo: Pegasus Racing

Tags: , ,

Powered by Qumana

, ,

Hi Joe, What About A Phantom For The Older Gentleman?

, ,



Space Ghost!

Edward here's another boat thanks to Nick. Let's read his email:

Hi Joe,

Great site! (Flattery will get you everywhere!) Thanks! What about a Phantom?
It’s light at 61kg and really very stable............
(Nick, who are you fooling? Does the name Haversham mean anything to you?)
and can be built at home plus is roomy inside for the larger gentlemen!

I sail a Phantom and have sailed many boats and it’s by far the best single handed
non trapeze boat I have sailed with 79 boats at the nationals last year thus a great
following and growing.

I am 6 ft and 14 stone and do ok as you don’t need to be a 17 stone giant to
sail one anymore which is mainly due to the fully adjustable carbon rig which
makes a huge difference. The national champion last year was 14 stone and
this was sailed in F5-6 conditions for 2 days and F1-2 on the last day.
There are now many guys sailing Phantoms at the front weighing in just
over 12 stone.

It truly is a great boat to sail and I would personally recommend this boat
to anyone. The only negative is most of the following is in the UK with a few
boats in South Africa.

Anyway just thought I would let you know! I have nothing to do with the
Phantom Association just rate the boat highly! Please take a look at
www.phantomclass.org.uk

Kind Regards,

Nick Orman

PS Thanks for the site has given mucho enjoyment and I have even been in a
picture on the site and not in a Phantom! J

Great email Nick! Especially the parts that stroke my ego.

Oh Nick, did you say something about stable?

More on the Phantom.

The Phantom dinghy was designed by Paul Wright and Brian Taylor in 1971.
They wanted to produce a single-hander that was exciting to sail, manageable
and at the same time affordable to build. It isn't possible to design a boat that
will accommodate all weights, even in these days of 'wings' and equalisation
systems. As there were already boats on the market for the lighter helms (the Laser)
they decided to design a boat that was both comfortable and fast for larger sailors.
A Phantom sailor shouldn't weigh less than 10 stone, and is most suitable for
those in the weight range of 12 -18 stone(76 -115 Kg).

The Phantom has a hard chine hull with a deep 'V' bow, a flat run aft, and
planes easily. With her lightweight hull and large rig on a stayed mast she has
a high power to weight ratio, but is stable and responsive. There is no trapeze
or spinnaker and she can carry a wide range of helm weights

The Phantom class association and the designers view the development of the
class in a proactive manner always providing that care is taken not to outclass
older boats. Latterly the design has been modified to incorporate self draining
cockpits and carbon spars. Additionally the design allows freedom in cockpit
design and sailors are therefore able to develop cockpit sail and rig control
systems that suit their individual requirements.

The Phantom can be 'home-built' from plans available from the designers using
the stitch and glue method. Alternatively it can be obtained professionally built in
GRP foam sandwich, or wood.

Isn't a Phantom a poor man's OK dinghy? We all know that an OK
is a poor man's Finn. So what does that make a Phantom?
I'm just kidding..no I'm not..yes I am..no I'm not..yes I am.
No hate mail, especially from Nick.

Update: Nick responds, "A cheap OK dinghy which is a poor man’s Finn!??
The Phantom is a boat the Finn sailors would sail if the Finn was not an
Olympic class! The Phantom is a much better boat to sail!
Lighter and faster and far more responsive plus a superb social scene!"

Edward, more to come.
A big thank you to Nick, warm beer and marmite.

Links: Go Sail | Phantom Class Association | Phantom Owners Group

Tags: , , , ,

Powered by Qumana

,

Neoprene Is Scary! Part 2.

,

The horror of the early 90's.
Say it ain't so Joe!
Yes friends and neighbors, the photo above is of my wetsuit from a bygone
era. It never failed to induce my students to capsize their boats and render them
helpless, causing me to become one with the bay. The thing was cursed!
If I wore my farmer johns, no capsizes. The minute I donned the day glow,
it was splish splash I was taking a bath.

Powered by Qumana

, ,

Dear Joe, I Need A Boat That An Old Guy Can Build And Sail. Any Suggestions?

, ,

Edward has inspired me to write about boats that one can
build at home. Here's his email to me:

Joe,
My father-in-law is itching for a new project and
driving 3+ hours each way to Berkeley to work on my
boat isn't the best use of time.  We've contemplated
getting a trailer sailer to work on (he has lots of
room) but just recently got to thinking that building
a cool dinghy would be a better use of time.

We have dinghies for the kids so it would really need
to be a singlehanded and easy to sail boat for a
gentleman on the business side of 60.  Who is 6'3".
Probably mainsail only and relatively easy to find
plans for.  What would you recommend?

Thanks Edward, I'll send you some ideas over the next
few days.

How about a Streaker?

The Streaker dinghy was designed by Jack Holt in 1975 and was first launched in
November of that year. His rationale was to design a 'light weight Solo' as he was
finding it difficult to haul his Solo up the slipway as he got older.

It is a lightweight single handed dinghy designed for both racing or cruising. It has a
single sail that can be easily rigged and controls lead back to the cock pit allow it to
be easily adjusted whilst a float. The hull weight of only 48 kg makes launching and
recovery easy.

The Streaker Class Owners Association (SCOA) was formed in 1976 and since
then the class has grown steadily and there are strong fleets nationwide, with sail
numbers now fast approaching the 1580 mark and SCOA membership totaling
more than 140, spread over at least 70 clubs in the UK.( and 1 in the Philippines.)

The Streaker is an easy boat to handle no matter how inexperienced the helm
might be, it offers extremely lively racing performance in a very broad range of
conditions, belying her relatively modest Portsmouth Yardstick of 1162. A benefit
of the low hull weight means that onshore handling is easy to handle, even allowing
it be popped on the roof on most small family cars without any problem.

More suggestions to follow.

Links: Go Sail | Streaker Class Owners Association

Tags: , , ,

Powered by Qumana

, ,

Sailing Photo Of The Day.

, ,

Not another multi-hull? Sorry Monsieur Agent du Tillerman.
Today's kiity is a Paper Tiger. She hails from Kiwiland with love. Hokey smokes
Bullwinkle, how come those Kiwis and Aussies have all the fun?
It's not because of vegemite...or is it?
14 feet of fun and she can be built in a garage by you or your Aunt Betsy.

Tags: , , ,

Powered by Qumana

, ,

Sailing Photo Of The Day.

, ,

Not another multi-hull? Sorry Monsieur Agent du Tillerman.
Today's kiity is a Paper Tiger. She hails from Kiwiland with love. Hokey smokes
Bullwinkle, how come those Kiwis and Aussies have all the fun?
It's not because of vegemite...or is it?
14 feet of fun and she can be built in a garage by you or your Aunt Betsy.

Tags: , , ,

Powered by Qumana

,

Boat Of The Day.

,

It tastes like Laser!
Today's boat is the Impulse, a high performance Australian 4m single handed dinghy.
From the class web site:  Made from fiberglass or wood it is the ultimate one man or
woman monohull. You can make it yourself, get someone else to build it
or buy it secondhand.

With a competitive yardstick of 118, you will make your Laser friends
envious as you leave them in your wake.
Hmmm, I wonder what the Tillerman or his agent think about that
statement?

Boat suggested by Anonymous.

Links: Australian Impulse Association | Impulse 545

Tags: , ,

Powered by Qumana