Re: Sail for the MC 16.5

Posted by KirkE on Aug 9, 2005

Could it be the curvature on the leeboard that I put while sanding it? I tried for a rounded leading edge and a flared trailing edge, to about 1/8", making a butter knife point instead of a razor sharp point, and to sand down to the lines drawn on the leeboard. Did I miss read the directions on how to sand the leeboard? Was the 1/8" flat to be at the bottom only?

Another thing I noticed about the bubbles is that they tended to arc away from the boat. It almost seemed that I was crabbing, but then the bubbles would have been in a straight line, not an arc. I am thinking the arc is due to a pressure difference in the vortex. And in turn, the boat held true to its course.

My concern, too, was to have a weather helm, not a lee helm. With the addition of the jib forward, it would move the center of gravity of the sail area forward. I felt that I wanted to move the leeboard as close to the mast as possible.

I had a suggestion to add a mizzen mast with a small sail, to make it a ketch rig. These rigs seemed quite common as canoe sailing was popular on the bay in the past. The extra sail area would allow the leeboard to be raked aft without causing a lee helm.

Any thoughts?

Would you also recommend drilling a rather large hole in the leeboard, about 1/2" or more and then to fill it with woodflour epoxy and then to drill it again with 5/16" or 3/8". What about putting a metal sleeve to act as a bearing? Would the threads chew into the wood? I did this for the pivot of the rudder.

Kirk

In Response to: Re: Sail for the MC 16.5 by CLC on Aug 9, 2005

Replies:

• Re: Sail for the MC 16.5 by don on Aug 10, 2005