The Model Yacht: Volume 6, Number 2 – Fall 2002

LINCOLN MEMORIAL POOL, WASHINGTON, D.C. NEWSLETTER OF THE U.S. VINTAGE MODEL YACHT GROUP VOLUME SIX, NUMBER TWO FALL 2002 NEWSLETTER OF THE U.S. VINTAGE MODEL YACHT GROUP VOLUME SIX, NUMBER TWO FALL 2002 Editor’s Welcome Well, we’re late again with the Fall issue, for which we apologize. We hope that the technical supplement (which was more trouble to put together than we thought it would be) will make up for it. This issue it’s all about fittings, those little bits and pieces that hold everything together and make it work. Those of you with email are probably aware of the phenomenon of “spam,” or junk email. Since my email address has been out on the net for years, I now get 60 to 100 spams a day. I use filters, but I still have to got through and check for messages that the filter catches but which I want. To help me in this task, please put the tag “USVMYG” in messages you send me so they stand out from all the junk. Also, Charlie Roden would like to collect the email addresses of people who have registered VM boats. If you have a VM sail number, please email me (boebert@swcp.com) and I’ll pass the info on to Charlie. A lot of you now have digital cameras and kindly send me pictures via email. Unfortunately, many of those pictures have insufficient resolution for a printed publication. The minimum we can use is 300 pixels per inch and we prefer 600, which means a one-column picture should be at least 1000 pixels wide. On the other hand, 72 to 150 pixels per inch looks fine on a computer display, which fools a lot of people. So don’t throw away that old film camera yet! We’re happy to scan in any prints you send by regular mail. Earl Boebert Ebbs and Flows The President’s Message Vintage Membership Annual membership $20 fee is for three issues of VMYG newsletter – The Model Yacht. VMYG lifetime membership is $100. Members also gain access to technical assistance and vintage model plans. Our “how to” book and video package on plank-on-frame construction is available separately. To subscribe to or renew our newsletter and services, please send $20 check (payable to US VMYG) or cash ($100 for life membership) to: John Snow, c/o US VMYG, 78 East Orchard Street, Marblehead, MA 01945. For inquiries about our activities, either call me direct @781-6314203 or visit the VMYG Web Page at: www.swcp.com/usvmyg Vintage Etcetera Eighth VMYG National Vintage M Regatta Note of appreciation to The Marbleheaders of Spring Lake, NJ MYC for another successful national VM event, with Charlie Roden as regatta coordinator. Annual Traditional Sailing Craft/Scale Regatta Another thank you is extended to Buck McClellan and Solomon Islands MBC for staging superb Traditional Models regatta, combined racing and display competitions, at Calvert Marine Museum, Solomon, MD. 2002 Mystic Model Yacht Regatta Third annual MYR was held at Mystic Seaport July 29- Page 1 August 4, with VMYG coordinating with AMYA and Seaport on its activities and execution. This was last year of VMYG as overall lead, given event growth to seven days and mostly AMYA racing activities. Note that vintage-style model activities will still be part of this event. VMYG would like to thank its members who directly supported this regatta: Earl Boebert, Jim Dolan, AJ Hocking, Jackie Lakeman, Ben Martin, Bill McBeth, June Pendino and Dale Wenninger. archives and fully establishing Museum as primary resource to use for information on the sport in the US. 2003 USA/UK Challenge Regatta SFMYC will host British skippers in reciprocal free-sail challenge regatta at Spreckles Lake, Golden Gate Park May 24-25, 2003 for the 36-inch Restricted Class. Details will be made known through VMYG web site and newsletter as they become available. John Snow 2002 WoodenBoat School Courses Fourth annual model yacht building course at WB School, Brooklin, ME was taught by Thom McLaughlin in June. This was followed by another course taught by Alan Suydam using lift method in September. VMYG would like to thank Thom and Alan for their continued efforts with WB School. Model Yachting Archives New American Model Yachting Collection (AMYC) at G.W. Blunt White Library, Mystic Seaport Museum, CT was formally established during 2002 MYR at Mystic Seaport with a dedication ceremony for MY archives involving family of Dr. Ted Houk. I am personally excited with what these archives will mean to model yachtsmen and public alike. It is truly unique opportunity to preserve valued material for future generations and to better educate everyone on our wonderful sport. Model Yacht Class Collection VMYG is collaborat- ing with Senior Curator at Mystic Seaport Museum on development of collection of AMYA and MYRAA class models to be permanently housed at Museum’s new state-ofart model storage facility. AMYA designs will be collected initially and are being presently identified. Further updates on this AMYA/VMYG effort will be provided as to model designs needed and process to donate them. Models are viewed by Seaport as complementing its MY The American Model Yachting Collection Mystic Seaport To many people, Mystic Seaport is a terrific museum and tourist spot, but other students of know it as one of the most foremost repository of data, plans, and documents pertaining to America’s maritime history. Mystic keeps maritime artifacts in a brand new preservation facility and the G.W. Blunt White Library’s catalog is essentially merged with that of the National Archives. The library’s collection is the largest assemblage of information on commercial and private seafaring in the country. This may give you an idea of the significance of Mystic’s recognition of model yachting as an integral part of America’s sailing heritage. The Houk Collection Dr. Theodore W. Houk, 1907-1978 Page 2 Thanks to the yeoman work of Rod Carr in Seattle and John Snow on the East Coast, and the extreme generosity of the Houk family, the American Model Yachting Archives have been initiated with collected papers and plans of the late Dr. “Ted” Houk. He was a man of enormous energy, creativity, and dedication to our sport during his active days from the 1930’s to the 1950’s. He was also a historian’s delight in that he methodically saved everything important. A full biography by Rod Carr will appear in the next issue of the AMYA journal Model Yachting, and in our next issue we will cover some of the material in the collection and describe the process whereby donations of documents and models may be made. Until then, we all owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to John, Rod, and Theo, Robert, and Helen Houk. Earl Boebert “Black Hawk” Editor’s Note Some time ago I received an email from Fred Abbe asking if I wanted copies of plans from his extensive collection of early copies of The Rudder. “Sure,” I respond, thinking that I’ll get a few model yacht plans. What arrives in the mail but a package the size of a Yellow Pages with plans for just about everything! Among them were some fine looking schooners, and we’re reprinting the lines of “Black Hawk” as the first. She was designed by Norman Skene in 1905 and built at Pulpit Harbor, ME for Charles Gibson of Boston, and our guess is that this is the first time her lines have been reprinted since she was built. As Page 3 Page 4 always, Harry Mote shares his wisdom on adapting the design to a sailing model. Her dimensions were: LOA 61 ft. LWL 42 ft. Beam 14 ft. 3 in. Draught 8 ft. 4 in. Backstays complicate RC of the model. Many fishing schooners had no running back stays, but had of some of their shrouds set slightly farther aft than “Black Hawk”’s to support the spars when off the wind. A model of “Black Hawk” would sail as well as any fishing schooner model if her backstays were eliminated. For optimum windward performance, however, the builder might want to consider retaining either the second or third set of back stays and eliminating the foresail topsail so that triatic stays can remain in place to transfer backstay load to headsail stays to keep them tight. which work out for a VMYG schooner as LOA 50 in LWL 34.44 Beam 11.65 in Draught 6.8 in. removed. A major difference in this rig from that of fishing schooners is that this one is on a yacht and includes three sets of running back stays to help keep a relatively lighter rig in the boat when off the wind and to keep headsail stays tight for more efficient windward sailing. Earl Boebert Modelling “Black Hawk” “Black Hawk” is a pretty vessel, with her clipper bow, nice sheer line and overhanging stern. Her 6l’ of length would scale down well to a 50” model. A builder may want to build her long deckhouse with a removable section for access to RC equipment when the boat is rigged. Although “Black Hawk”’s sail plan may not quite give enough rigging details for someone unfamiliar with the fisherman rig, fishing schooner rig details are available in books on fishing schooners as well as on plans available for them. And someone like Andrew Charters, builder of those beautiful six-foot schooners, could be a big help with guidance on “Black Hawk”’s rigging. There is probably no one in the VMYG who is more knowledgeable on the fishing schooner rig. Andrew’s RC method of trimming schooner sails, including overlapping jibs, was published in the Fall, 2001 issue of The Model Yacht. It is one of the simplest and best methods of RC schooner sail trim. And running backstays could be incorporated into a sail trim system like this. She has a very traditional fisherman-style schooner rig, with gaff main and foresail, both with topmasts and topsails, and with staysail, jib and jib topsail. An advantage of topsails on a model is that they provide a quick and easy way to reef when the breeze picks up, if they are set The Winners of the Traditional Regatta: Front row, (left to right), up so that they Richard Rogers, Harry Mote, Charles Dankers, Jose Medina, Bob Ray. Back row, (left to right), Richard Lamsfuss, Tom can be quickly Younger, George Surgent, Alan Suydam, Ned Lakeman, Charles unclipped and Roden, Andrew Charters Page 5 Norman L. Skene (1878 – 1932) was a very well respected yacht designer of his time. His Elements of Yacht Design, first published in 1904, has become the clas- sic work in its field. Many people interested in this subject own this book. It has been updated and republished several times over the years. According to one reviewer, the eighth edition (1973) is the most current, with updates on modern materials and construction methods. But, it is out of print and difficult to find. According the same reviewer, the recent reprinting of the book in paperback at an attractive price is of the sixth edition (1938). Design principles change very little, if at all, however, and the new paperback edition should be a good value for those interested in traditional wooden boat construction. Harry Mote Region One Vintage Marblehead Invitational Championship All the boats sailed 13 heats together – and what a beautiful sight to see on the water! Here’s how they finished the day: Traditional 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Ned Lakeman Charlie Roden Don Cundy Ron Muise Lew Wininger High Flyer 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Ben Martin John Snow Tom Ogg Jerry Ferrel Bill Hagerup Joe SanAntonio It was a great day of sailing that we hope will be the first of many more activities for vintage boats! Special Laconia thanks go to Model CommoYacht Club dore Joe held the SanAntonio first Region for hosting One VM the event, Invitaand to Ned tional Lakeman Championfor a great ship at Lily job as Race Pond in Director. Gilford, Also speNH on cial thanks August 10. to Charlie A Nice Turnout of VMs at the Regional Race Light and Roden for variable bringing his winds made for challenging sailing, but a beautifully modeled schooner so we could all hazy sky kept temperatures comfortable in drool on it and sail it, too. the high 70’s. Skippers came from miles around. Class Secretary Charlie Roden and his wife Dot came from New Jersey to combine sailing with a visit to their daughter on Lake Ossipee. Don Cundy came up from Connecticut. Tom Ogg came down from Camden. The Massachusetts contingent included Vintage Group Leader John Snow, as well as Ma and Ben Martin. Local club members rounded out the field of 11 boats. Page 6 Bill Hagerup The San Francisco Marblehead Invitational The 2002 VM National Regatta The San Francisco Marblehead Invitational was held over the weekend of August 10th and 11th. Sixteen yachts enjoyed a spirited series of match races, with light winds prevailing at the western start line and moderate winds at the eastern start line. Ron Thornhill, who has attended every Invitational, came up from Ventura again. Mike Kelly, also from Ventura, took pictures of the racing and they can be seen at the www.pondboats.com website. Everyone lined up for the traditional group photo with the red white and blue Invitational pennants flying from the masthead. We had a rare phenomenon of a water level fog on the lake in the afternoon as the day cooled down. Boats came out of the mist like the Flying Dutchman. By the end of the day, Rod Tosetti, Mike Stobbe, George Ferrari and Tony Marshall were all poised to win. With half the boards having sailed on the first day, we retired to the Golden Mirror for the evening banquet. Once again we returned to the lovely venue of Spring Lake and the hospitality of the Marbleheaders Club. Charlie Roden and the Marbleheaders put in a significant amount of effort into the event and the result was a smooth and enjoyable two days of sailing. Several things that Charlie and crew did were worth noting. All competitor’s got a nice monogrammed tote bag and, in contrast to the standard, anonymous prizes, a picture of each contestant and their boat was taken on Saturday and Charlie stayed up late Saturday night mounting them on personalized plaques. There were other special prizes as well. We awarded three prizes for construction excellence, all being our traditional Stanley 101 plane on a magnetic base, so you can use it in the shop and then put it on the mantle when company comes. Steve Crewes of Australia donated copies of his books which were given for furthest distance travelled to the event, most improved, and 5th Place (Steve’s traditional finishing spot.) Sunday the conditions were much the same. If you could escape the eastern start line cleanly, you probably would win the leeward leg. That gleam on the southern rim of the lake is the result of my boat polishing the wood of the southern shore. I was over there far too often. But something extraordinary happened in this regatta. Mike Stobbe had a perfect beating record, all threes, both days over fifteen boats. Combined with some leeward wins, he captured a well deserved first place. San Francisco Marblehead Invitational Results 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th Mike Stobbe Tony Marshall George Ferrari Rod Tosetti Frank Nisbett Paul Stieger Robert Carver Drew Marshall Ron Thornhill Jim Forbes Mel Harvey Jean Nisbett Jeff Stobbe Ed Shoenstien Jim Harvey Phil Durfee Traditional Division 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 3rd Jeff Stobbe Harry Mote Carl Olbrich Harold “Pete” Peterson Howard Royce June Pendino John Henson Ralph Maresco Bob Sturges Noel Cram Joseph Reiss Henry Miller High Flyer Division Art Hart Jerry Fernold Construction Excellence Special Prizes Farthest Distance Waldoboro, ME) Most Improved Most Improved 5th Place on Saturday 5th Place on Sunday Page 7 Harold ”Pete” Peterson Art Hart June Pendino Jerry Fernold, John Henson Art Hart June Pendino Bob Sturges Earl Boebert The 2002 Traditional Sailing Craft Regatta Schooners, 50“or Larger Editor’s Note A full description of this regatta arrived too late for inclusion, but here are the results and a picture of the winners. We’ll have other pictures in our next issue 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th Earl Boebert Traditional Sailing Craft Regatta Results Open Class 1st 2nd 3rd Vintage Marbleheads 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Andrew Charters (“Columbia”) George Surgent Richard Lamsfuss Marty Hayes Andrew Charters (“Puritan”) Andrew Charters (“Elizabeth”) Jose Medina Andrew Charters (“Bluenose”) Alan Suydam Ned Lakeman Harry Mote Tom Younger Charles Roden Joseph Reiss Richard Rogers Andrew Charters Richard Lamsfuss Farthest Distance Jose Medina from Des Moines, Iowa Parker McClellan Skipjack 48 Skipjack design developed by the late Pepper Langley at the Calvert Marine Museum. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th Charles Dankers Tom Younger Bob Ray John Atwood Mike Summers Richard Rogers Charles Trammell, III George Surgent Richard Navickas Bob Seiden Charles Trammell, Jr. Andrew Charters Schooners, 50” or Less on Deck 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Ned Lakeman Alan Suydam Charles Roden Herb Jones John Atwood Richard Lamsfuss Byron Rosenbaum Bob Jones Marty Hayes Bob Ray The Model Yacht is published three times a year by the U.S. Vintage Model Yacht Group. Copyright 1998,1999, 2000, 2001,2002 U.S.V.M.Y.G. Reproduction for noncommercial purposes permitted; all other rights reserved. Editorial Address: 9219 Flushing Meadows NE Albuquerque NM 87111 Email: boebert@swcp.com Phone: 505 823 1046 Officers of the U.S. Vintage Model Yacht Group: President: John Snow Eastern Vice-President: Ben Martin Midwest Vice-President: Al Suydam Western Vice-President: Dominic Meo, III Southeastern Vice-President: Thom Mclaughlin Vintage M Class Coordinator: Charles Roden A Class Coordinator: Rod Carr U.K. Coordinator: Graham Reeves Canadian Representative: Doug McMain Historian: Earl Boebert Archivist: Jim Dolan Page 8 Fittings and Rigs Introduction Our technical supplement this issue is all about fittings: historical commercial fittings, fittings you can make yourself, and a progress report on the fittings for “Yankee III”. Historical Commercial Fittings Stevens Model Dockyard This firm, founded in 1834, was one of the oldest model engineering firms in England, providing supplies for live steam models, model railroads and power boats as well as model yachts. Their range of fittings was extensive and remained essentially unchanged, from the late Victorian era until the end of the firm in the 1930s. The proprietors minced no words in dealing with their competitors, as shown by this Hooks, cleats, and shackles from Stevens. Note number 15E; the so-called “Pelican Hook” is nothing new. These are easy to release when slack. broadside on the opening page of their 1924 catalog: We have much pleasure in submitting our latest “up to date” large Catalogue to your notice, many new articles are included, and the prices and details have been carefully revised. Our object, however, has not been to submit trashy and inferior articles at low prices, but MODELS & FITTINGS of thouroughly reliable design and quality at reasonable prices. Our past experience leads us to think that our efforts in this direction will be appreciated, as we desire to secure our customers’ patronage for further orders. “STEVENS MODEL DOCKYARD” was established in 1843, for the purpose of encouraging the rising Blocks supplied by Stevens Model Dockyard. In addition, they provided boxwood scale blocks with brass sheaves, such as those provided by Web. These are called heart-shaped cringles, or thimbles.They are used to prevent chafing on line or cable. They are currently available in stainless steel from Small Parts Page 9 generation, amateur mechanics, &c., in scientific research, mechanical recreations, and instructive amusements. Since then, owing to the success of “Stevens Model Dockyard,” other imitations calling themselves “Model Dockyards” have started all over the country, principally of the common toy-shop and bazaar class, who do not manufacture any of their goods, but sell inferior English or Foreign made Ships, Engines, Fittings &c., which are made of such flimsy and trumpery materials that they are quite useless for practical purposes, and fail to give satisfaction to their purchasers. Our establishment is entirely devoted to Mechanical and Scientific amusements, and we do not deal or sell in any way children’s ordinary toys such as Noah’s arks, rocking horses, fancy goods, &c. … We have been compelled to make this statement owing to dishonest piracy of or Catalogue, Advertisements, Patterns &c. by unscrupulous traders. Boucher Corporation This firm was founded by H. E. Boucher, apparently just after WWI. Boucher was a naval architect and professional model builder, and his company provided a wide range of sailing and power kits, scale models, finished boats, and fittings. The company still exists as Bluejacket Shipcraft- Perhaps it’s no surprise that the back page of the 1924 catalog offered bosun’s pipes, police whistles and so forth, including one jewel named “The Glasgow Thunderer.” The illustrations here are from an original 1934 catalog in our archives. Gammons, or fittings used to mount bowsprits. An adjustable, through deck mast mount. These were much more common in the heavy air conditions of the UK than they were in the US. Page 10 Stevens’ form of gooseneck. The lower one has a “spider band” for the attachment of halyards. These were mostly used in scale models. Weighted rudders from Stevens. These are the oldest, simplest, and crudest from of automatic steering on the run. The four rudders vary in the manner used to adjust the weight. (Top Left) A fixed weight rudder, mixed wood and lead construction. The open hinges allow the rudder to be removed. Skippers carried several in their pocket of different weights for different conditions. (Top Center) A sliding weight. (Top Right) A hollow metal rudder that could be trimmed to weight by partially filling it with molten lead. (Bottom) the most elaborate form of the gear, with a sliding weight on a tiller. Braine gear by Stevens. The swivel blocks are used to guide the crossed sheets. Three bottle screws (one end threaded) and one turnbuckle (both ends threaded) Page 11 A Boucher Goosneck. Fisher Goosenecks. The Boucher Automatic Steering Gear. This is a variation of the “Marblehead” or “Clyde” sheet-totiller gear. A tensioning rubber ran forward (left) and the mainsheet was hooked to the aft end. As with the Braine gear, it was only used on the run. The disk was threaded in and out to adjust the amount of throw, and the ball was part of a universal joint to handle raked rudder posts. Fisher Components for a Braine Gear. To the left, three different tensioning slides. Top right, the quadrant. There was also a second style of quadrant with a longer tail. Bottom right, the sheet blocks and fairleads for jib steering. Page 12 tage boats that we see. As with Boucher, Fisher also made a line of static scale model boats and fittings. A distinctive feature of the firm was its long association with the Detroit area school systems’ model yachting programs. Established in 1925, the firm was recently closed down, but its current proprietor, Bob Irwin, has resumed making model yacht fittings on a hobby basis. Not all the fittings shown here may be available; if interested, you should send $4.00 and get a current catalog from: A.J.Fisher 1004 Etowah Ave. Royal Oak MI 48067 The illustrations here are from John Black’s 1936 book Yachting With Models. Prewar Fisher fittings, and especially the larger turnbuckles, often have the word “Fisher” stamped on them. Fisher Horses and Travellers. Style D is a jib horse. ers, although it recently passed out of the hands of the Boucher family. The firm offered a small number of fittings as shown. The illustrations are from their 1922 catalog. A.J.Fisher This is probably the best known of the American fittings manufacturers, and its products appear on the vast majority of vin- Bill Bithell This master builder and sailor also made sails and fittings for his fellow model yachtsmen on a part-time basis. Bithell sails can be recognized for their very high craftsmanship, a white plastic or bakelite headboard, and often the initials “WB” in tiny letters on the tack of the sail. Of the several Fisher Jib Fittings. Note the advanced-looking jib radial at the upper left. Page 13 Adjustable Mast Step by Fisher fittings he made, the most common is the long travel bottle screw illustrated here. Bithell ceased making fittings sometime in the 1960’s, but came out of retirement in 1994 and sewed 22 sets of sails for restored boats on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the Marblehead club — an event which, by the way, sparked the founding of the USVMYG. The Web Company This English firm was founded, as best we can tell, sometime in 1950 and offered a wide range of model yachting, scale, and live steam fittings. They Fisher Turnbuckles were noted for their extremely high quality. Most of them have a tiny “WEB” stamped somewhere unobtrusive of the fitting. The firm went out of business in the middle 1990’s. A Bithell Bottle Screw, Actual Size. THe threads are 5-40. Blocks by Web. Their quality was extremely high. We’re sure the schooner skippers wish that those scale wood blocks with brass sheaves were still available! Page 14 Various Forms Of Goosenecks From Web. The fittings on the lower right are gaff jaws. A Senshous shackle at top, three sizes of turnbuckles below. The Senshous is a device, like a Pelican hook, that locks under tension but is easy to release when slack. The Web version of the Braine gear. Note the similarity to the Stevens design. Page 15 NonCommercial Fittings Here we reproduce the illustrations from an article by the great British skipper D.A. MacDonald. The article appeared in the Model Maker Handbook for 1957, and while it reflects U.K. practice none of these would be out of place on an American boat of the period. MacDonald begins by describing a hybrid aluminum and wooden mast (Fig. 1A), which is curious in that the wooden upper section, although tapered, adds more weight than a pure aluminum mast, which rather quickly became the practice. MacDonald recommends an M class mast of 9/16 or 5/8 inch ner than 1/32 inch. This will certainly lead to a flexible mast, especially since he states a preference for soft aluminum on grounds of corrosion resistance. Figs. 1B and 2 shows a form of adjustable mast step. A wooden plug is placed in the end and a sheet brass wedge is inserted after the slot is cut. This assembly rides on the T-shaped base of Fig. 2, with the wedge slipping into one of the slots. Fig 3 shows a more traditional mast slide. The mast goes through the tube and is stepped on the keel as shown in the Stevens section. The tube is offset to enable a shorter plate to be used; the plate being swapped end for end to get the full travel. Backstay Jib Stay Side Shroud and Spreader “Lower” diameter with a wall thickness slightly thin- Page 16 Fig. 4 shows a simple “three point” set of standing rigging. This is a curious choice given the flexible mast described before. Such a rig, without a backstay, would be marginal with a 3/4 inch diameter spruce mast. The supplementary illustration shows what Rod Carr views as the minimum rig for proper setting of woven fabric sails. The side shrouds with spreader prevent the mast from bending to one side or the other, and the “lowers” pull back on the lower part of the mast and take out the fore and aft curvature. If the mast is particularly flexible, Rod recommends a V-shaped jenny at the point of attachment of the jib stay, with jenny stays running from the top of the mast to the point where the spreader is attached. That point, which is also where the “lowers” go, is a function of how flexible the mast is. It can be determined by experiment. Rig the jib, back and side stays with the mainsail mounted and tension them. You will almost surely get a nice wrinkle in the sail as a consequence of the curvature in the lower mast. Then temporarily rig a set of “lowers” where the jibstay attaches. Pinch them against the mast with your fingers and run the point of contact down the mast until the wrinkle disappears. This will be the proper point of attachment for that particular mast. Returning to MacDonald, Fig. 5 shows his recommendation for larger boats such as the A class. The “beating shrouds” (D and E) are slackened off when running before the wind. This is, of course, only conveniently done on a free sailing model. The shrouds are attached to the mast using the fitting shown in Fig. 6. This is made from 3/64 or so brass. The band goes around the mast and the flat part B is clamped to the band and used to attach the main halyard and other lines as shown in later diagrams. The shrouds are attached to the rings A, which are silver soldered to the band. This is one of several places where MacDonald relies on silver soldered joints in high-stress locations. This is fine practice if you trust your soldering skills, but risky otherwise. The lower shroud attachments (Fig. 7) are made from T-section brass like the mast step. Page 17 The full set is used when “beating shrouds” are mounted. These are attached to the clips B, which are slid back and hooked into fitting C on the beat, and released and the shrouds pushed forward on the to allow the main boom to swing out. If there are no “beating shrouds” then only part A is required. A mast crane, Fig. 8, is used to carry the backstay away from the leach of the main. The fitting is made by bending the brass sheet to form A and B and then soldering a slotted, smaller tube on top at C. MacDonald specifies typical spar dimensions for the jib club and main boom. For the jib, a 3/8 inch diameter spar tapering to 5/16 inch at the ends. For the main, a 1/2 inch tapered to 7/16 forward and 1/8 aft. The jib fittings are shown in Figs. 9 to 11. Fig. 9 is a tra- ditional arrangement where the jib swivel hooks onto a chainplate on the deck to permit adjustment of the “slot,” or the gap between the jib and the main. The current wisdom is to have the pivot point D at 25% of the length of the jib boom. This facilitates the jib flipping to a wing and wing position on the run. Counterweights are also often placed on the front of the boom, but they should be carefully arranged so as not to provide a means for hooking the rigging of another boat in a foul. Fig. 10 shows a neat way of rigging the jib uphaul using a combined hook/fairlead or “woggle hook.” Fig. 11 depicts the ring fitting for the aft end of the jib boom. Interestingly, MacDonald viewed an outhaul or flow adjuster on the jib as optional. Today we know the importance of the jib to the overall thrust of the sails and would not only have a flow adjuster but also probably rig a topping lift. This is an adjustable line than runs from the aft end of the jib boom to the point where Page 18 the jib stay meets the mast. The tension on this line determines the “lift” of the boom and the curvature of the jib. It is an important adjunct in light air. The next three figures (Figs. 12-14) deal with the mast and main boom. The first figure shows how the main halyard or hoist runs through a ferrule in the top of the mast and then to the jib stay attachment described earlier. The gooseneck and boom vang shown in Fig. 13 are straightforward exercises in filing, drilling, and silver soldering. The tubes attached to strap C and the loops on strap D are used in attaching the spinnaker. MacDonald describes the small eye on the bottom of the pivot rod E as being silver soldered on, which is pretty risky considering the amount of strain it takes. A larger block, drilled for the rod and vang attachment, would be much better. A similar situation exists at the top of the rod E, where the tack of the mainsail is hooked and where the strain of the main halyard is applied. Part F is a turnbuckle and rod arrangement that can be made removable with stainless cotter pins from Small Parts1. The final figure shows a simple and popular flow adjuster, in which the adjustable line loops through the eye at the end of the boom and back to the sail, whose clew is held down by the hook that rides on the wire track. A similar arrangement should be used on the jib boom, whose other fitting are shown in Fig. 15. The arrangement of the jib sheet, with a circular bowser running along a jackline and through the “woggle hook” at B is perfectly suitable for radio control. An essential part of the “vintage look” for such a rig are the calibration marks on the boom, which were often accompanied by neatly lettered Page 19 1. www.smallparts.com numerals in india ink and then varnished over. Fig. 15 diagrams a typical main boom sheeting, with different sheets used for the beat and the run to minimize the length of the sheets and possibility of stretch. An authentic-looking radio rig can be done by omitting the aft (beating) sheet. Fig. 16 shows a simpler form of parts B and C, using the same Tshaped stock used elsewhere. One of the great joys, and often frustrations, of free sailing is running under a spinnaker. Perhaps some day we should have a supplementary event at the VM National Regatta for best run under spinnaker. In any event, the M class rules have three restrictions on spinnakers: 15” spinnaker pole measured from center of mast, hoist no higher than the jib attachment point, and spinnaker pole must be set opposite to the Page 20 Page 21 The remaining deck fittings are the jib rack (Fig. 22) and assorted eye plates and loops (Figs. 23 and 23). The final illustration shows a typical layout for a vane boat. The fittings are as follows: 1. Double eye plate; holds elastic bumper tie and stowed spinnaker forehaul. 2. Jib rack. main boom at the start of the run. MacDonald describes a fairly elaborate setting of the spinnaker pole, with a forehaul, backhaul, downhaul and a topping lift. Fig. 17 shows the fittings on the pole and 18 and 19 depict the sheeting. A much simpler rig, with a single backhaul running from the end of the pole to the deck and the spinnaker itself acting to support the pole, is just as good. A simple “Jimmy Durante” spinnaker is shown in the supplemental illustration. These are easily made from 0.5 oz. ripstop Dacron and adhesive kitemakers’ tape from Hang-Em High kite fabrics1. Moving on to deck fittings, MacDonald recommends the use of a horse and traveller for beating sheets; this prevents the booms from “skying” when sheeted out. He recommends a length of travel (Fig. 20) for the main horse of 1/5 the distance of the horse to the mast and for the jib horse 1/4 the distance of the horse to the jib pivot point. Fig 21 shows how to make a traveller, or “jockey” from bent brass sheet and a couple of rollers. The latter can be readily made from nylon or delrin rod by the old method of chucking it into a power drill and putting the groove in with a needle file. 1. www.citystar.com/hang-em-high 3. Jib horse. 4. Mast slide. 5. Dual shroud plates, with slide for beating shrouds. 6. Eyeplate for spinnaker backhaul. 7. Dual eye plate for spinnaker backhaul and split backstay. 8. Single eye plate for running sheet attachment. 9. Main horse. 10. Tension line attachment for vane, if needed. Earl Boebert Shroud Adjuster Mk3 Editor’s Note This neat shroud adjuster, while not purely “vintage” in appearance, looks very nice and “scale-like” for schooners and other tradi- Page 22 tional craft. Since it is inexpensive and made from readily available parts, it is what we use on “Yankee III.” You can make them either in the 4-40 thread size, which is good for VMs or 50” schooners, or the 256 size for smaller boats. The threaded couplers and clevises are standard R/C parts and the ball bearing fishing swivels are from Wal-Mart. The appearance can be improved by using the small pattern stainless nuts from Microfasteners1, as is shown on the 2-56 version to the left. pin. One can use a nut, solder, or epoxy to keep the bolt or pin in place. Trim off the excess length of the bolt or pin. Thread a 4-40 nut (brass or steel) onto the coupler. Add a lock washer. If you omit the lock washer the clevis will probably unscrew during transport and you will lose the clevis, the brass collar and maybe the nut. Using a 7/32” square brass or aluminum tube cut off about 9/64”. This will make a collar to fit over the clevis and prevent the clevis 4-40 and 2-56 Shroud Earl Boebert from opening under pressure. If Adjusters you use a brand of clevis not made Making A Shroud Adjuster by Sullivan (one which comes with flexible tubes to keep the cleBuy the threaded couplers first. Then find vis closed) do not use the flexible tubes. They swivels that will fit inside the threaded coustretch under pressure, the clevis will open, pler. The swivel prevents the wire shroud and the rig will come down. If you do use a from twisting when you adjust the tension. If non-Sullivan clevis then you must grind the the wire twists it will untwist and undo your notch off of the side of the clevis so that the adjustment as soon as released. collar will slide nearly all the way down. A (If you want the whole assembly to be slightly larger collar may be necessary. Just smaller you can cut up to one-fourth of an ensure that it will not slide off of the end of inch off of the tube end of the Great Plains the clevis. Also, check that the pin in the clecoupler. More in the case of some other manvis is securely mounted Some are not. ufacturer’s product. Shortening the threaded Fit the collar over the clevis and screw the coupler may make it difficult to grasp when clevis onto the threaded coupler. Screw it adjusting shroud tension.) tight against the lock washer and nut so that Drill a hole of 0.046″ diameter through the you don’t lose the clevis, the lock washer and tube end of the coupler. Make it close enough the collar. to the end that the hole will match up with Weight: 0.18 oz. the hole in the swivel. Insert the swivel into Length (extended): 2.28 in. the coupler and secure with a 00-90 bolt or Adjustment range: 0.235 in. 1. www.microfasteners.com Joe Frasier The Jib Boom for the “Yankee III” Prototype. The spring bowsers and nylon eye bolt are also used on the main boom. Page 23 Yankee III Fittings The “Yankee III” project is an attempt to produce an easily transported beginners boat of traditional form. The boat is derived from John Black’s “Yankee Jr.” design of 1935, which in turn was derived from the celebrated J Class boat “Yankee,” designed in 1930 by Frank Paine and Norman Skene. The requirements for the fittings for “Yankee III” are straightforward to describe but hard to satisfy: they should be light, inexpensive, reliable, and simple to make from readily available materials. This, of course, is for the “basic boat,” the one I want to be close to a guaranteed success for the beginning builder. Of course, an experienced builder can rig her any way at all, being aware of the fact that she is inherently a tender boat and reducing weight above the waterline is critical. lines or sheets looped through bowsers and drooping and waiting to foul something on the deck. The springs are made from .035 stainless wire from Small Parts, wound over a mandrel that is 1/16”diameter smaller than the boom. Deck and Mast Fittings Initially I used brass screw eyes, which turned out to be a lousy idea. They were brittle and worse, they were a rigging foul waiting to happen — once a line gets caught at the base of one there no way it will slide back over the top until very slack. So I experimented with making nylon fittings from nuts and bolts available from Small Parts, and this worked well. The eye bolt on the left is made from a 4-40 nylon thumb screw. The head is carved square using the sanding drum on a Dremel tool, and then drilled. The domed fairlead for the deck is made by cutting the end off a 4-40 nylon acorn nut. This leaves a turn or so of threads, which are screwed and epoxied to a 4-40 nylon threaded rod. When the epoxy is set, a small flat is filed and the hole is drilled. These, of course, could all be made in brass using solder instead of epoxy, and also made larger for a VM boat by using 6-32 components. The next prototype will use a carbon fiber mast and aluminum spars, rigged according to Rod Carr’s recommended “minimum rig” in the earlier article. This may seem pretty high-tech for the purist1, but I decided to start with a boat with the optimum sailing qualities and strength and then see how far back it can go in the direction of wood masts and Eye bolt and domed fairlead, made brass fittings. Boom Fittings Hard Points from nylon screws and nuts. The traditional boom rig, on a boat this small, gets more than a little “fiddley,” with adjustments made by tugging on little bowsers with cold, wet fingers and the degree of the adjustment being hard to see, especially through bifocals. I had been impressed with the spring bowsers that Gus Lassel used on his sliding rig. They hold like crazy, release and slide easily when pinched open, and aren’t as obtrusive as rubber grommets. So I decided to try them on the second version of the rig, and they work just as well there. They provide a simple and reliable sheet and clew adjustment without the complexity of jack1. It has been reported that a senior member of the WoodenBoat magazine staff has a carbon fiber mast on his (full size) catboat, with a wood veneer covering for appearance. — Ed. Free sailing, especially at San Francisco when you don’t have a mate to catch an errant boat, teaches you a lot about strong rigs. The shock a rig takes when a free sail boat rams the side of the pond has to be seen to be believed. I’ve done a lot of things that didn’t work in trying to cope with that, and one thing that did -attaching all fittings to the boat using “hard points” of 1/8 inch or 3/16 inch Lexan sheet. Lexan is a tough, somewhat soft material that really grabs onto self-tapping screws. It’s used for shroud and stay attachment points on “Yankee III,” especially the backstay attachment where the transom is so thin. Lexan is used for unbreakable windows; you can obtain scraps cheaply at a hardware store. Earl Boebert Page 24