28' Ranger-type Yacht by Mark Pearse - FINISHED - 1:12

[Jim Lad]

She really looks first class with the sails rigged, Mark.

 

John

[vaddoc]

Very nice Mark! Very elegant work.

[Mark Pearse]

thanks everyone,

 

23 hours ago, KeithAug said:

Any thoughts on there next build?

 

Hi Keith, funny you should ask, as it happens I do have a couple of ideas... Probably it will be a half model of Karoo, a 21' Cliff Gale design from the 1920s. Karoo was an open boat with lug sloop rig. The photo below is a current boat that uses her lines, from 1988 in a fresh breeze. The model would be for the model wall at our sailing club. 

 

The other idea is a radio controlled "Balmain bug". Until the 1950s model yacht racing was popular in Sydney, the main classes 6", 1' & 2' - hull length being the only limitation. You're probably wondering how a 6" model yacht could sail in a choppy harbour, but they did & were chased by two blokes in a dinghy who would tack the boat or set the spinnaker for downwind etc. I don't think of them as scale models, really they are miniature racing skiffs. Like many of the bigger classes here, the design tried to balance as much sail area as you dared with enough ballast to keep it all up & enough hull buoyancy to keep it all afloat. Below is a 2 footer - probably not what you were expecting from a 2 foot model yacht - compare the ballast to the size of his foot & you'll get an idea of the loads. The rig of a 2 footer is large, probably an 8 or 9' mast, a 2.5' fin & the bowsprit appears to be about 6', so I'd probably try a 1 footer, & an RC motor might not cope with the 2' rig. There's a few things to work out, but it's fun to think about the possibility....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[KeithAug]

16 minutes ago, Mark Pearse said:

as it happens I do have a couple of ideas

Mark - both look interesting and one is interesting and strange. I look forward to the decision.

[Bedford]

Mark in my RC schooner build I used sail winch servos with a max 12 turns and 12Kg force

[G.L.]

Mark,

 

I am hoping that you will build the 21' Cliff Gale design half hull. I am looking forward to it.

[Mark Pearse]

The mainsail track cars are made & epoxied into place, they are basically a piece of brass flat bar with a loop & sit in a C section on the mast aft face - the C section is the track.

 

 

The mainsail foot & the gaff are laced. The luff with have lacing ties from the cars to the small luff cringles on the sail.

 

A small dot of CA glue was used at each point where the lacing thread crosses itself. 

 

Also, she now has a name.....my mother's name. The SASC A28 N is the registration number, local regs are that you can choose you own mix of letters & numbers - but it has to end in 'N'. SASC is the Sydney Amateur Sailing Club & A28 the sail number.

 

 

The jib track cars are underway - 3 strips of brass flat bar, the top one is the same with as the track (so hopefully it will fit on the tracks....). The will have a U bolt with a standup block, plus a little button to replicate the thing you adjust the position with.

 

[Bedford]

Nice name.

She's got the most beautiful lines!

Edited March 30, 2019 by Bedford

[Mark Pearse]

Thanks Bedford, Cliff Gale was a gifted designer as well as having an eye for beautiful lines. Not only do that they look good, they sail well. In the last weeks our boat Cherub - a 24' Cliff Gale design from the 1930s - was in two races in which showed her remarkable sailing qualities in very different ways:  in 5 knots Cherub was the only boat from 2 of the 3 mixed divisions to complete the course (also the oldest boat & one of only two boats under 25'); today she was also the only boat in her division to finish, with the last part in  gusty 30 to 40+ knots. Some photos below from both, showing the changing faces of our lovely harbour (which I know you experience with the Heritage Fleet).

(from the deck of anther boat)

 

 

[Bedford]

Yeah I remember when I moved down here I went to Blues Point for a walk and it was pretty blowy and all the modern boats had reefed or taken in sail altogether and were motoring while the older ones like yours were flying full canvas and looking magnificent.

I want to sail my little boat on the harbour but I'll be pretty picky about the weather.

[druxey]

Stella is stellar!

[Jim Lad]

That photo over the stern of 'Stella' really shows her up well, Mark.

 

I love the photo looking back past Bradley's Head.  Is that your daughter enjoying a day's sail?

 

John

[Mark Pearse]

thanks all. 

I agree Bedford, we should be careful about boating weather, especially light open boats.

Hi John,  yes that's my daughter, but the light is the one on the north side of Shark Is, not Bradleys, we are heading into Rose Bay. 

[michael mott]

Looks like a fair chop in the last pic while the water looks like it is flattening in the top one.

 

Michael

[Bedford]

Michael the Harbour can get quite choppy due to weather and marine traffic, especially under the bridge which is a pinch point. I don't think I'd ever take my boat under the coat hanger.

Once while "crossing the heads" just off middle head onboard Waratah (33mtr 160ton steamer) we caught some waves that sent the main anchor half way across the fore deck. 

Upstream of the bridge is normally much smoother.

[Mark Pearse]

It shows what a skilled designer he was to design a boat that is good in light winds & smooth water, and then in gale force winds & difficult chop. 

[Bedford]

Yeah I find it amazing that modern designers no longer seem to understand those design principles, hull efficiency seems to have gone out the window on power boats and sail boats can't cope with a bit of weather. The designers of 100 years ago had it all over the modern ones.

[cog]

Wouldn't it depend on how much you are willing to compromise as a designer on your design, to get a faster boat compared to a stable one ... just wondering

[Bedford]

Yes Carl but if you look at Marks post about racing his boat you'll see that it wins in light and heavy weather, I think most of it comes down to "cost effectiveness" most owners will want the cheaper boat without considering the extra fuel bill during ownership. This is of course not the case with the pure bread racing yachts like we see in the Sydney-Hobart, they are built for all out speed with a big dose of gambling on the weather hence there are always some that don't finish.

[Mark Pearse]

Because it relates to this build I'll continue the discussion. 

What is interesting is that although Cliff Gale didn't design his boats as racers, they are quite competitive & sometimes even fast against modern cruising & cruiser/racer boats - bearing in mind that our boat is a design that was quite old fashioned even in 1933. An example of how he favoured general characteristics over performance was with ballast - he believed that some of the ballast should be sitting on the keel just below the floorboards & as close to the back of the mast as possible, so not far below waterline. He thought the motion of the boat at anchor was important & improved this way. However if you wanted to make them faster you'd almost certainly increase the ballast ratio, by putting on more lead, move the existing lead lower down, or both. 

 

 

[cog]

That sounds like a contradictio interminus. Make something heavier to make it faster. The oddity, to me, if you add weight to the keel you create more friction or suction, which should, genarally speaking, hold you back.

[Mark Pearse]

Thanks Carl, there is definitely truth in what you say, there's many light boats with small sail area that are very fast. Short fat boats need more powerful sails to overcome the resistance, & the fat shape is to carry the loads. Yes it's a contradiction, or maybe a balancing act.

[Mark Pearse]

It's been a while, but I've been considering the mounting base & also picking away at the jib sheet cars.

 

I bought an angle cut piece of Camphor a few years ago, it was cheap & it just seemed to work ... maybe. Anyway, the family like the idea so I'll probably do it. The supports will be very simple, I like the traditional thin round rods with simple supports. Below shows the timber, with a 10mm diameter piece of brass tube. 9mm looks better but I don't have a 9mm drill bit. The small cradles for the hull will be from bent brass, & they will be screwed to the tubes - the tubes will be filled with epoxy & then drilled for the screws. No doubt drilling into solid would be better, but I don't have the kit for that, & this will be strong enough.

 

The bark is quite nice, but because it's partly gone, I'll probably chip it all off.

 

Edited May 1, 2019 by Mark Pearse

[Bedford]

Mate that's going to look great and you won't have any trouble with months attacking the sails

 

[vaddoc]

Very enjoyable discussion for landsmen like myself! 

Your boat came out fantastic, loved the sailing stories.

 

Regards

Vaddoc

[cog]

I like the plank you'll use for display, does suit your build. Turned out really lovely too, it does

[Jim Lad]

That looks a really nice slab for the base, Mark.  I think I'd be inclined to leave the remainder of the bark on - more contrast with the beautiful finish of your model.

 

John

[KeithAug]

Mark, Looking lovely and a very attractive base - very interested how you go about the support cradles.

[Mark Pearse]

The jib cars are now done, I don't know what the conventional wisdom is on jibs blocks ,but I think they should be 'stand up' blocks so I pilfered the springs from two ball point pens. The blocks themselves are a little large, but they are feasibly large, if that makes sense.  The block was attached to the U bolt on the car, & then the spring is wound on, first one was difficult ... then next less so, etc. 

 

 

And sitting loosely on the track:

[KeithAug]

Mark - very nicely done ------- but should you be using that base as a work surface???? or is it just a convenient photo stand?