Rear Cabins

Started by Julian Swindell, 19 Oct 2009, 09:53

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Tony

Hi, Claus,
I like the centre cockpit ketch you posted the other day. The more I think about it the better I like the idea.  My idea of the "perfect" small boat is:
easily trailed long distances on unbraked trailer with family car
sea worthy enough for exposed coastal cruising – no fear of F6 gusting F8 (common enough conditions to be normal these days)
living space and facilities for weeks of cruising and marina-free anchoring in relative comfort
These are conflicting requirements, of  course!

- Pop-up headroom in harbour and low windage when sailing could be an excellent combination, if implemented well. The lowered roof should be bomb-proof and solid.
-The well sheltered centre cockpit is safe for rough weather – so long as it is self draining - and the fore and aft cabins are designed not to flood with a rogue wave or a knockdown.
-Not so keen on the exposed outboard...but my "ideal" boat would be diesel electric with a (yet to be developed) briefcase-sized diesel generator, super efficient solar cells, perrhaps,  or a cheap, mass produced fuel cell (again, yet to be developed!).

All we need is a few million Euro spent on R&D for the mechanical/technical hardware and the fast, light weight, long distance cruiser could become a reality. 
Why my friends spend a fortune on 30 foot white plastic clones with unimaginative rigs and poor performance beats me. Especially as they spend most of the time growing weed in a marina. There are cheaper ways of  having  a week end cottage by the sea.  Don't get me wrong. I love ditch crawling off the Essex coast but wouldn't it be nice if you could tow the boat to Italy for a week or so?
Tony:   CBL#1 "Four Sisters"
www.sailing-in-circles.blogspot.com
http://compare-a-sail.blogspot.com/

Craic

[Original post deleted by a spammer.  Their replacement post removed by a moderator]

Tony

Claus
Yes, you're right, of course.  I'm just suggesting that any progress is necessarily preceeded by a flight of fancy, then realised by competent design/engineering and enabled by a well heeled sponsor or two.  Any Lottery winners out there listening? How about that cheap, mass produced fuel cell, then!

A minimal cruiser? (Hmm.. I sense a new thread coming up.)
I need no convincing.....you've seen the Four Sisters! 
Using a  GRP BayRaider hull "off the shelf" would make an excellent platform. Bolting on a low cabin top – or even an extended flush fore deck - would give ample dry storage and sleepingbag room for two without mucking up the sailing...and a deep spray hood would give sitting headroom for ...er...sitting.
Is this the kind of thing you're thinking of?
How much modification to the present BayRaider would be needed, do you imagine?
Would it be possible to retro-fit a stern cabin on a standard boat?
Tony:   CBL#1 "Four Sisters"
www.sailing-in-circles.blogspot.com
http://compare-a-sail.blogspot.com/

Craic

Thanks Tony,
MINIMALIST CRUISER would be a good headline.
Top safety staying as top priority, lightweight trailering next, good sailing performance then. Basic comfort, sure, allowing two people to cook and eat their meals sitting upright and have enough dry area to sleep aboard for a week and dry their clothing a bit. Looks? Rather like GRATIS than like a Drascombe Coaster.   

Best cost efficiency comes from re-using and re-arranging proven modules.

The BayRaider GRP hull is there ready, it is fully tested and proven, and being almost mass-produced it is available in quantity. Same applies to rudder, centreplate, rig and sails.

The first idea would be a hardtop retrofittable to the open BR. This could be something in the shape of the sprayhood, but a bit longer and with a (canvas or rigid) door. But then one realises that such a hardtop behind the mast would make working the mast very awkward, and would prohibit the mast from being lowered in the tabernacle hinge.

Putting the tabernacle onto the hardtop roof to overcome that would result in the rig and sail having to be shortened, and the hardtop requiring a compression post underneath, etc.. Complications and costs there, and new RCD/CE testing.

On the other side, putting a hardtop over the stern would not require structural changes. The mizzen mast is a spear type and  in two parts anyway, so  one could make it longer for very little money.

That stern hardtop could also be in two parts, telescopic lenghtwise. To fit two basic berths underneath will be tricky, but not impossible. The tiller/rudder could be connected to a yoke again, like in the SeaRaider, works very well, and the engine could be left petrol, or exchanged for an electric one. A table can be clipped onto the tiller. In connection with the foldable sprayhood and a basic cover between sprayhood and stern cabin there would be a very large dry central cockpit and space underneath. Costs: for that stern hardtop only, no structural changes are required to boat, rig, sails. Especially, if the stern hardtop was made out of a lightweight foam sandwich material,  I would see it would rather aid  the uprighting properties of the boat further, so no major difficulties with CE testing must be feared.

Any other ideas out there how to turn the BR into a minimalist cruiser?

Tony

Hi, Claus.
If you really wanted to keep a fore cabin on the Minimal BayCruiser, Whisper Boats have an idea. Cut away the central part of the cabin top all the way to the mast,  but instead of a sliding hatch (which would be limited in travel by the mast) they have a sheet of heavy canvas which rolls away.  Something built like an old fashioned fabric car sunroof might be an improvement and could be quite tough and water proof.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BPBDyaEvZE
Tony:   CBL#1 "Four Sisters"
www.sailing-in-circles.blogspot.com
http://compare-a-sail.blogspot.com/