Hi Scott. Congratulations.

Ready to take on a little hogfish soon?

Scott,

about that lee helm:
The CE of that sail was drawn to sit close to or a little aft of the Bermuda rig’s CE. It would surprise me a lot if your boat fails to tack because of lee helm. In that case the lee helm must be so strong that the rudder is braking the boat.
There are several ways to deal with a not-severe lee helm:

• ·         Leave it as it is. My 29’ Johanna had some lee helm in light winds when fully close-hauled. She never missed a tack, and this position of the sail ensured that her general helm balance was very good. In reefing conditions I hauled the sail a bit more aft, and always had a light weather helm then.
• ·         Move the halyard’s slingpoint a bit further forward on the yard, which lets you pull the sail further aft. Don’t overdo this, or the yard may end up tail-heavy when hoisting or lowering it. Shorten the tack parrel as well to keep the luff about parallel with the mast.
• ·         Sit on the lee side when sailing in light winds. Heeling the boat a little use to help on speed, and may also do some good to the helm balance.

Good luck.
Arne

Thank you David and Annie,

At 2.5 years into my one year plan to convert this boat I am very happy to finally be sailing.

I was out a few more times but I have been too focused on sailing the boat to stop and take some photos. I am pleased with how the sail turned out. I credit Arne's excellent instructions for that result. The parts where I had to use my own ingenuity are not so great. I need to find a better mast/tabernacle hinge.

Annie: Can please tell me, does Fanshi have a large insulated pipe clamp for a hinge, or was that custom made?

I still need to get some fendering on the boom and yard, and do something about getting the empty boat trimmed a little better (move the battery again). I need a hoop to keep the sheets off me, and I would like to have a windvane to steer for me -- so maybe by the 2030's sometime I should be done?

I am a little concerned about the helm balance. With the right wind speed and the right angle into the wind it is perfectly balanced. This is huge change from my South Coast 23 where I had to pull against the weather helm constantly. But in light air the boat has lee helm. I am a lot more comfortable with neutral or weather helm than lee helm. I am concerned that I might not be able to tack in some situations. This could be dangerous.

I have the sail set pretty far aft already. I wonder if I got the mast too far forward or if maybe there is some (unintentional) forward mast rake.

I decided to name the boat 'Thread'.

Scott wrote:

I rigged the sheets and went sailing.

I am still trying to decide if I like having a mooring this close to the Sheriff and Coast Guard dock.

First sail, that is a great achievement. And from what we can see of the small amount of sail you have up the sail looks great. Look forward to photos of the full sail up, and to hearing about your upcoming sailing adventures. You got there, from the inception of the project a few years ago, right through to completion and first sail. Keep us up to date with how it all goes.

Hi Scott, Unfortunately I have no videos of my boat sailing but I want to make some this Summer. I also used cheap plastic rollers fitting a 6 mm rope for changing direction of the running rigging going from mast partner to the starboard side and it is attached with a shakel to the unused chainplate because the mast is free standing without any stays. Each plastic roll has even an aluminium shaft and these I attached with screws on each side of the ss side plates.