Th ghoster I had made for Teleport/Marco Polo was of light cloth and a full shape. It had a wire luff rope. I used it infrequently and only in winds under ten knots. However, it was quite effective. I made a light whisker pole from aluminum tubing with snap hooks on the ends. The sail improved windward performance and added noticeable speed. It was especially effective down wind, set wing & wong. I enjoyed wafting past other boats of the same length with their spinnakers set. Of course, when tacking we needed a fore-deck hand to bring the clew around.

I agree. An experienced marine draughtsman should be able to draw a close approximation to the original  boat from the information available. Likewise the mast, boom, yard and battens using Practical Junk Rig. The plans provided for two kinds of construction. FRP, about which I remember nothing, and cold moulding. Five layers of 1/8" mahogany veneer for the hull. Four layers for the coach roof. I went to 6 layers of Western Red Cedar for the hull, 5 for the coach roof. Cedar because of cost and ease of construction. I got an okay from Meade Gougeon on the conversion. The turn of the bilge proved to be very difficult. In spite of being softer and steaming and bending the veneers over my knee, I discovered later there was a little spring-back here and there to form mini-cavities. These fill with water....  I don't think it meant much in terms of strength but in the long run.....deterioration. There has to be a solution. An engineer friend of mine suggested "vacuum grouting". Or, aggressive rebuilding the affected area with FRP/epoxy.

I would not recommend cold molding if another way can be found. It was very labour intensive.

It seems to me it would have been easier to build strip planking. Bill Dixon described how they build their custom yachts now. The hull is built with tongue-and-groove wood strips using a special join design. The pieces sort of snap together, (With epoxy, of course.) They smooth the surface and cover with a very thick layer of fiberglass, inside as well. So what you get is an FRP/wood/epoxy sandwich. The wood has become the core.

Arne Kverneland wrote:

Frankly I think this is a better sail-plan than the original. The reason for such a bold statement is that Jim D was complaining about too much twist in his (flat) sail.

Jim,

if you look up in the special anniversary edition of the JRA Mag, page 26, you will find my suggested rig for Jim Dietz's boat, back in 1995. Frankly I think this is a better sailplan than the original. The reason for such a bold statement is that Jim D was complaining about too much twist in his (flat) sail. That, and my own experience with my Malerna's sail (also with too big top panels), lead me into the designing of the transition panel (no. 3 from top)  to make a sail with all panels of about equal area (and thus with better twist control). I could probably find that design with numbers, for you, if you want it.

I have had a couple of inquiries from people who want to acquire a set of plans for the North Atlantic 29 by Angus Primrose and Blondie Hasler.  My set is buried the deep and dark recesses of rental storage. One day.....

Meanwhile, I contacted the company (Dixon Yacht Design) that has Primrose's plans and they report thy have been lost.

I am wondering if there is anyone out there who have a set and could let us know. naturally, a new builder would have to pay a fee for permission to use them.

One fellow who's name I have now forgotten thinks they were drawn for Blondie Hasler himself, as his "last boat".