Editors Ramblings
Dairy dates
Welcome to new members
East Coast Rally Report
Leaving the Fold
South Coast Rally Report
Replacement Boards
Delphin
The Purrfection Story
Letters
Wanted
Chairman - Position vacant
Treasurer - Thelma Pack
Newsletter Editor & Secretary - Tim Ball
Well have I got a newsletter for you! This I think is one of the best and it has nothing to do with me other than joining all the articles together. Just keep those articles coming.
Its now just over a year since I took the editors role on in which time we haven’t had a Chairperson, now I’m sure that somewhere out there among the 102 members there is just the person the rest of us are looking for.
No prior experience is required, just an enthusiasm for Sailcraft boats and a wish to see the association thrive. If you feel you would like to help then give myself or Ken a call (numbers on the back page). We also still require a treasurer, Thelma has continued to keep the books for us in the interim as she has done for many years. I think it is only fair that another member step forward and take over her role as well.
Lay-up time is upon many of us, what are you’re winter plans for fitting out? If you're doing something a little different then let the rest of us know.
I was wandering around Thornham marina the other day (home of Multihull World and a fair collection of multihulls as well as at least 3 members boats) when I bumped in to Jill and Ashley Strain who had just removed their mast head float and we got talking on their uses once their employment at the of the top of the mast had ended. My best suggestion was to place over newly planted trees to stop dogs peeing on them! If you have any better ideas for alternatives drop me a line I may even be able to find a prize for the best one. And if anyone’s planning on planting a couple of trees over the winter there are I think at least three floats lying around in the yard at Thornham!!
Lastly just a reminder that it’s subscription time once again, all money to Thelma at the address on the form I’ve even put an envelope in (it will need a stamp I’m afraid) so what could be easier?
As this newsletter is a little latter than I had planned I’d like to wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy new year.
I’m now looking for suggestions for events next year.
I plan to arrange a South coast weekend meet, any suggestions for venues? Ones with road access would be best if this year’s meeting was anything to go by.
I would like to put some details together for a newsletter early in 1999 so ideas please.
June 26th - The Hoya Round the Island Race
Brad Mandell - Annapolis USA
Calvin D Baker - USA
Gordon Mandy - Devon UK
Dr Stephen & Sally McCarthy - West Midlands UK
Rob & Rhoda Chickering - West Danville - USA
By 6pm on the 26th, 9 boats had arrived at Woolverstone Marina who managed to berth seven of them in a line on the visitors pontoon - a fine sight. It was shirtsleeve weather too. Of the 9 boats, 2 were Iroquois Mk1, 5 Iroquois Mk2 or 2a, 1 Comanche and Bob Hawkins' recently acquired Prout Quest. Just to complete the picture, Great Spirit, Bob's old Iroquois Mk2a sailed by as the IOA fleet gathered. She is bound (eventually) for Swansea where her new owner is based.
More members arrived by road and a final group of 28 walked across to the Royal Harwich Yacht Club for the evening. Norman and Sheila Cobbold (RHYC steward and caterer) had originally been asked to plan for 10 persons (based on last year) so it was an embarrassed Philip Corridan who gave them about an hour's notice of the actual figure. Despite also having to cater for 40 Ajax keelboat sailors sitting at 8pm, Norman and Sheila could not have done more for us. Good bar tucker and a cheerful atmosphere made for a most convivial evening about which this reporter can remember very little except discussing life and catamaran sailing ... oh, and Philip talking briefly about the RHYC, Thelma Pack stating the IOA finances and a whole group of us invading the RHYC library. Midnight appeared far too quickly but the predicted rain kindly held off until we were all abed, after which it lashed down. RHYC flag officers and secretary have been told of our appreciation of their facilities and hospitality.
As visitors found, no two boats were anything like the same and there was much to be learned from browsing around, picking up details of modifications which worked - an excellent diesel engine installation, a paraffin fuelled cabin heater for those who sail an extended season, and many smaller but no less effective additions to our excellent craft. In fact, so much of Sunday morning was taken up with viewing that the planned sail to another river for lunch turned into a 2 mile potter along to Pin Mill where the 5 remaining boats (the others had to catch the morning tide) rafted up to 3 anchors. Iroquois Mk1s have low freeboard at the best of times and Alleda's became even lower as 14 of us enjoyed an alfresco lunch aboard.
Keen eyed members will spot the impostor from Canvey Island
Much wine was consumed and glasses were raised to the many yachts wafting past in a light south-easterly wind. If happiness sank boats then Alleda would be firmly on the bottom! And all in glorious sunshine too. If you check the weather map for this weekend you'll find that apart from one tiny sliver of East Anglia, the UK was entirely under cloud cover.
The deserving got the weather they deserved, we claim. Roll on next year.
Philip Corridan
We would just like to add a foot note to Philip’s report as we move onto new adventures in Questina III. We were exceptionally pleased with the weekend and would like to thank all those who attended, it really was an excellent turn out, special thanks to Philip for everything that went so well.
We may well see some of you again and will hopefully pass an hour or so over a glass of beer or two, we would like to wish all IOA members good sailing and good health.
Bob & Brenda Hawkins
What started out as another gray summer 98 day ended with glorious sunshine for the 3 mkII’s parked on the foreshore of our hosts Alan and Fiona Bartlett’s garden with one Apache in the distance. In all 28 turned out (from 5 mk11’s and 2 Apache’s) for DIY BBQ on Alan and Fiona’s lawn, with fair amounts of wine and beer to lubricate the vocal cords.
Talk went on well into the night with topics varied, center boards to philosophy. A fair amount of to-ing and froing between garden and boats took place to inspect modifications and explain ideas.
Sunday morning dawned rather grey and soon turned to rain. Mike Millerchip (MOCRA Cruising Secretary) came and canvased views of members and explained some plans he and MOCRA have for getting the affiliated groups more involved. These include a combined groups Rally and some common interest gathering like first aid talks and a sail clinic which was a popular idea with those present. I hope to have more details in the next newsletter. Although the weather was deteriorating the crews of Jan, Rosie and
Mistoffelees were still up for a quick race around the buoys in the harbour. Alan had drawn up a course which I managed to take down incorrectly for both Jan and Rosie!!
We agreed a start time, line and channel for communications and set off for our boats. Mike Millerchip joined us on Jan, with 20-25 knots of wind it was going to be a fairly quick race.
Mistoffelees took the start, her hanked on jib helping her to point well. Even with Jan’s increased area having a couple of rolls in made her lose a few degrees. On Jan we took an early tack as traffic from the Hayling Island sailing club looked like it was going to lose us some ground. Mistoffelees with Rosie close behind, soldiered on towards the first mark. Jan took the lead at the first mark with Mistoffelees then Rosie, with a broad reach to the next mark somewhere off Easthead we extended our lead further with instant extra sail area at the flick of a clutch.
On the close reach back towards Hayling Island my rough course notes caused some concern which buoy?, we had two to choose from lying in line north south, we chose the southerly one which would mean a quick tack but would mean we would pass both bouy’s to Starboard as required. Unfortunately Rosie being 45 feet long and only having a small spitfire jib takes a little longer to tack (Sorry Mike). Even with our navigational error we still managed to hold on to our lead but Mistoffelees had taken a fair bit back. With a short run towards Emsworth Rosie unfurled her Genoa to try and regain some lost time and on Jan, with our tails between our legs, were planning the final beat back. We chose to stick with full genoa which gave us a couple of extra degrees meaning we could hold Mistoffelees off until the line.
We picked up mooring and transferred a very damp MOCRA cruising secretary to Mistoffelees! The weather was forecast to go west force 7 during late afternoon so we were keen to get over the bar as soon as possible. With a reef in the main and a fairly well rolled genoa we headed for the bar (two hours after HW) with Rosie just ahead. Having sailed out of Chichester for more than 20 years we knew things would be fairly lumpy hence a reasonably generous amount of sail to keep us moving. As we cleared the Island it was obvious that our force seven was here early. If only I could have held a camera still and kept it dry, Rosie was ploughing along with great clouds of spray coming from her bows it looked quite spectacular. It wasn’t long before our main started to groan and creek and with a fair way still to go before clearing the new bar buoy we decided to turn tail and scrub the boat off on the beach at East Head (neither of us had work the next day). The following morning when hoisting the main it tore from leach to luff at the top batten pocket so in hindsight not a bad decision after all!
Our thanks go to Alan and Fiona for being excellent hosts and I look forward to meeting more members at next year’s rally. Having a venue with easy access for members traveling by car proved popular as many felt that a weekend rally can be a bit tricky to manage with tides and weather even with boats quite close.
Tim Ball
“What to do?” asks Philip Corridan
Alleda is a 32 year old Iroquois Mk1, sail number 22. I am somewhat older. Friends say that one of my great strengths is the ability to cobble up some sort of temporary fix from whatever materials are to hand. They also say that one of my many faults concerns the speed with which I assume my temporary fixes are good enough to be permanent. They had plenty of opportunity to look knowingly at each other this summer when the below hull parts of both Alleda’s ‘temporary’ boards made a successful bid for freedom during a Harwich to Vlissingen passage. These boards had been temporary for 4 years. To cut a long story short, I avoided repairs in Holland and have sailed beach cat like for the rest of the summer. Obviously there’s a lot of leeway when the wind is ahead of the beam but it’s still possible to get about as long as I avoid tacking up rivers.
Standard Iroquois Mk1 boards are of ½” aluminium plate cut in a similar diamond shape to those of the more numerous Mk2. So, where’s the problem, just get new ones cut and fitted? If that was a question, then money is the answer. A friend has a small engineering company. Using his supplier, two 8’ x 4’ x ½” aluminium plates (marine grade) will cost about £680 + VAT. Obtaining a diamond from a rectangle incurs considerable wastage but the aluminium supplier is able to sell some of the offcuts and would therefore offer some price reduction - let’s say that the materials cost of the two boards will be £680 inclusive of VAT. Then there’s cutting and transport and ... at best, and calling in all favours, the final cost is unlikely to be below £800. To one of slender means, this is a lot of money. So ... is aluminium really necessary? Can’t I get the diamond shape directly using composite materials? Certainly I am happy and at least half competent to work some combination of wood, glass or carbon, and will do so if necessary. However, given the limitation of just ½” clearance slots in each hull, rigidity is the one property of aluminium I can’t duplicate with composites. Given also the lightweight construction of the Mk1 board case and the difficulty of adequately beefing it up, rigidity is an important factor - I shall not be pleased to find high-flexibility boards splitting Alleda’s much-worked old cases.
Hang on, you may be thinking, great hunks of aluminium are likely to outlast the boat, so what were you doing with temporary boards? Ah, it’s all to do with worry ...
Members of long standing, or those who have purchased the IOA parcel of past newsletters, will know that there were a couple of well publicised incidents 20 years or so ago where an Iroquois (weather) board proved stronger than its surrounds - the board relieving its stresses by peeling the weather hull upwards, the resulting vertical split causing the yacht to founder. There was no loss of life among the crew of either Snoopy or Neron despite the severe conditions in which their yachts foundered. Sailcraft responded to the problem by specifying a modification to the hull’s GRP lay-up in the board slot area. As far as I know, most existing Iroquois (including Alleda) were so modified. Newer members may be feeling uneasy at this point but don’t pester me for details, everything in this paragraph is in the parcel of past newsletters. Buy it if you are as much of a worrier as I was. Charles Dennis’ insurance report on the loss of Snoopy makes sobering reading.
Alleda was 25 years old and had the standard boards when she started her round-the-world trip in 1991. None of her three previous owners had been low mileage men so by the time we reached Tahiti in May 1992, there was every chance that she had sailed further than any other Iroquois. Were we to go the way of Snoopy and Neron? It seemed a distinct possibility. Long before May I was beginning to hear the boards clattering against their cases whether they were up or down, at anchor or sailing. It’s difficult to switch off once you can identify this noise which seems to dominate all others. And that ½” plate looked so much stronger than the rest of the boat. And ... by Tahiti I had determined to replace the boards with fixed keels. Out Alleda came at the Chantier Ellacott yard in Papeete. Polynesian workers at Monsieur Ellacotts’ had shoulders twice as wide as mine and found no difficulty lifting out the boards and chucking them aside. I was thus committed to casting off the old and fabricating the new.
Papeete is the glamorous capital of French Polynesia and whoever said that cruising boils down to “fixing your boat in exotic places” was right! So how do you start on fabrication of two keels? Knowing the size and position I suppose. On a side elevation my new keels would have approximately the same underwater area as the standard boards, and a similar centre of area. In detail, to match the rudders I decided on a draft of 3 feet and, since the hull draft in the keel area was 16”, this resulted in a keel of 20” height. This meant that I needed about 54” of keel length to get the required area and I decided it would come from 60” length at the top, where the keel would join the hull, and 48” at the bottom. See figure 1 for a whole boat perspective.
Figure 1, Alleda at end of circumnavigation, 1993
Now, Alleda’s rudders were (and still are) of a symmetrical aerofoil section. Fearing I’d have to make at least one replacement rudder blade during a 28,000 mile circumnavigation, I had brought along a page of NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics which later became NASA) aerofoil offsets. See table 1.
Table 1, NACA Offsets (10%)
| Percentage distance from leading edge of chord | Offset each side of chord as a percentage of chord |
| 0 | 0 |
| 1.25 | 1.57 |
| 2.5 | 2.17 |
| 5 | 2.97 |
| 7.5 | 3.5 |
| 10 | 3.9 |
| 15 | 4.45 |
| 20 | 4.78 |
| 30 | 5 |
| 40 | 4.83 |
| 50 | 4.42 |
| 60 | 3.83 |
| 70 | 3.06 |
| 80 | 2.18 |
| 90 | 1.21 |
| 95 | 0.67 |
| 100 | 0.02 |
This would allow me to get the correct cross sectional shape. (An aside; rudder fears became reality later as the port one was smashed off at the waterline in a force 10 in the Straight of Bab el Mandeb, but that’s another story). So, the keels were to be of symmetrical aerofoil section. All I had to do was make them.
Cycling around Papeete’s back streets, looking for materials at bargain prices was not only great fun, Polynesians are the most loveable people, but also dangerous, many are poor drivers! I bought some pieces of ½” exterior grade ply and used NACA offsets to make the 60” and 48” top and bottom profiles which determine the keel shape. Working with the offsets is easy enough. You start by knowing the length (chord length is the official term) then you make a decision on how thick the section is to be. Alleda’s rudder blades are 10% sections, that is the maximum thickness is 10% of the chord length. Maximum thickness occurs at 30% from the leading edge - note, there are hundreds of different NACA/NASA aerofoils (they would say airfoils) but the shape specified in table 1 is frequently seen on waterborne craft. I thought 10% a little slim for keels so opted for 15%. Taking the 60” profile as an example, the left hand column of table 2 is that of table 1 multiplied by 60 and divided by 100. The right hand side is similarly worked then multiplied by 1.5 because I wanted 15%
instead of 10%. The idea then is to draw a 60” straight line and mark out, on both sides, perpendicular lines of column 2 length at column 1 distance from the leading edge. All of which is easier to do than write about doing. Join freehand the ends of these lines and you have figure 2’s rather nice shape.
Table 2, (60” example)
| Distance (inches) from leading edge of chord | Offset each side of chord in inches |
| 0 | 0 |
| 0.75 | 1.413 |
| 1.5 | 1.953 |
| 3 | 2.673 |
| 4.5 | 3.15 |
| 6 | 3.51 |
| 9 | 4.005 |
| 12 | 4.302 |
| 18 | 4.5 |
| 24 | 4.347 |
| 30 | 3.978 |
| 36 | 3.447 |
| 42 | 2.754 |
| 48 | 1.962 |
| 54 | 1.089 |
| 57 | 0.603 |
| 60 | 0.018 |
(The 3 decimal places of column 2 imply a precision beyond my ability!)
Figure 2, aerofoil shape
So, I cut the profiles and made a ½” ply vertical + four side ribs to join the top and bottom profiles into skeletons of two keels. That was the easy bit, see figure 3. I had intended to flesh out the skeleton by filling all voids with polyurethane foam, then sanding the foam to a good finish before covering the lot with a 10oz fibreglass lay-up. But I had not reckoned on the very small scale of an island economy in which items like boat building materials are shipped every 2 to 3 weeks from France and less frequently from New Zealand and Australia. I could not buy sufficient foam to complete the job, there was
Figure 3, skeleton
not enough in the shipments already in transit, and I did not have 6 weeks to spare to wait for a certain supply. End of plan A. Plan B was to bend thin wooden battens around the skeleton and fibreglass over them, a sort of thickly sheathed pair of carvel mini-hulls. No thin battens, end of plan B. Desperation had set in by plan H - bend anything around the skeleton then heavily fibreglass over it. The boatyard used hardboard for patterns. Yes, by hardboard I mean the oily, cardboardy stuff that any modestly fit 10 year old can break over his/her knee. Extremely early one Sunday I had nailed hardboard around the skeletons and slapped on a couple of fibreglass layers before anyone with half an ounce of structural knowledge noticed. Inside the keels were odd bits of polystyrene from the yard waste bins, and rather a lot of air. Sides of the keel were stiffened with a strip cut from the sole foam sheet I was able to buy. After attacking the hulls in the appropriate area with 40 grit sandpaper, a keel was wedged up in a central position against each hull. Gaps between the top of the keel and the hull were stuffed with a self-made ‘glue’ - shreds of chopped strand mat and polyester resin mixed in a bucket, a mix similar to the stuff sold in car accessory shops as P40. After gluing, the keels were fibreglassed all around and overlapped onto the hulls. That’s it! See figure 4.
Figure 4, keel on (from aft)
Oh, and I closed the board slots top and bottom with fibreglass.
“Won’t last 5 minutes”, I hear you shouting. And I don’t blame you. However, Alleda didn’t know of our scepticism and the keels faultlessly helped her the remaining 17,600 miles home, surviving a crunching with coral in Fiji (another ‘another story’), very bad weather indeed in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea (much windward work) and several groundings in the French canals. So, was success due to luck of the Anglo-Irish, or the excellence of construction? If you think the former then I’m sure you’re in the majority!
Once home I soon convinced myself that I would either have to smooth and tidy the keels in situ plus elongate the skegs to give Alleda four feet to stand properly on, or saw the keels off and make new boards. Variable draught is very useful on the UK east coast so with great difficulty I sawed the keels off by hand. They put up a tremendous fight, in fact the 60” profiles had to stay glued on, and they are still there. After their sterling service, the keels met an undeserved and fiery end on the Carrow Yacht Club November 5th bonfire. Smoke from their burning fibreglass was the cause of my tears, I claim. That and thoughts of those expensive aluminium boards left in Tahiti, now doubtless made into something vital by enterprising visiting yachties.
Figure 5, keel revealed
After cutting open the slots, I made two rather basic rectangular boards (straight up and down, no pivoting) from 6’ x 3’ x ¼” ply heavily sheathed both sides with fibreglass, using a similar woven roving to that of Alleda’s hulls. Rows of small holes in these boards allowed variable height including flush with hull for taking the ground. These are the boards which have broken this summer, returning us (at last!) to the problem noted in the beginning.
Ideally an IOA member living near me and reading this would remember that, in the garden shed, he has two spare standard Mk1 boards he can let me have for £10! But perhaps I should not rely on miracles. Although inclined to make new boards, I could go back to fixed keels again - this is what most cruising cats have these days, even some of the quite quick ones. I can honestly say that I noticed no difference in performance of Alleda with standard boards or fixed keels. She was of course overweight during the circumnavigation, but I can easily believe that a well made pair of aerofoil section keels would provide enough of a lift to windward to make up (and possibly more?) for diminished draught. But what about drag, say downwind? If you pull both of your boards up downwind then I suppose that fixed keels will inevitably be more of a drag.
To finish, here is a question I would like your answer to ... How do you use your boards when sailing? Yes, I have read what the Iroquois Sailing Instructions say about how much to have up or down on the windward and/or leeward sides but I am asking what you actually do? Many of the members I have talked to just haul the boards fully down and leave them there most of the time, i.e., behave like a fixed keel cat with the added advantage of being able to lift and escape (perhaps!) if a shallow patch is ‘found’. Alleda is certainly very well balanced on the helm with both fully down. But before I commit myself to a great deal of work, I really would like to know how you manage your boards.
Figure 6, keels sawn off
Philip Corridan
We bought Delphin (Iroquois Mk 2) in Oct 1996 and she had been terribly neglected and used as a houseboat. I quickly assessed the work required and undertook the following jobs, many of which will be very familiar to Iroquois owners:
In addition I could see that the aluminium crossbeam at the front of the beam was badly corroded where the dolphin striker ends were attached by rivets. This had obviously been caused by electrolysis between the stainless dolphin striker and the aluminium. I could also see that a massive stainless collar had been fabricated from the original forestay chainplate fitting presumably as the same corrosion had taken place under the original fitting. I decided to have the aluminium beam patches where the dolphin striker ends attached but I did not have the time to investigate under the collar, but assumed optimistically that the repair was sound.
This is the story of what I found the following year when I removed the stainless collar.
I expected to find that corrosion had taken place between the beam and the forestay fitting to the extent where a previous owner had thought it prudent to make the collar, but where the strength of the beam itself had not been compromised.
What I found was that the beam itself had corroded completely in a square as big as the original forestay fitting plus in two other areas where the new collar was touching the aluminium. About 50% of the section of the beam was gone. Although I had been sailing the boat gently I consider it lucky that we did not lose the mast. The collar itself would have simply slipped off the beam had it collapsed in the centre.
For a while I entertained the idea that it could be repaired somehow in situ but eventually I realised that I would not be able enjoy sailing the boat unless I replaced the whole beam. The beam is glassed into the outside and inside of each hull, making four points of contact and an immensely strong structure. It also makes it incredibly difficult to remove!
I took a few days off work and bought a 4" angle grinder. My intention was simply to grind away everything in sight until the beam was out. This was messy and tiring work and I found that the dust generated by grinding fibreglass was intolerable even with a facemask. I got around this by sitting in the forward locker with my head poking out on deck whilst blindly grinding away the beam at arms length! The first hull took all day and I was exhausted at the end of it. The second hull took two hours due to the dramatic improvement in my technique. Firstly, from the outside, I cut the beam very close to the inner side of the hull. Then I fed the grinder into the beam from outside and cut several slots along the length of the beam which was still glassed into the hull. Obviously the grinder cannot get to the last few inches of the beam. The grinder wants to jump about so a firm grip was necessary even though I could only hold it with one hand.
I could see that the beam immediately contracted away from the glass which was gripping it. The glass does not adhere to the beam at all and relies on the intimate fit to hold it in. In this way a lot of the work can be undertaken from the outside. However then it is necessary to assume the position in the locker and grind away. The object is to extend any of the slots in the beam to the end so that it comes completely away from the fibreglass and can be slid out. In order to do this a section of the beam must be removed so that the grinder can be inserted and that last few inches ground out. I tried using a reciprocating power saw but I could not position it in the cramped space to make the cuts I needed. This is difficult and messy but when complete the beam can be easily slid out leaving the remains of the fibreglass collars which held it. These collars are up to one inch thick and must be removed in order to properly glass in the new beam. Again more grinding but at least those on the inner sides of the hulls can be done from the outside by inserting the disk of the grinder through the hold where the beam was. The hulls are built up near the beams so that they about 3/4" thick.
I got through 14 metal cutting grinding disks during this phase, several of which just disintegrated as the aluminium or fibreglass "grabbed" them and made the grinder jump.
It is important that the ends of the new beam have a profile that allows them approach the sides of the hull to within a few millimetres. In this way the loads from the beam are transmitted efficiently to the hull sides. To achieve this I used the old beams as a template. I wrapped a piece of card round the end of the beam and drew around the card to produce curved line. I marked the position of the sail track as a reference point. I then cut along the traced curved line with some scissors and wrapped it around the new beam matching the reference point with the sail track of the beam. When I traced around the card onto the new beam it gave me the line to cut with my trusty grinder. It is important that the length of the beam is correct to within a few millimetres. I am convince that the strength of the assembly depends on the beam transmitting loads to as close to the hull sides as possible.
In order to fit the beam I cut a hole in the outside of the port hull using the reciprocating saw. This was only a little bigger than the section of the new beam and this helps to get the correct beam length as the beam passed close to the hull. I also had to enlarge the original holes by about 1/2" on the inner sides of the hulls to take the new bigger section. This section was exactly the same height but 1/2" longer in the for and aft direction. The section walls are nearly double the thickness of the original which was only about 2mm thick.
After about 4 days the beam was in place ready to be glassed in. I decided to get this done by a professional as I could not see how I could work in the confined space of the locker, to prepare the surfaces and apply the glass without proper breathing equipment. A local company did the job for me using WEST materials under my instructions. I have a lot of confidence in this material and its greater strength would be comforting. The increase in cost is insignificant and the fumes much less potent.
I originally had thought to put back the forestay fitting as Sailcraft had originally intended with rivets but I eventually rejected the idea. I do not like to rely on rivets especially when a lot of the load is vertically upwards and the rivets are subject to corrosion. It appears that on later boats the fitting had migrated more towards the front of the beam. The dolphin striker clearly does very little to take the vertical load of the forestay as it is not pre-tensioned and would not exert any significant force until the beam bent or the fitting moved! It is interesting to see that more modern catamarans use a much stronger arrangement with cables tensioned by bottlescrews.
I therefore got a new collar made from the flanges of the original fitting which clamps around the whole beam without rivets or bolts. I used inflatable dinghy material underneath to electrically isolate it from the beam. The forestay loads are now transmitted around to the underside of the beam and in hard sailing no movement is apparent. It’s not pretty (thanks to the local fabricator) but I have complete confidence in it.
The approximate total cost of the project (excluding hard-standing fees) was:
| 2nd hand aluminium beam | £20 |
| Grinder discs | £22 |
| WEST Resin (lots left) | £85 |
| Professional Glassing | £270 |
| Hire of Reciprocating Saw | £15 |
| Face Masks, Gloves, Goggles, Boiler Suit | £35 |
| Total | £447 |
As you can see I would have saved a lot of money by glassing the beam myself, but if anyone else does this themselves please consider the requirement for an external air supply.
Whilst fired with enthusiasm I also removed all the teak toerail which had been damaged in several places and looked terrible. About 30% of the galvanised bolts had corroded badly and about 10% had corroded completely away. I cut the bolts with a hacksaw and pushed then inside the boat with a centrepunch and hammer. I then filled the holes with filler coloured to approximately match the deck gelcoat (light green). The boat looks better (more modern) and I don't miss the rail while sailing but the seam between the hull and deck will have to be covered somehow, at a later date.
I have unfortunately now come to the conclusion that Delphin does not get enough use to warrant the costs of running her. I am therefore looking to sell here to a caring owner. I would rather not let here go back to houseboat status. She is structurally sound but requires a new suit of sails and painting of the hull and tidying the interior. She has no working electronics to speak of. I am think of a price of about £13,000. If anyone is interested I can send them a details sheet.
David Hutchings
Normally when we are sailing across the North Channel I have George with me but on this occasion there was only Lyn and the family. We loaded up the boat and sailed to Portrush about two hours away. There Lyn and I went for a wedding anniversary diner in the Ramore Restaurant. This is a world class eating establishment and we had a corner window seat overlooking our pride and joy tied up in the harbour. The children stowed away most of the goods except for a case of red which was left beside the table. After dinner I being ever the romantic allowed Lyn to tidy up while I discussed the weather with some sailing friends. The forecast was to get heavier the next day but conventional wisdom tells that wind is always later and lighter than forecast. Isn't it? We went to bed planning an early start to catch the tide. There are two tidal gates one at Rathlin and one at the Mull of Kintyre but you can get through on one tide. The plan was to sail to Rathlin and decide there how things looked.
I woke to a beautiful July dawn and while everyone slept I slipped out around 5 a.m. I soon had all sail up, engine off and speeding along, I hadn't got round to fitting the log ( a trailing one) but the deco showed we were having the best sail for many a long day. Soon Lyn appeared with coffee and bacon butties. The wind was rising but the sun was out. As we approached Rathlin we saw another boat come out to head round the Mull. Not being used to the boat and sailing with a young family I tucked a reef in the main and a roll in the headsail. The boat was finely balanced but the helm started to get heavy. I realised that the downhaul we had fitted to the rudders was too stretchy and they were kicking up putting huge loads on the helm. The wind started to rise and head us so I started the engine to motorsail.
The weather started to close in and soon I was very cold. The foul weather gear was below. I was very tired as the helm was really too heavy to handle. I was still enjoying myself and the masochist in me told me to hold on until we got to Campletown. Lyn had gone back to bed and the children usually spend sixty mile passages in sleeping bags playing Monopoly. Suddenly I saw a large line squall coming sideways at the boat. I let go the main so this fancy rig would do its stuff and weathercock. It did. At this there was a bang and the rig started to sway in the tube. I knew immediately what had happened and ran below to get the bearing back into place. This was soon achieved and Lyn was brought out to sit like the little Dutch boy and hold it up. Carbospars were right, you do need the retainer blocks.
All should now have been fine and all Lyn would have to do was sit on the box of red wine and hold the bearing. Unfortunately when things go wrong they really go wrong. When I was sorting things the rig was swinging about, the mainsheet decide to wrap itself round one tiller and jump overboard round the prop. No engine, a mast I was worried about and also the mainsheet had lifted a rudder stock of its pintils and sank it. I was also going to put in the splitpins on the cruise!
I knew instantly we needed help and I sent out a Mayday. If we had been in the middle of a large ocean we could have sorted out ourselves but on a lee shore with a family in worsening weather I am sure I did the right thing. To praise the work of Campbletown Lifeboat could not be enough. They were soon in contact with us to tell we were showing up well on the radar and where we said we would be. I think the carbonfibre corners on the boom act as a reflector. About an hour later they appeared over the horizon and came up to us. It was decided to put two men on us and I had to explain there was no trampoline net up front. They jumped unto the coach roof and immediately took over.
They soon rigged a bridle and I was sent below to get warm. I had immediately taken sick as they arrived but once stripped and in my sleeping bag I was OK. The first tow had to be dropped as the boat was surfing in the seas and they dropped us and fitted a drogue. The effect of this was unbelievable. We had been going so fast that we pulled the towing eye out of our dingy. The lifeboat kindly picked it up when they had dropped us to bring back the drogue. From a wild slay ride to a very fast power boat was instant. The crew wanted to take me off to treat me for hypothermia but I wanted to stay and anyway I was getting better. By the time we got to Campbletown the coast guard were there to take us to a hotel they had arranged for us. The inside of the boat was a bit of a mess. To experience the professionalism of coastguard and lifeboat crew was a wonderful privilege and we are eternally grateful.
One of my worries was that this would put the family off sailing but the next day we came down and sorted things out. I phoned Patrick Boyd to see what he thought about sailing with one rudder and he said he thought it would be allright and he was correct. I discussed what had happened with Damon Roberts of Carbospars and he agreed to fly someone up to look at the rig. While we tidied the boat I gave the children some money and sent them to a funfare to give us peace. Within fifteen minutes they were back having won a goldfish. We christened it "Campbell" and put it in the heads sink. It stayed there for the rest of the cruise and we fed it on weetabix. It lived for a long time when we brought it home and suffered none from its journey.
We sailed the boat to Largs and met up with friends. Carbospar's man soon confirmed all was OK and we checked all over. It ended up a great holiday and was followed up a few weeks later by a trip up the West Coast through the Crinan and back. By then we had two rudders again.
The lessons are.
We lifted the boat out of the water in late September with a very long list of things to do. I had been foolish to think the boat was finished the previous season.
Even with the holding blocks in place we still had a slight problem with the bearing as it was inclined to rise and also the mast would rotate inside the bearing rather than the bearing rotating. This caused an annoying squeak. I suspect others had the same problem and Carbospars asked me to return the bearing and there is now a groove and key to stop this. In usual Carbospars style this was done free of charge. They have also fitted a grease channel but despite waiting two seasons never remember to send me a grease nipple. At least I know now they are not perfect. I find there is no need for this grease nipple, in any case. I did not like the mainsail cover and had a new one made which lets the sail drop into it and then just close it with a zip. The cars used with the main give a very high stack and I have a separate cover that goes round the mast and covers it. I fitted a sacrificial strip to the headsail.
The only criticism I might of the rig design is the necessity to go forward unto the coach roof to raise, reef or lower sail. I feel vunerable there but normally wear a harness. I have a clip point where I sheet to the coach roof and this is handy. I had thought about bringing the controls back along the boom over the cockpit but they would then be high up and if the rig was at right angles to the boat would be out board.
I decided to fit wheel steering. I did substantial research and settled for a system by Edson. I fitted rear facing quadrants we fabricated to the rudder stalks and ran cables in conduit back to a pedestal in the cockpit with a 42" diameter hide covered wheel. We were able to run the cables in the space below the cockpit floor and into the backbeam before leading them into the back lockers This has revolutionised the boat and it is a joy to use. The advantage of the conduit is the easy cable runs and no problems with pulleys to change direction. The outer cable terminates at the wheel and at the transom. I have three cables. One to each rudder from the wheel and one joining the two rudders together. I considered four cables but Edson recommended this method. We seem to have got this system right from the start. Edson would have suggested I fit they wheel to the bulkhead and make a cover down to my gas locker. I did not like this idea and prefer a pedestal.
There is a substantial guardrail with it and this is great for a crew person to hang unto in big seas. I can steer the boat while standing, sitting on the side cockpit seat, on the raised seat or shelter behind the bulkhead and let the autohelm do the work. The autohelm controls are just inside the saloon and are easily reached from the cockpit or the chart table. The autohelm works so well we recently crossed the start line of a passage race under autohelm and immediately retired below for lunch. (We do not always take our racing very seriously and in fact I am the first Commodore of Coleraine Yacht Club to hold the Wooden Spoon during my term of office) We only do those events which finish at a different destination.
Doing away with the tillers allowed us to make a full rail around the cockpit and the boat now feels much more secure. It gives places for Lifebelts, danbuoys etc. Access to the rear lockers is a little difficult but not often needed.
With the wheel steering I wanted to change the sheeting forward. I moved it up the boom and sheeted to the coach roof. I found this was not the answer as the loads were too great and I now have a "goalpost" at the back with the mainsheet led forward inside the boom and then turned back to sheet on the coach roof. This works very well. It does mean a lot of mainsheet so the rig can swing 180·. It has to be remembered, though, that this is the only string in the cockpit. Being able to swing the rig round means we can put up or reef sail even on a dead run. As our marina is four miles inland this is useful in the narrow river. We can also tack up the river without touching anything but the wheel.
We fitted a second 9.9 hp Yamaha. We have shortened the original box and made the second to match. We were able to use the four bolt holes of the first box to fit the inner bolts on the two boxes so we did not have to fill any holes. We have a good pulley system and the children can raise and lower the engines. Something to watch with these Yamaha fourstrokes is to change the oil filters very regularly. If you don't a safety overide stops the engine reving. This has happened to me and I spent a day trying to sort it out thinking it was a fuel problem. Maybe I'll keep that tale for another day.
The boat had lain in a garden while awaiting my ownership and the topsides had dulled and they were also not my favourite colour. I have painted the topsides white. It helps the look of the boat a lot.
Is the boat now finished ? Well this season's winter work involves such items as permanently wiring the aerial for the Yeoman plotter and fitting the lead to the autohelm inside the cockpit floor so it looks as if it is controlled by magic. We are having a slight problem with petrol fumes but hope I have now cured this. We have the fuel tank in the port aft locker and the batteries in the starboard aft locker. I am not happy with the swing up rudders and should have listened to David Smyth's advice and have slide up ones. My problem is they still kick up at high speed and rattle in harbour. I wonder if I shortened them to the depth of the small skegs and fixed them how it would work. I could still then dry out. My boat does not "hobby-horse" because, I presume, there is no headsail pulling low down. It never shows any intention to dip the nose and lift the tail and we get no cavitation from the engines. My Wharram had rudders just the depth of the hull and they worked fine. I will maybe make a temporary pair and try them. My only worry is that in extreme conditions it may be possible that if the rear of the boat came right out of the water that I would have no steerage. The other possibility is to use wire rope as a downhaul and more purchase. I do not fancy the idea of straight lift up rudders as it would interfere with my quadrants. I am considering changing the pivot point to the rear of the rudder. Another idea would be have a pin to hold the rudder down which would shear on impact or could be pulled out by a line from the cockpit.
I am also considering making a tripod which I could carry to allow me to able to put up and down the mast without outside help. I am considering a trip to some European inland waterways and this would allow me more independence. As this would be only relevant to my boat I will not bore you with the details.
Was it all worth it? I believe so. I have a wonderful fast roomy family cruising boat that is very easily handled. The cost? This does not bear thinking about. The rig cost alone is more than would have bought most Iroquois. I certainly have spent a lot more than would have bought many new conventional cats but the satisfaction and love of what I have organised makes poverty almost seem almost worth it. Certainly if I was moving to another boat it would be an Aerorigged Multihull. As yet I have no desire to change but am always open to offers. We have cruised Southern Ireland and West Scotland and just regret that a young family sailing toppers every weekend and summer holidays spent in the sun do not let me use the boat nearly enough. Maybe next season will lead to more sailing.
I have never sailed a conventional Iroquois and would love someone familiar with them to come and have a sail on mine and see how they feel it compares. It would be an opportunity for someone to sail on our beautiful coast and visit Northern Ireland. You can always stay on the boat or with us in our humble home. I feel I have developed the boat in the best IOA spirit although the purist will no doubt see it too much as a cruiser. When you sail with a full eight person matching dinner set you can see we are not as weight conscious as we should be but I cannot compare the performance against an ordinary Iroquois. I hope someone will take me up on my offer off a sail and see what an objective opinion would be.
I miss having a boat to build as it absorbs a lot of thinking time. This comes well from a person who started to build a barrow boat ten years ago and still has not finished it. I hope to launch it this season but that's not a new philosophy. I have also bought an old wooden Dragon which I am going to restore. I may finish it off with rig similar to that used by James Wharram on his cats or use the conventional rig most of which I have.
In writing this I have not gone into details on all the jobs we have done but will be delighted to help anyone who wants more detail on any aspect of this project.
I’ve just popped in a few more pictures that show a bit more detail and a very nice looking trailer - Ed
Chris Nutt
Dear Tim,
Thank you for the recent newsletter and accompanying burgee. We thoroughly enjoyed the rally and are looking forward to the next in August. Congratulations again on the birth of Isabelle and hope she is giving you lots of pleasure and sleep! We must say that children can be a bonus on board a boat. I must just relay one story of sailing with a baby.
It was the summer of 1982. Kate, eldest daughter, was about nine months old when we decided to make a channel crossing to Cherbourg in our 24ft. gallant. On board were Ashley, his teenage sister, Kate and myself. We set off late evening and picked up a mooring in the Emsworth channel for the night so that we could make an early start. Debs, (sister-in-law), wasn't used to the joys of a bucket-and chuck-it, and had hung on to all she had until the ‘wee’ small hours. We were woken at 4am by Debs squealing that, as she had chucked it she had let go the rope and the bucket was floating out with the tide down the reach. Ashley sprang into action and started the engine and chased after the bucket. We caught up with it and retrieved it.
We made a good passage to Cherbourg and arrived some 16 hrs later with a bucket now full of nappies, (it was the days when terry nappies were the thing to use). I spent some time on the jetty washing out the offending objects and hung them out in a pristine line along the stanchion lines. It was amazing the way it seemed to keep everyone from mooring alongside. Needles to say we spent some peaceful nights on our own!! I'm not sure it would have the same affect with disposable nappies!!
Looking forward to seeing you again,
Jill and Ashley Strain - Cherokee MkII #77
Dear Tim
Thank you for sending the Iroquois Newsletter it is a fascinating read well done…
…As you will know I did not put up a good showing in Round Britain coming in very decisively last . Had an un-remitted amount of trouble with all the fittings on my new mast . Both main and Genoa new halyards parted after less than eight days sailing having chaffed through on improperly finished exits and then the forestay came down soon after rounding St Kilda. I was fortunate that Spinnaker halyards were set up on each bow at the time and thus the mast did not exit by the back door. It did mean, however that I could not set more than a small spitfire jib and of course all the way to Muckle Flugga was light head winds naturally. Sods Law prevailing. Our best leg was Lowestoft to Plymouth when we finally had a good Genoa and asymmetric spinnaker to set thanks to repairs kindly and competently carried out by Jeckles in Wroxham . We were then finally sailing fast enough for the dolphins to come and play. Rosie is now back in the Hamble . I may well wait until next spring to put back the second engine as this cannot be done afloat and I am getting quite used to manoeuvring in small spaces with only one motor offset !
Warmest regards
Mike & Betsy Butterfield - Rosie
Dear Tim
Thank you for the latest News letter, which we always find so interesting. We picked up in the Diary Dates the East coast meeting 26th/27th September, which as we were back in the UK earlier this year we managed to attend on the 27th, luckily it was a bright sunny day and as it turned out was really well supported. We for the first time-met other cat owners and had some great conversations with our fellow club members. Philip Corridan invited us to join him on "Alleda" we had a short sail down to Pin Mill where we rafted up , I think there were about five of us, everyone kindly provided food and drink, we had thought it would be cold and damp and that we should be buying a snack at the Royal Harwich Yacht club, but it turned out a whole lot better! I enclose a snap shot taken on "Alleda" also enclosed is "Two Bear's summer story for this year you will see once again it was not at all that which we had planned but had it's compensations never the less ! We shall report on the very latest Yamaha 15. Four Stroke outboard engine next year when we have given it a fair trial, it certainly gives us about two knots more speed. Thank you Ken and Thelma for all your time and energy in producing the magazine with Tim Ball, your efforts are appreciated. We shall close now and wish all our friends in the Iroquois Club a Happy Christmas and Prosperous New Year
Best Wishes
Angela & Terry Moody - Two Bears
I have the Two Bears summer 1998 report for the next newsletter - Ed
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