Editors Notes
Tablets from the Mount
Association Notices
Anti-capsize devices?
Taquamenaw
The Iroquois
Great Britons
Spirit of Europe off Hastings
Boat Prices
Journal of the Alleda
Readers Write
Editor - John Rolfe
One of the problems in being involved in the design field manifests its self when undertaking any project outside the constraints of deadline and clients specification i.e. one can plan for ever and design improvement after improvement without ever actually starting the real work. So it is with Sitting Bull, I realised that for all my supposedly wonderful plans it was going to be yet another season in which I did not get to sail. Planning is fun, redesigning is great, but this could go on for years.
I seemed to be stuck in a morass of design plans and for this there is but one solution - go down to the boat and start work, any work as long as its starting something. This Easter I dragged myself and Les down to stay on the boat for 2/3 days and ignoring my complex project planning and scheduling chart, we started by ripping off the headlining and vinyl liner from the interior.
The "plan" called for a new ceiling which was to have been a series of battens run port to starboard resined on to the cabin roof to support narrow laths of some blond hardwood close butted and individually tapered from aft to fore ending just under the windows. This would look fantastic, honest. Simple job just about 6 weeks work full time!
Now this arrangement has been described to most of the Iroquois Worthies, Ken Pack, David Smith etc., in fact to anyone that would listen and all seemed to say yes very good idea, off you go John and let's see it when you finish! When you plan anything you do tell people and hope if there is an obvious flaw they pick it up. Ha Ha.
Visitor from next boat called in to check us out, less tactful than my normal team of advisors, described my plan and received hoots of delight - "Are you totally mad or just planning to get the boat back in the water in the year 2010!? Just give it a coat of white chlorinated rubber paint and get on with the next job".
Er well yes, collapse of plan, ‘course he's right and it was better, and I now have a gleaming white, ceiling and the day I get her back in the water came substantially closer. I can always redo the cabin roof later after I’ve sailed her again perhaps next year?
So next time I explain one of my super plans I expect a lot less tact. You’re stopping me sailing.
The Chairman’s Page
Our present roller reefing gear is of course an innovation that the Iroquois predates and is therefore something we each had to decide upon.
Mine is an early Rotostay which leaves a bit to be desired on the ability to roll smoothly on today’s laths. Our original sails were of a lighter cloth than those preferred for this system.
No’s 1 and 2 were also rather high cut giving a good down haul to the leach, even pull over forestay and the best clew position for a slot when hard on the wind, each had its own tack strop. The 150 and 180 degree were deck hugging so any roller reefed had to be a severe compromise.
Over-riding for roller reeling the decision is what percentage of area you wish to roll. The standard wisdom is 40%. Our original sail areas were
Mainsail 202 square foot
No 1 160 square foot
No 2 95 square foot
Storm jib 56 square foot
150 Genoa 273 square foot
180 Genoa 342 square foot
I decided that the 180 genoa needed to be lightweight and should be changed down long before conditions were difficult, so replaced the hanks with a bolt rope. After considerable modification I ended up with a new sail for roller reefing limited by track considerations to about 130 degrees going down to a No 2 which I’m glad to recall I have not tested in earnest down at that size. To achieve a proper set one needs a tack strop to adjust the line of the pull on the clew.
Forgetting for a moment main sail considerations, Sods Law dictates you do this when conditions are deteriorating. The storm was treated as for the 180 genoa and there is the Achilles heel. The No 2 strop adjustment is easier than letting the 130 out and dropping it to accommodate the storm jib at a time like that. Please tell me what you do!
Penitence is good for the soul……
When the family were young and it was important to be on the drawing board on the Monday morning, I rashly decided to leave St. Vaast le Hogue and race a weather front home, Barfluer went out of sight nicely with 180 boomed out and full main wing and wing, we made good progress.
As the hours passed good became impressive, impressive - spectacular, spectacular - frightening.
The speed with a following wing dulled my perception of the real situation but I was increasingly doing a fandango to keep us on course - then one tiller arm broke! Too late I assessed the situation - the two 12 year old boy crew and Thelma (a good Treasurer) could steer now or get the genoa down.
The sea was becoming decidedly lumpy, fingernails down to the elbows and the sight of Shoreham chimneys never more welcome, close to low water, no one likely to leave. The boys prepared the anchor and we slammed into Shorebam harbour I would say in excess of 15 knots.
We rounded up in Coward’s corner in a cloud of spray and the most excruciating clatter, kicked the anchor over amazed that we were still upright. The only retribution the Iroquois imposed for all that stupidity was that one end fitting pulled out of the spinnaker pole - that’s forgiveness for you!
Ken Pack
The AGM will be at the Star Hotel, again this Sept 16th (7.00 for 7.30pm) and we hope that you all can make it.
We have had representations from MOCRA concerning the combining of our two meetings which we tried last year with some success, and although this has not been possible for this year due to space limitations, we feel that next year should see the first of these combined meetings.
Its seems sensible to have has many multihull types together at one event, a lot of the experiences which we share are common to us all and it does become much more interesting to have a wide spectrum of input. Please advise Thelma Pack if you can make it on 01273 771991
This will be at Newtown Creek, IOW on the weekend of 26/27th August and again we hope you can get there.
This newsletter is very late indeed and the only excuse I can offer is pressure of work. I’m trying very hard to keep to the three issues a year and will attempt to maintain this, it's just that sometimes it's very difficult and I could do with some help.
I need, as always, more letters and stories and would ask if possible that these are submitted on floppy disk typed in any of the common Word processor formats. I type with one finger only and it's the bit which takes the longest during production of the newsletter.
I have had some advice on the layout from a professional agency and have incorporated these ideas in this issue I hope you like the improved style.
John Rolfe
The history of the sheet release as far as I am concerned goes back to 1979, when we had been racing against Catcracker in the Poole Bar Race, she capsized with the tragic loss of one of her crew members.
At the time the wind was about force 6, we were reefed and I had no idea that we were anywhere near lifting a hull. I still have the contemporary account that I dictated at the tune, as we were very close to capsize. Catcracker had just shaken out her reefs and went over very quickly.
What struck me then and has struck me in all the accounts that I have read of capsizes is how quickly it happens and unless the sheets are actually being held in hand, it is difficult to release them when the boat is tilted.
I discovered the sheet releases from an advertisement in the Yachting Monthly of July 1979, and followed it up. It was quoted by G & M Power Plants, the release units at £60 each and the control unit at approximately £80, but I did not pursue it at that time. In 1982 we continued to be concerned about the capsize risk and redesigned our mainsheet system using free running roller blocks and intending to incorporate sheet releases. I found that they were now handled by Halstead Marine in Colchester and I managed to obtain a set of three sheet releases and one control unit which were then installed in 1982.
As you can see from the photograph, they are slightly different from the original Marinax in the 1979 advertisement. I think Halstead Marine only took over the stock, they did not continue to manufacture.
In 1990 I needed to replace one which had become wet with seawater and contacted Halstead Marine to find that they no longer dealt with anything marine. I was put onto Mersea Marine Supplies who held the remaining stock of sheet releases. I purchased one of these in 1990 and then went on to buy his remaining stock of electrically operated cleats and a couple of control boxes.
I had intended to produce the surplus at an Iroquois owners meeting to see if anybody wanted them. In fact I moved house and the box got left in the attic and I forgot about it until recently.
How they operate: as you can see from the enclosed photograph, I have two cleats on the cabin top taking the tail from the winches. The angle needs to be worked out so that it runs freely, but once this is established and the right number of turns - in my case three in a strong wind and two in a light wind - the sheet releases work perfectly and have continued to do so since 1982, a remarkable record of reliability.
The mainsheet in my case is double-ended, so that one tail leads to a conventional cam-cleat and the other leads through a fair lead to the sheet release mounted on the starboard cockpit seat. Provided the tail of the of the mainsheet is spread out or in a coil that can move reasonably freely, it instantly pays out when the sheet releases. I have the sheet release control in the cabin on my mast support, just near the floor and I have the angle set at 15 degrees.
I also have a motorcycle horn button wired in as an emergency release button for manual release and that is just inside the cabin door. The system is wired up so that it is live from the moment the battery isolator switch is turned on and it remains continuously available.
About once or twice a season, when we are hard on the wind and hit a wash or particularly large wave, she reaches 15 degrees on the sheets trip. It is a very welcome noise and I feel a great deal more secure in the knowledge that in ultimate conditions the sheet release operates a great deal more quickly than we can. The way forward: I have five sheet releases and one control box that I would be happy to make available to the owners club for sale at what they cost me, which is £25 each.
However I think it would be much more useful if these releases, cleats and control units were looked at by somebody with manufacturing expertise and some sort of price be put on manufacturing them for a limited run if there is sufficient interest. I am more than happy to make a set available for copying, and as far as I can see from looking at the pieces of paper that I have, there is no evidence that they are patented.
Since writing this, I have had a word with John Rolfe, who is investigating the possibility of making some up.
I very much regret that I am unable to get to the Iroquois Owners meeting, owing to a clash with a wedding, but if you would like to have a control unit and one of the sheet releases to show people, I am happy to make these available as I have one of each in London at the moment, should anybody be going to the meeting from London, or Devon. I am in Pimlico during the week and in Devon most weekends.
Dr Peter Rohde
Editors note: I will determine the possible cost of manufacture and report back. If any member is interested in obtaining a set of these items I would appreciate it if you would make contact, as with all things, if the volume is there, I can get the price to within reasonable proportions.
It all began last year whilst bouncing around at anchor overnight in a very pretty bay not far from our home port of Rothesay on the Island of Bute.
The bay is protected from all winds apart from a south easterly, all was calm when the last glass was consumed and ablutions completed. However by 0300 hrs the boat was lying on two anchors and bouncing close, (15m) to a rocky shore with lots of waves and phosphorescence.
Our dog, a very large German Shepherd, decided she needed the loo. It was raining, it took a lot to persuade her that just this once we did not need to go ashore. The final straw was that after a night of being wet, tired and worried, the five other people on the boat wanted their breakfast and my bed was in the way. Conclusion: too many people, too small a boat, answer get a larger boat, problem not enough money.
My wife Trisha and I agreed that the logical step was to save up for a few years and look into buying an Iroquois. I had read about them in Jim Andrews book "Cruising Catamarans", and seen a MkII owned by John Quin. He, like us, had owned a Hirondelle and the step seemed logical from every point of view, looks, handling, speed, cost, etc. I contacted the various brokers to get a feel for the market over the next couple of years.
Then we met Mr Patrick Boyd. On his books was a bargain, a snip, a chance of a lifetime, or so I told Trisha.
Because of the interest being shown I drove down and looked at the boat immediately, she was lying in a boatyard at Christchurch. Although she was stuck in a corner of the yard with weeds all around her and needed a lot of work to bring her up to sailing condition it was love at first sight.
After the usual negotiations the boat made her way northward via the motor-ways of Britain. It had been discovered that she had serious osmosis and needed various pieces of work that could only be done at a boat yard, so she moved from Christchurch to Silvers Marine, at Rosneath on Clyde.
It was the first catamaran they had worked on so in many respects they were on as much of a learning curve as myself. The hulls were lightly blasted to remove the gel coat, she was then repeatedly washed with a pressure washer for a number of days to remove the various glycols that had built up under the gel coat. The hull was a mass of little holes and really did not look nice at all, however the boat yard is a Gelshield centre so I would have a five year guarantee, and James McIlraith of Survey One was overseeing the project.
About this time we also discovered the rear beam was rotten and needed replacing and water was coming in via the mast step/compression beam which also needed work.
Most of this was being done by the yard, who by the way at all times showed a high degree of craftsmanship, helpfulness, and at times almost paternal concern.
The Managing Director took me on one side fairly early on in the proceedings and asked me to think though the whole implication of renovating the boat, the time, money, effect on the family etc.
Needless to say I carried on regardless of such wise advice. As a consequence from October 92 until the end of May 93, I spent most weekend living out of a blue washing up bowl, (a large one)!
Each Friday night I would pack up the car and bowl with the tools and equipment needed for the next day. The trip involved driving to the North end of the Island some twenty miles, catching the wee ferry, then travelling some 75/80 miles to the yard, returning the same day. As the crow flies it is only some 18 miles. The yard were always helpful lending me tools if I had forgotten them, and advising on different methods to solve a problem.
We took all the stanchions, cleats, runners etc., off and cleaned them, the toerail/rubbing strake was in very bad condition full of algae, dents and hollows.
I purchased a small power file which after some practice proved to be just the job getting the whole thing back to pretty grain, which was then rubbed down though the various grades of sandpaper before we applied 5 coats of International Yacht 2 part teak varnish.
An advantage of working in such a situation is that at times when one becomes fed up and is tempted to let the standards slip, the quality of workmanship in the yard generally keeps your standards up. The other side of this is some of the boats have taken perhaps 4 or 5 years to get to a high standard and you are aware of how bad yours looks and the temptation is to get 5 years work done in one winter and become a little discouraged.
I remember after one difficult day going over to a boat and got talking to the owner who said he had been working on the renovation for 5 years in this yard and 3 more in another before that, it put the whole thing into perspective.
The seasons changed from a lovely golden autumn into a wet winter so well known up here, snow on the hills, fog in the valleys. Winter gave way to spring and at times the task seemed hopeless, so much to do just to get the thing into the water and that was without the cosmetics. Another area where there was a lot of advice was engines, you need twin l5hp two strokes, no you need a larger 25hp single, forget it the new Yamaha 9.9 is sweeping the catamaran world.
On the Hirondell we had a l5hp, which did the job well, so it seemed illogical to use a smaller sized engine on a bigger boat. After much discussion and insomnia we decided on the Yamaha with a remote extension.
It has been worth every penny, bags of power, economical with the petrol, no hoping you have the right mixture, electric start means that Trisha or the children can start it, and the remote enables me to leap all over the cockpit viewing what we are about to hit before we do!
By June the Gelshield was on, anti-fouling applied, mast up, rudders on, engine in, and all the running rigging replaced.
For the last three months Trisha had been trying to re-glue the headlining, after a lot of discussion we had decided to just tidy up the inside and sail her for a season or two until we were certain about the changes internally that we wanted, some seemed obvious but give it a season to be certain.
A friend had come up for the weekend in May and fitted a Navico 2000 series depth, log/speed, wind direction/speed, also renewing all the wiring. The children had spent a long time cleaning, scrubbing, washing and cleaning again the interior, after which white paint was applied liberally, the cabin floor had some spare carpet. Trisha completed the curtains started by the previous owners and she was launched.
The third week in June saw us swaying slowly down to the launching slip where we gently slid into the water, the engine would not start, panic, all the boatyard watching. Dignity saved we motored gently out into the Loch and the real adventures began
One of the worries that lurked in my mind was the capsize spectre. I had spoken to as many people as possible, those that had, those that nearly had and those that had not. Even the sleepy backwater of Bute has a horror story about an Iroquois, in every case there had always been a very good reason for the event and the cat community had learnt.
Well we put half the main up and the number 2 jib just in case! But the wind had died and we motored the last 15 miles to the harbour in Rothesay. There she stayed for three frustrating weeks while friends and relatives came to enjoy the wonders of Bute.
Since then our love of Taquamenaw has increased. She has been through winds of 22 knots with gusts of 28. She has shown us what 9.5 knots through the water feels like, and given us a regular 4.5/5.5 knots. At all times she has been sure footed, very little slamming and on the last sail we cracked the problem we have been having to get her to point half decent.
This weekend she came out of the water and we will begin to sort out the niggles. It has been a short season, we covered only 300 miles with two overnight/weekends.
There is more I could mention, like the toilet, the purpose built trailer that won’t sail, or the water over the stern soaking the dog in the cockpit but that is for another time.
I also have a lot of questions to ask the members concerning sail plans, wheel steering, different types of rudders. I am sorry if this article seems disjointed, it has taken four months to put together at various attempts.
We have had a tremendous season, not getting away as much as we would like, but great fun. Our confidence has increased in her, particularly after one weekend when we were caught in a pretty bad gale (two boats aground), she flew along surefooted as they come.
Since my last foray into this article our circumstances have changed. I have been offered a position in Hampshire over looking Bucklers Hard, which I take up in June.
This season we will leave the boat on Bute and have it transported down next spring. The nautical wags mentioned that she has done more land miles than any other on Bute, and it’s also the only time I get my navigation right.
This is a plea for help.
My only experience of sailing is in the sheltered waters of the Clyde. Could I get some sailing in with members, to experience the Channel this season before we put our boat in the water next year.
My number here till June 22nd is 01700-503445.
Thereafter the address is: Limetree Cottage, Exbury, Nr Southampton, Hants, S045.
Paul Martin
The Iroquois were an important confederacy of Native Americans of the Iroquoian language family and of the Eastern Woodlands culture area.
It was founded in the 16th century in what is now central New York State. The original confederacy consisted of five tribes - the Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga, Oneida, and Seneca - and was known as the Five Nations, or the League of Five Nations.
Sometime between 1715 and 1722, however, the Tuscaroras, an Iroquoian tribe originally of North Carolina, which had migrated to New York, was formally admitted to the confederacy, and the name of the league was changed to the Six Nations, or the League of Six Nations.
As representative members of the Iroquoian family, and the ones first encountered and later most intensively studied by white people, the Iroquois gave their name to the family of which they are a part.
The Iroquois had an agricultural economy, based mainly on corn, with supplementary crops of pumpkins, beans, and tobacco and later of orchard fruits such as apples and peaches. They made fine pottery, splint baskets, and mats of corn husk and used wampum as a medium of exchange. Public records were woven into the designs of large wampum belts.
Each town contained several long, bark-covered communal houses, which had both tribal and political significance; along their inner sides the families of a clan lived in semiprivate compartments, and the central areas were used as social and political meeting places. The common council of the entire confederacy met in such meeting places.
These councils were fairly democratic in composition; delegates were elected by members of various lineages, and each delegate represented both a tribe and one of the matrilineal clans within a tribe. The office of delegate was restricted to chiefs, and every delegate had to meet the approval of both tribal and league councils. If the conduct of any delegate was perceived as improper, or if he lost the people’s confidence, the women of his clan officially expelled him and chose another delegate to serve in his place.
The league as a whole had no single head, and deliberative decisions were usually made by a unanimous vote of the league council. The complexity and stability of this political organisation, together with a carefully nurtured skill in warfare and the early acquisition of firearms, enabled the Iroquois to achieve and maintain a position of great power during the colonial period of American history.
During their formative period in the 17th century they broke up the tribal confederacies to their west, notably that of the Hurons. They continued to expand the territory under their dominion until by 1720 they had subdued almost all the tribes in a vast region extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River and from the Saint Lawrence River to the Tennessee River. In their relations with white settlers, the Iroquois from the start played the role of an independent power. During the colonial period they held the balance of power between the French and English, particularly in the area around the Canadian border.
With few exceptions, chiefly factions of the Mohawk and Cayuga, who came under the influence of French Jesuit missionaries, the Iroquois allied themselves with English interests.
They bitterly opposed the extension of French settlement southward from Canada, and they were responsible for preventing the English colonies from being flanked on the west by the French. At the outbreak of the American Revolution, the league council declared for neutrality but allowed each of the six component tribes to take sides and most of them joined the British. (Sound like good blokes to me - Ed!)
After the revolution, the Mohawk, under their leader, Joseph Brant, crossed into Canada; they were followed by the Cayuga, and both tribes were eventually settled on two reservations to the north of Lakes Erie and Ontario.
The Tuscarora are scattered, although a number have found a home among the Mohawk; most of the Oneida are settled at Green Bay, Wisconsin, and most of the Seneca in western New York; the Onondaga still hold their valley near Syracuse, New York.
Despite their political importance, the confederacy probably never numbered more than 25,000. In 1990, 49,038 people in the United States identified themselves as Iroquois.
Charles Gatewood, ArtResource, New York
Masks play an important role in the culture of many Native American communities, including that of the Iroquois. This "false-face" mask is made of wood carved from a living tree, but the Iroquois are also known for their cornhusk masks.
A J P Taylor
Just try and imagine it, you’re sitting at home, the TV’s on, and it's just about the time you’re thinking of going to bed - but it's so comfortable in front of the fire and the little noises coming from the kitchen where your wife is tidying up are so very reassuring.
Only minor niggles remain from the days events - the letter from the bank, the car needs new tires, both the children need new school clothes, will the factory close down? - no it's soon enough that you start worrying again tomorrow and tonight it's so comfortable here.
The phone rings, you already know why and you see her face slip just momentarily, as you pick up.
"yer OK, give me 5 minutes".
She fetches your coat, as you are pulling on your boots, and you say --
"it's probably nothing love - just a false a/arm",
but you both know that at 11.30 on a wild October night, it's not likely to be just a false alarm!.
You’re in the hail, you glance up the stairs where your children are silent for once, and then out into the night with the driving wind snatching the last vestige of sleep from your eyes - one last glance back to see her framed in the doorway mouthing the same words "be careful, come back safe"
then the door closes and unseen by you she stands there with her eyes closed and her forehead pressed against the damp wood.
That night, like so many others, she will drag the children from their beds to hers to sleep while she stares at the dark rain outside the window.
You’re running to the car "please start, please start", and away through the wet streets down to the Quayside and the dark shed which you know as well as your own home. You’re first , you’re always first. The duty officer is on the phone and you hear, while you’re pulling on your waterproofs, snatches of conversation - yacht reported in difficulties 12 miles off, - force 8, gusting 9, weather too bad for helicopters.
The other crew members are now here, Jim and Tony, Peter and Bill, you think just fleetingly if Tony has found work yet, and it's away down and on to the boat, the engines racing, the noise whipped away by the wind.
"Its a go!" shouts the Coxswain from the cockpit and the Lifeboat begins to punch its way through the water towards the open sea.
The adrenaline begins to subside, the boat is lurching from side to side - you begin to
worry - will this be the one, why do I do this, it's not fair on the family. But no never, they’ll have to drag me off the boat first! I’m a Lifeboatman!!!
| In '94 the RNLI launched over 6000 rescues and saved nearly 2000 lives. A lifeboat is launched in the UK on average 7 times a day. Since 1824 they have saved nearly 130,000 lives. The cost of running the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in '94 was £56 million all of which came from donations. |
And this scene perhaps repeated countless times throughout the year in Great Britain.
- Men and Women risking their lives without a second thought. Unpaid volunteers and heroes for all of us.
It's a very powerful image made more so by knowing the fact that the lifeboat service is largely staffed by local people who are just ordinary folk with all their normal day to day problems - fisherman, shopowners, garage mechanics.
And their bravery is long-term not just a one off, it's every night, every day yet with lots of time in between to wonder what they're doing - considered heroism! What other part of British life can we point at which compares with this magnificence, where else is their comparison, what other equals this?
And what do we do to acknowledge this, sure we send off our money and even applaud them in print, or if lucky enough to know any - stand them drinks in the pub, but what do we do as a society to afford this group our esteem - the fact is precious little, yet we do have in this country a system of tokens which are awarded to those among us who have contributed beyond the norm.
Its called the Honours system, it ranges from the Order of the British Empire (OBE) to a peerage (the creation of a new Lordship).
For the benefit of our overseas readers and for that matter any one else who may have not noticed, this system is a tad selective in who is allowed to get what. For example you could be the most finest of citizens, a veritable Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and object lesson in goodness to all, yet if you did not go to the "right school" and have therefore the "right" background you’ll be lucky to see anything better than an OBE or just possibly a MBE. Whereas if you are a time served civil servant having, say, spent your entire life at the Ministry of Ag. and Fish, you’ll probably cop a Knighthood, becoming a Sir! The other way is to give vast sums of money to the Political Party in power, but that way need not concern us here.
Yes, I know every year when these gongs are handed out there may be a token few slung the way of the Lifeboatmen, but what do they get - any life peerages, Knighthoods? - no again its the old two-apenny OBE’s and MBE’s.
It’s just not good enough for these Great Britons.
So what to do? I’ll venture a suggestion that we all write to young Johnny Major and insist on certain changes being made, say along the lines of all Lifeboat crews in the UK becoming Hereditary Peers after 2 weeks service.
This will have two benefits, one will be that we properly acknowledge these fine people and secondly we would all benefit from the inclusion into the House of Lords of a group of citizens whose judgement and courage is beyond question, forcing out all those who currently enjoy those illustrious positions, with the resultant massive improvement in the Government's overall performance.
|
13 Years ago a lifeboat called the Penlee was sunk off Cornwall with the loss of all hands. Among those who died was the Coxswain who left behind his family, including his teenage son. Last May at the RNLI Annual General Meeting, Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Kent presented a Bronze Medal for Gallantry to the Coxswain of the new Penlee lifeboat for a rescue in Dec 94 which lasted from 3.00am till 1.00am the following day in what was described as appalling conditions, gale force 9 winds and 40ft waves, pitch black and 82mph gusts. Neil Brockman was among the first of the local villagers to volunteer for the new lifeboat and had risen through the ranks to become Coxswain of the Penlee. A very brave man indeed we would all agree, particularly when you learn that that Mr Brockman’s father was that Coxswain sadly lost on the first Penlee lifeboat, when Neil Brockman was 17 years old. And it's not uncommon in this service for son to follow father, perhaps bravery is hereditary. |
Everyone wins!, and so Ladies and Gentlemen - to your pen and paper!
John Rolfe
Spirit of Europe is an Iroquois Mk 3, originally built by Reg White for himself.
Most of the Boats offered for sale since the last issue have in fact sold. It is reported that overall prices have fallen although this is possibly affected by greater quantities of older boats being available as well as the inevitable linkage with the housing market in the UK.
Brokers still report shortages of good Iroquois and the average time on the market remains at around 6/8 weeks.
There also seems to be a connection between the amount of sailing press coverage on multihulls generally and the sales of Iroquois. The theory is that the discussion of multihulls in the press generates interest and brokers inquires pick up, the first beneficiary of this interest is the entry level cat. market, the very area where Iroquois prices fall.
Another effect comes from the uprate market where existing cat. lovers, almost inevitably Hirondelle owners, are looking for a larger boat. The Iroquois is an obvious choice in this area because at the £l2-20,000 band there is no other boat that can be found. The price gap between second hand cruising 30ft cats and their new competitors is so large as to suggest that the clients for both markets are totally separate both in profile and, more important, geographical area.
The long expected uplift in Iroquois prices still is not with us, but the normal rules of any commodity marketplace must eventually impact on your boats resale value.
Just for the record therefore let's reiterate the conditions which have existed in this market for Iroquois over the last few years.
All of which will eventually have the effect of lifting prices from their current modest levels or so you would assume if this boat follows the normal rules of supply and demand. We just cannot predict when.
Graham Ward
The story of Phillip Corridan's epic around the world trip in a rather mature Iroquois MkI. Copies available ex-stock from:
Peter Gibbs
34 Cucumber Lane
Brundall
Norwich
NR13 5QR
England
Tel 0603 713327
Price [UK] £17.50 inc P&P
[Overseas] £21.00 cash only due to high cost of cheque/money order
transactions
| The best book I've ever read - Ken Pack The only book I've ever read - John Rolfe A fine example of British spunk - Maggie Thatcher I read it from cover to cover - excellent - Knighthood in the post - HRH The Queen |
"Honestly darling, it's not the size of the trip which matters"
As I mentioned on the phone, "Los Ninos" was in need of a fairly comprehensive re-fit when we brought her, but we were able to get used to sailing her during September and October.
Having been used to a fair variety of mono-hulls ranging from cruising boats to racing boats, the Iroquois proved very interesting to sail, and not in any way disappointing, though we feel we still have a great deal to learn.
You mentioned stability calculations for the MkII on the phone, we wondered whether any were available for the MkI. We also wondered if the boats have a Portsmouth Yardstick number.
We are about three quarters of the way through our refit, which has included treatment for osmosis, re-painting badly scratched deck and topside also re-building the mast support and would be happy to provide information/accounts which may be of interest to others.
Andy Mac Quarrie
Nice to hear from you and welcome to the Iroquois Owners Association. "Los Ninos" has been out of the association for some years now but was previously a keen supporter.
I am afraid stability is not a calculated science and there is no practical difference between the MkI and MkII. There was a tendency for improvement in the MkII but against whether you use a safety factor of 0.6 or 0.816 it’s infinitesimal.
My calculator was based on a circular slide rule that simply divided the equation for each sail setting against the wind speed, e.g. No.1 jib main shows a start at 16 knots with 0.6 sf and 21 knots using 0.816. Good sailing is that shown on the enclosed Newsletter.
At the end of the day it can only help the skipper to set adequate sails for the prevailing conditions, much like the broaching situation with a mono. Happy sailing in 1995.
Ken Pack
You might recall our conversation re. lee-boards a few weeks ago. John Rolfe has had insufficient interest in his idea of a moulded grp board so we needed a traditional board for Stony Coat.
By this time we were in a rush to be ready for our annual cruise and had had no luck with the sources quoted in the past Iroquois Newsletters,
I thought the membership might like to hear of the work of Christopher J Conway who produced a super board, on time within a short timescale, to budget and spent half a day with a colleague on West Mersea hard fitting the board with us at no extra charge.
Chris is a graduate of The International Boat Building Training College at Oulton Broad. He works in modem and traditional materials, this year he exhibited an Avocet dinghy in lapstrake epoxy ply at the Greenwich Wooden Boat Show.
The board was made in high grade marine ply to the Association drawings (as published in the Association newsletter), covered with glass and epoxy and finished in matching paint to our bulls.
The quality of the feathering of the edges is very high and the board sits snugly on the mounting pin with no play - and consequently virtually no rattle or banging when we beat to windward. The cost was £925 all inclusive. Chris is at:
32 Reymead Close
West Mersea
Essex
CO5 8DH
Tel: 01206 383320 Home
0589 879265 Mobile
Chris said he could do a better price for two boards than one as the materials purchasing worked out more efficiently.
Peter Snaith
Ed’s note: Before you all start sending in letters telling us that this price is very high just work it out. One of these boards can take upwards of 1.5 man/weeks to build, with material costs at say £150. This means that Mr Conway is selling his time at about £13 per hour. ‘course that won’t stop you trying, so what about a cheapest board "build cost" competition?.
