PDRacer Sailboat - Articles

So a friend of mine wanted to go for a sail in BucketEars. He came by and we took his car to the lake. Happens to be a very rich friend, he drives a Ferrari. Unfortunately a couple of days before, he had seen the movie Fast and Furious. Eager to show me how talented of a driver he is, he said "Here, hold my beer and watch this!!!" Then he proceeded to swerve and drive under the bed of a semi-tractor trailer. The car made it just fine, but half way thru I said "What about my boat !!!".

With a loud CRUNCH, the upper 6" of my hull was sheered off clean. Well nuts, what am I going to do now?

In the last race I started to sit up on the gunnel and hike out a bit, which really put on a lot of speed. One of my original plans was to add hiking wings to my hull to let me get out on the sides, possibly making the wings a bolt on piece so that I could remove it when I wasn't racing. The only problem was the capsize testing - it proved that I could self recover my boat if dumped in deep water, but it would take a while of bailing. And the last race was the final straw, Ken was ahead of me by half a lap and capsized, unable to bail and recover in time, I passed him for the win. Yes, I need side air tanks - this will give me a quick recover and the ability to hike out.

Every project of mine starts with lots of sketches. Usually the first sketches are grandios plans with all sorts of complications, then the sketches get simpler and realistic.

I decided to shave off 6" making the hull only 12" high, and add 12" airtanks to the sides. This would make a big enough space on the sides for me to sit, and lower my center of gravity. Also it would be neat looking. :)

Drew a line all around the boat and fired up the saw.

To cut the bulkheads, I pulled a string across from the side cuts to mark where it should be chopped.

Whoaaa !!!

Did I mention that I forgot to paint under the decks last time? Didn't think anyone would see those...

Adding in the new bulkheads for the airtanks, and added a big backup block for a swing leeboard. Also covering up the access plates in the old airtanks.

Making a little more progress.

Here are the new decks when turned upside down. They each have an ample supply of ribs to make them much stronger. Without the ribs, they would flex very badly and probably break if I sat or stood on them.

Glued and nailed the decks on. At this point I still don't have any epoxy on the hull, just titebond II glue, and PL Premium (concrete blend) to fill the gaps.

Sporting her classic paint job, I even decided to keep the backwards E. You know it is a '3' right?

I wrote PDRacer.com on the transom to get a little advertising while trailering down the road.

Oh no!!! I am sinking !!!!! I forgot to seal up the screw holes thru the bottom that hold the mast step. Whoops! Took about 45 minutes to collect this much water, and all 4 air tanks were completely dry.

Afterthoughts:
Overall I am very pleased with how it turned out. Time will be the real test to see how much I like it after another season of racing and cruising.

Very Different Feel - Before, it was very comfy to sail around. I could sit inside and lounge around, lean against the sides in various poses. Also in my lounging position I was very close to the water. Now, I am sitting very high and I don't have a back rest anymore! Everything is a compromise...

Oars - The original hull configuration with 18" high sides worked well with 7' oars. With a 12" high hull, they are a little too big. The cockpit is 5'6" long now, and I am going to try and make a set of oars that are only 5'4" long and see how they work.

Spray Shield - The small spray deck on the forward end of the cockpit was purposely made that small to allow me enough space to sit and row. The water still splashed into the cockpit, but I think if I made a small cover for the forward part of the cockpit, it would deflect most of the water. This cover could be removable, so when I want to row, I can remove it.

More Sail area - The 59 sqft I am using is now a little on the small side. I really need another 20-30 sqft of sail.

Bucket Lids Further Aft - The original intent of putting the bucket lid hatches so far forward was so that I could put my take apart oars, rudder etc inside them. When test fitting, I could slide them in, but after installed the just wouldn't fit. Oh well... can always move them later if the placement really bugs me.

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