How many can you stuff onto a Folkboat?

[Jeff Kelety]

Well, anudder Wooden Boat Festival has come and gone here in Port Townsend. Great fun as always. I count 10 above deck on the Nais shown below. Wasn't counting who was below decks at the time. Maybe I need a bigger boat smile.gif .

The full set of pics here (http://www.ofoto.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?UV=724639490156_35264397503&US=0&collid=74253577503) .

jgk

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid31/p441fcd77757ea18cacf13976cdcb1b9e/fd499507.jpg

[Ian McColgin]

Room for a couple/three on the coach and at least one or two more on the fantail . . .

Looks good.

[JMAC]

I notice that the boat next to yours has winches for the jib sheets on the coaming where yours are on the cabintop. I have winches to place, what's your experience with them?

[Jeff Kelety]

<I notice that the boat next to yours has winches for the jib sheets on the coaming where yours are on the cabintop. I have winches to place, what's your exPerience with them?>

JMAC, most Folkboats have the winches placed aft on the coaming like Lorraine across the way in the photo. Don't know why they ended up on the cabin top on Nais. They are a bit out of reach for single handing when place on the cabin top. That and you are always reaching over the head of crew if they aren't handling the sheets. So I suppose if I were to have the choice, I might place them closer to the tiller. More seasoned sailors may have deeper insights to this.

jgk

[Bruce Hooke]

Nice looking crowd...looks like a good time!

As to winch placement, I've sailed on boats with both setups and in many cases the lead of the job sheets will rule out a cabin top position. This is particularly true on boats with big genoas. If that is not an issue for you then I would say that a good bit of the decision depends on the type of sailing you do. For single-handing, or sailing with guest who will not necessarily be pulling on the ropes, I think the coaming is probably the better place. There the winches are accessible to the person at the tiller, and the guests (or children) can sit forward in the cockpit and be out of the way. On the other hand, having them on the cabin is good if you will normally sail with a seasoned crew because then the crew can mess with the sheets without getting in the way of the person at the tiller. Another factor is that it may be a little easier to work winches on the coaming without standing up, which is nice if your goal is a leasurely cruise. However, if your cabin is fairly low, as on this Folkboat, there probably wouldn't be that much difference. If you plan on setting a spinnaker at times then you need to consider the lead of the sheets from the turning blocks, which are typically fairly far aft, to the winches. This could be an issue with winches that are on the cabin. Also, it is worth considering how easy it is to get one person tailing on the rope and another person cranking on the winch. This is easy to do with the winch on the coaming and may be harder to do on some boats with the winch on the cabin. Finally, I don't remember running into this but it seems like it would be easier to get into a good position to give a hard pull on a sheet if it is on the coaming rather than on the cabin. Oh, and to round things out, you are less likely to bang your elbow on the winch if it is on the cabin! :D

[Noah]

Well I have gone sailing with 7 on my Folkboat, but I haven't hit double digits yet...

My winches are on the cockpit sides, the same place as the second boat in the photo. I should add that I actually don't have winches anymore. I have Harken ratchet blocks that lead directly into clam cleats. One on either side of the cockpit depending where I'm driving from. This makes it very easy to adjust the sheets from the tiller. The Folkboat jib is small enough that even in cranking winds I can sheet it in with one hand. The ratchet helps things though.

Noah