Carl's Block Island 19

[StevenBauer]

Carl sent me the first picture of his Block Island 19. He'll be sending more pictures I hope. She's a beauty.

Here she is at her mooring:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid195/p391aeeb77f455431b98e71fc8a881e03/f1301569.jpg

More about Carl:

Block Island Times article (http://www.blockislandtimes.com/news/2005/0905/News/026.html)

Here's what he said about her on another post:

"What some of you are talking about is pretty much what I have done with the Block Island 19 -- a slightly smaller hull than the Flatfish (19' LOA vs. 20'-6"), composite wood construction, hollow mast with gaff rig, shallow draft (2'). Came out much lighter than a Fish or Flatfish --all up, the boat is under 2300 lbs. Mast weights 50 lbs. and gaff weighs hardly anything (it's Sitka, birdsmouth).
Since it is my design there is no intrusion on the work of Chuck Paine (Pisces 21) or Joel White (Flatfish).
Easy to haul around on a trailer, but two caveats: First, even with the gaff rig it is not a simple matter to step and unstep the mast. It's not like the 12 1/2's, where the mast butt goes into the step and the spar swings up into a latching gate. This one has to be dropped through the deck, and the spar is 25' long. With Marconi rig it would be 30'. Second, no matter how you build it, a boat like this is a lot of work. I figure at least 1000 hours. Of course, this bedding a new design, I had to loft her out and build a set of molds, and that was a large hunk of time. Next time it would go quicker --but at my age, according to my wife, there ain't gonna be no more projects of this magnitude. oject of this scale."

Steven

[DanO]

Gorgeous boat! Looks like a Herreshoff with that sweet sheerline. Oh...if my Buzzards Bay 14 could come out as nice! Thanks for the inspiration...keep 'em coming!

[StevenBauer]

OK, more pics just in:

Launching day:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid195/p6a671a48947ab4f049ad7b04eb9f4da4/f12bf045.jpg

Sailing:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid195/pa70696493fe3f643e5a79728a072a35e/f12bef59.jpg

More sailing:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid195/pc1f889f87f6ebaefd5ba3019577da50c/f12beea1.jpg

Looking great Carl! Were you happy with her performance?

Steven

[Kim Whitmyre]

A superb effort, as the results show. It is a gorgeous little boat!

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

Oooooooh sweet lil day sailor :cool:

[Carlsboats]

Thanks to Steve B___ for leading me through the picture sending process, and posting the Block Island 19 on the Forum.
Are we happy with performance? Had her out eight or 10 times after launch in Sept., in winds from zilch to about 15. So far, very happy. Faster than expected ( I think builders and designers are supposed to say that) and also nice and stiff. Really easy on her crew -- little spray, no erratic habits. Tends to hold her way more than anticipated. See that as a mixed blessing. Helps when tacking, for the long, straight keel might otherwise encourage her to stop half way round. But makes it interesting when picking up a mooring or coming alongside a pier -- boat thinks she is the Energizer bunny.
Only second thought I have about my design is that I may have overdone it on sail area. In winds of 12-15, she is ready for a reef, and without it she develops hefty weather helm. What I might do, if my BI sailmaker friend concurs, is to cut about a foot off the luff of the main,
reducing area, shortening the boom (now a hefty 15'), and moving the center of effort forward. Reefing is no big deal, though. We put two sets of reef points in the main, and with slab reefing we are talking about a one minute job.
If anyone wants to see more pix, including under construction, let me know and I will submit.

[Nels]

What a beauty! I'd like to see more pix and read / see how you built her. What do you mean by "composite construction?" (Cold molded? Strip built?)

[Ed Armstrong]

Would love to see more pics. Thanks for sharing. She is a beauty.

[Doug Wood]

Congratulations...she's beautiful.

[Hwyl]

Carls, it's hard to say from the pictures (I'll just take a moment to say "spectacular" by the way) but it looks as if your leech my be a bit hooked. That could probably be cured by (going against the grain here) loosening either the clew tie down or the peak. Has your friendly sailmaker, sailed with you?

Getting rid of the hook should help your weather helm, the sail proportions are aesthetically pleasing now, how about a reef that takes just a foot out of the luff and maybey 18 inches out of the leech? Isee you have reef cringles now, but that first reef takes a bnch out of the sail.

Reefing in 15kts is OK in the NEast (J22,s do it) do you sail mostly of Block or go into Buzzards bay (where it's usually windier) much.

Just want to reiterate, wat a nice boat, you're the designer and builder congatulations Llongfachiadau

[Hwyl]

From BI Times article

The patterns for every part of the boat were then made from these drawings. “It took about six months to get all of the prep work done,” he said, “and I hadn’t even started on the boat yet!” The good news is that all of the molds and patterns were saved, so that these preparatory steps could be skipped for any following Block Island 19s.

The most striking departures from the old classic include a combination lead keel/centerboard for shallow draft (the Fish Boat draws 4 feet with her full keel; Chips draws 2 feet with the board up), and Kaufmann chose to use narrow “strip” planking and veneers for his hull material instead of the traditional, heavier plank-on-frame approach.

So she's cold molded over strips (apparently the most labor intensive way)

[Carlsboats]

Thanks for the nice comments, tips on hooked leeches, and queries on construction. Taking the last one first, Chips is thrice planked. First layer is white cedar, with longitudinal strips edge glued (with Aerodux 500),edge nailed with copper boat nails,bronze barred nails (both hand driven), and nylon finishing nails (air driven). Also, bronze screws went through this layer into the bent oak frames. Only 10 sets of frames, size about 3/4" square. Planed and sanded this layer (that went very fast), and then put on two layers of red cedar (Cedrela), laid at 45 degrees. These were diagonal strips, each three to five inches wide, epoxied and held in place with nylon staples. Cleaned that up, rolled the boat over, and cleaned up the insides. This also went quickly, as we wiped down the inside as we put on each of the white cedar strips, and Aerodux cleans up with water. Why Aerodux at all? Because it is totally waterproof, and (unlike conventional resorcinol resins) it will hold across a gap without great clamping pressure. Larry Pardey put me on to this product (he hates epoxy, loves resorcinol), but I am not sure you can still get Aerodux in the US. Anyway, the hull came out to 3/4 to 7/8 finished thickness. I'll try to post a photo of the hull being stripped.
And I will talk to the sailmaker about the hooked leech problem. Never thought of that, to tell the truth. About gaffers, I know from nothing.
As for the compliments, all I can do is bow in the direction of Cap'n Nat's grave. If it's pretty you want, all you have to do is look at his day sailers, and try to stick with his basic ideas. The tricky part, I think, is to get the sheer line and transom looking right. With this type of "little ship," if either of those is awkward, the result is design disaster.