Caledonia Yawl Hull-Turning Pics

[Ken Leap]

My Oughtred-designed Caledonia Yawl, Reina del Llano (http://www.kenleap.com/boat.html), has been turned over.

http://www.kenleap.com/images/cy_turning_3_lg.jpg

http://www.kenleap.com/images/cy_turning_stern1_lg.jpg

I am now contemplating the interior layout. My plan is to construct the decked version. I will install a motor well, the front side flush with the afterdeck bulkhead. The foredeck will be installed without a bulkhead so that I can stow the oars. Actually, the oars will be part of the floorboards when not in use.

I am considering a second rowing station. The rowing thwart in the plans will be the main rowing station. I am thinking of a second removeable thwart aft of the main one; this thwart will be part of the floorboards when not in use. My concern is the spacing of these thwarts/rowing seats. Is there an established minimum or rule of thumb for the spacing of rowing stations?

Ken

Reina del Llano (http://www.kenleap.com/boat.html)

[L.W. Baxter]

Lovely!

Can't help on the spacing, but I think multiple rowing stations on a boat like this are a must. Sure to come in handy!

You mention a motorwell... locating your aft rowing station might be partly dictated by the location of the well, I'd think.

[Concordia..41]

Beautiful! And it looks like you've got lots of good help there in New Mexico!!

- M

[TR]

Ken,

There is no rule of thumb that I know about, but unless you and your rowing partner do a lot of training, you need space to get slighty out of sync and not hit each other.

2'6" oarlock to oarlock is possible, but too close. 3' should be a minimum and may be workable for small people. But I would suggest 3'6" to 4' as a reasonable distance, oarlock to oarlock or seat edge to seat edge. Oarlocks should be about 9-12" aft the aft edge of the seat.

Tad

[AHall]

Your boat looks beautiful.

are you proposing a second rowing station so two guys can row at the same time? or just to adjust the trim of the boat with a lone oarsman?

I think you will find that two guys aft like you suggest will through the boat way out of trim. Not to mention stowing another set giant set of oars. The boat will get cluttered enough with the rig stowed.

I used my Caledonia Yawl for one season with a set of 7'-6" oars that I had lying around. It was a bear to row because the boat is pretty wide where the oarlocks are. I make up a set of 11-footers like the plans called for and it made a huge difference.

I guess what I'm getting at is make the longest oars you can fit into the boat if you plan on covering any ground with them.

good luck,
Andy

[Garth Jones]

Great boat! I'm looking forward to seeing your future progress.

One question - I was thinking of incorporating a pair of oars into the floorboards of my Ness Yawl, but I'm not quite sure how to do it. The floorboards are only 5/8" thick, so the oars would either sit proud of the adjacent floorboards or I'd have to cut half circles out of the floors. The floors are not that large and I don't want to weaken them too much. Any thoughts? How are you going to go about it, if you know yet?

Thanks and congrats,
Garth

[JimD]

:cool:

[joejapan]

Beautiful.....! :cool:

[Ken Leap]

Thank you for the comments.

L.W. Baxter...Yes, the location of the aft rowing station is dictated by the location of the motor well (and the location of the other rowing station).

I am building the 3-sail rig (high-peaked gaff), so my main mast is a little farther aft than that of the 2-sail rig (balanced lug). This crowds the interior a little more.

I wrote Iain Oughtred and asked about the possibility of two rowing stations. He wrote back and said that at least two Caledonia Yawls have been built with a second rowing station, by fitting them at each end of the centreboard case. He commented that "the forward thwart on the plan then becomes inconvenient--except it may make it easier to step the mast." I believe the forward thwart that he is talking about is where my foredeck begins (I am building the decked version of the Caledonia Yawl). He sent me a photo of a Frank Schofield's boat with two rowing thwarts. Frank's boat has the balanced lug rig, so the main mast (and mast partner) are well clear of the foreward rowing thwart. With my more-aft main mast location, there is very little space foreward of the centreboard case. (If I moved this forward rowing thwart a little aft of the foreward end of the case, the top of the centreboard is right in my crotch when retracted.) If this forward thwart is removeable and not used often, the short distance to the mast is probably not an issue, unless the rower hits the mast when pulling back far. It gets complicated.

TR...The thwart-to-thwart distances you mention sound reasonable. If I add an aft rowing thwart, I cant' do much better than 36" seat edge to seat edge. I'm short, so that helps, but I can't always count on a short crew.

Now that the boat is right-side-up, I'll just have to try some mock-ups and see what works. I'm sure there's a way.

AHall...Yes, I'm proposing two rowing stations so that two can row at once. And I am planning on having two 11-footers. I think I have worked out a way to store four of these. I didn't think about trim when I considered adding a station aft. One more thing to factor in I suppose.

Garth...Good point about incorporating the oars into the floorboards. The floors will have to be notched a little deeper than the floorboards, in way of the oars, as you mention. Weakening the floors is an issue, but my floors will be deeper (taller) because I am designing for straight floors and floorboards. Well, most of them will be deeper--in case some aren't deep enough, I can increase their thickness to add back some strength.

Ken

Reina del Llano (http://www.kenleap.com/boat.html)

[ 11-07-2005, 10:33 AM: Message edited by: Ken Leap ]

[Garrett Lowell]

Nicely done! Just in time for winter building, too. Good timing.

[Ken Leap]

After processing all of the above keen advice and carefully studying Iain Oughtred's beautiful plans, I am better grounded in my thoughts about modifications. With all of the possible layouts that I have considered to date, I have encountered potential problems (boat trim, aesthetics, crowded cockpit, some things in the way of other things, losing sight of what this SAILBOAT is for, etc.). Now I can better appreciate how Iain has solved all of these problems for me in his published design.

I will make some modifications, but they will be carefully planned to be in harmony with Iain's overall scheme.

Oars WILL be nested amongst the floorboards. Cutouts in the foreward bulkhead will allow this.

I WILL add a second rowing station, but it will have very minimal impact on the original design. The seat for this second rowing station will be the foredeck. When configuring the mast box and mast gate on the foredeck, I will be conscious of its profile and protruding parts. An extra pair of oarlocks and a stowable seat/mast-box cover is all that is really needed. Of course, the mast will have to be down while using this station, but its use will be rare--this is, afterall, a sailboat.

At a glance, no one will notice that I have made any changes.

Ken

[ 11-08-2005, 06:06 PM: Message edited by: Ken Leap ]

[Lion]

Very nice!