Twin rudders – how much smaller than a single rudder?

[kenjamin]

Thanks, comrade. I agree. How about a laminated G-flex white oak daggerboard with the NACA 0008-34 foil shape machined into that? How's the bamboo fishing pole coming along? Did you try the fiberglass sleeves I recommended?

[James McMullen]

Would you believe I chickened out and bought a garage sale fishing pole for cheap instead? I only intend to use it to catch fish with though, so I decided to focus my limited free time in a different direction. Besides, it's spring now, so I'm going to be mostly in a boat or on a bicycle on weekends, not in my shop.

[kenjamin]

I bicycle the three bridge tour of St. Augustine (17 miles) almost every day and my sister worries about me getting hurt. I told her I got that covered by having it say on my tombstone: "I'm either gonna get in shape or die trying". My Surly one-speed has a Campy crank, a Phil Wood front hub, top of the line Brooks saddle, and a German-made Sachs-Huret coaster brake with a titanium brake arm. It 's awesome for city biking – rock solid, low-maintenance simplicity.

So what do you think of the laminated white oak NACA foils? Somewhat similar to how I did Xena's guitar rudder only with a NACA foil machined into it. Yeah, it'd be a bugger if I got into one of those spikes with the foil shaping router bit.

It would be pretty slick to have laminated oak twin NACA rudders finished bright.

[wizbang 13]

Kenjamin, I think you need to be building a bigger boat , not a smaller one.
You have so many off the shelf ideas that you are not afraid to try, which I think is great, but afraid a wee boat just may not tolerate them.
Oh, galv casing nails, (heads like finishing nails) , is what I use in strip planked boards and rudders, so the head has less chance of surfacing /kissing the planer, or in your case, router.
Bruce

[seo]

Weight out in the ends of a boat is not your friend, and solid oak rudders seems like serious overkill. I'd suggest white pine, and then once you're happy with the shape, sheath it with epoxy and glass, kevlar, or carbon fiber.

[kenjamin]

Kenjamin, I think you need to be building a bigger boat , not a smaller one.
You have so many off the shelf ideas that you are not afraid to try, which I think is great, but afraid a wee boat just may not tolerate them.
Oh, galv casing nails, (heads like finishing nails) , is what I use in strip planked boards and rudders, so the head has less chance of surfacing /kissing the planer, or in your case, router.
Bruce

Hey Bruce, I'm a retired illustrator for the State of Florida and there's not a lot of funds in my boat building budget. Also the Scamp build takes up the entire carport and all my "mad money" so bigger is out of the question for now. The great thing about the SCAMP is the scale of it. The mast for it will be small enough to step at sea or store along the gunnel around the cuddy cabin for fishing – two things the lug rig can't do. An added bonus was working with John Welsford on my many changes to the SCAMP plans. I'm pretty much where I want to be in the evolution of the birdwing rig. The SCAMP is also popular enough that it shouldn't be too hard to find one to race against in order to compare it's performance with the standard lug rig. With the smaller boat, I'll be in a more intimate relationship with the birdwing rig and performance tweeks will be more affordable for me. And I'm looking forward to the simplicity of the sloop rig and the direct connection to my rudders (or rudder).

Having said all that, someday I'd like to build Iain Oughtred's Haiku or a larger cruising boat by John Welsford.

[kenjamin]

Weight out in the ends of a boat is not your friend, and solid oak rudders seems like serious overkill. I'd suggest white pine, and then once you're happy with the shape, sheath it with epoxy and glass, kevlar, or carbon fiber.

What about the single rudder we talked about mounted in the motor well, finished bright with the NACA foil machined into it? That would rock at a boat show me thinks.

[James McMullen]

What do I think about white oak for laminated foils? I think that doing it the hard way and using incorrect materials to build an overcomplicated, too-heavy and more expensive yet inferior and suboptimal structure is a habit you should try to ease up on a little. Branch out for a change, expand your horizons.

[Tom Robb]

As I said, his boat, his choices.
I wouldn't go for a Scamp, or likely any other sailboat, to fish from.
We are of different minds in this matter, but this is still America. We get to do that - disagree.
Good luck to him with his choices.

[kenjamin]

As I said, his boat, his choices.
I wouldn't go for a Scamp, or likely any other sailboat, to fish from.
We are of different minds in this matter, but this is still America. We get to do that - disagree.
Good luck to him with his choices.

I guess I like the challenge of it. I'm also incredibly cheap to the point that I'm almost considered green but more cheap than green. Fishing from a 4 knot hull requires a certain laid back frame of mind but that is what fishing has become for me. I want to catch the biggest, tastiest fish I can easily find at an incredibly low cost – and then sail home. Sounds like fun to me.