Welsford launches his SEI

[rgthom]

A new "sail and oar" hits the water, and it's a double-ender to boot. The latest of John's prolific recent design efforts, this first one built by the designer.

[David G]

Looking good.

[Thorne]

Sexy!

[john welsford]

Now the sailing rig, I've got all the bits, sail and all the rest.
In the meantime, she's rowing well, and will be even nicer when I get those plastic oarlock sleeves off and put proper leathers onto the oars.
The big motor cruiser by the way, together with the green shed and the grassy area is my home. It would be hard to do better for a liveaboard, its 13 minutes walk to the shops, but you'd never know that suburbia is only about 400 yards up the hill.

I've put a few words about the special day up on my blog https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?bl...29416#allposts

John Welsford

[keyhavenpotterer]

Looking great and a really handy boat John, love the light 73kg weight. For some reason the blog link didn't work for me, so in case it's the same for others here's a link that worked for me

http://jwboatdesigns.blogspot.co.uk/...ei-afloat.html

Brian

[john welsford]

Thanks Brian, that weight by the way included the spars, oars, sail and all the fittings piled into her when I put her on the scales. She's very easy to move around, and no I didnt take any exceptional steps to keep her light. Mostly meranti ply, baltic spruce left over from the mast for gunwales, ordinary household enamel paint.

I'm pleased, I prefer not to have to hump heavy things around.

John Welsford

Looking great and a really handy boat John, love the light 73kg weight. For some reason the blog link didn't work for me, so in case it's the same for others here's a link that worked for me

http://jwboatdesigns.blogspot.co.uk/...ei-afloat.html

Brian

[richbeck]

Blog dosen't work for me either.

[James McMullen]

Awesome! The more lapstrake double-enders in this world, the better, as far as I'm concerned!

[JimD]

Now the sailing rig, I've got all the bits, sail and all the rest.

Like this?

[richbeck]

Works now! Thanks.

[keyhavenpotterer]

[keyhavenpotterer]

[keyhavenpotterer]

[skaraborgcraft]

Very nice. Love the set of that sail, that top yard spar bend looks perfect.

[keyhavenpotterer]

Yes, it's from Mik Storer's Really Simple Sails .

Brian

[keyhavenpotterer]

[Alan H]

Well, now...that's just lovely!

[capefox]

Rows nicely.

[Admiral1645]

Wow. Great boat. Any buoyancy built in? I wonder how it compares with the Ougtreds of similar design. Congratulations on a great build.

Graeme

[Admiral1645]

Ah yes. I see from the launch video that it does have buoyancy.

And yes, there can't be too many double enders, James.

Graeme

[john welsford]

Thanks Graeme.
Yes there is built in bouyancy, a fair sized air tank under the seating in each end of the boat. In the building guide that comes with the plans I've suggested for those who want to go far afield in open waters that a couple of inflatable fenders be strapped under the gunwales forward of the centre thwart, and a pair of styrene foam blocks be fitted under that seat.
I took her for a sail in very light airs today, quite a contrast to yesterday when those pics were taken, it was blowing pretty hard in those and today was mirror flat calm with just a few tiny ruffled patches on the water. The RSS sail works great, sets beautifully and pulls like a train. Recommended.

John Welsford

Wow. Great boat. Any buoyancy built in? I wonder how it compares with the Ougtreds of similar design. Congratulations on a great build.

Graeme

[john welsford]

Wow. Great boat. Any buoyancy built in? I wonder how it compares with the Ougtreds of similar design. Congratulations on a great build.

Graeme

I dont much like commenting on other designers work, or even making comparisons. So I'll just tell you what I was aiming at here.
I wanted a boat with large volume for her type and length, high stability so my not so mobile wife could get in and out off a dock or a beach, stable enough for me to stand up in her and heave a large carton of groceries up onto the deck of my motor cruiser if I'm using SEI as a tender. She has to row well enough to be enjoyable and still sail well enough to go "Raiding" in and not get left behind by the other, mostly a bit bigger, boats.
All that plus being a simple build. How do I rate it? 8/10. Pretty good, I like her a lot, its a big moon tonight and a midnight tide, I might just be out there sailing when most around me are asleep.

John Welsford

[john welsford]

Like this?

Yes, like that apart from the sail being about 10 sq ft bigger, its a stock sail from Really Simple Sails ( RSS) made by Mik Storer and friends in the Phillipines, good sail, and the boat carries the extra rag very well.

John Welsford

[kenjamin]

Hey John, very nice pictures that Paul Gilbert shot for you. SEI looks wonderful! Of course I'm curious about the curved yard. Was that laminated in to take that shape or was it just the natural bend in that piece? You really have to be careful about laminating curvature into your spars – a guy can get carried away with that. Congratulations on a very nice build and a very sweet ride!

[Frank!]

The flex of the Yard (perfectly matched by the cut of the sail) - and the set and twist - impels me to accept this into my Bermudan World as an Honourable Associate.
Well done all!

[kenjamin]

There's some question, at least in my mind, whether that is yard flex or natural existing curvature or laminated curvature of the yard. In any case, the sail designers seem to have done a good job of anticipating the curvature because that sure is a nice set of sail.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[john welsford]

There's some question, at least in my mind, whether that is yard flex or natural existing curvature or laminated curvature of the yard. In any case, the sail designers seem to have done a good job of anticipating the curvature because that sure is a nice set of sail.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

The spar is straight, but tapered to allow it to flex enough to match the needs of the sail. I control the draft of the sail with downhaul tension, more tension pulls more curve into the yard, that takes "fullness" out of the middle of the sail and makes it flatter. When the wind eases I can let a little of the tension off and the yard springs back nearer straight, making the sail more full and powerful again.
Plus, as a gust hits the yard flexes allowing the sail to twist off a little which depowers it, then as the gust eases it springs back to its normal shape.

In this case I made a series of wild guesses as to the needs of the sail and the boat when making the yard, and seem to have got it close to right.

John Welsford

[kenjamin]

From those great pictures, that taper on the yard sure looks a lot more like an expert calculation than a series of wild guesses - nice work. I'm still trying to get working pictures of my new rig for my Saturday Night Special. Seems my photo boat crew may need to be taken to dinner again. Our beautiful Fall weather is just around the corner now so that will help too.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[keyhavenpotterer]

[keyhavenpotterer]

SEI with Saturday Night Special in foreground.

[keyhavenpotterer]

John and Blair racing home. SEI and SNS having fun.