My forever young dinghy - The Zest

[FF]

Screen Shot 2018-01-11 at 18.27.28.jpg
One reason I always built more or less traditional boats was that the fitting out was so much cheaper. I made my own blocks, built spars from wood, mostly used gaff rig and they were lately oar & sail boats. We also sail a modern catamaran with full battened main designed by Richard Woods, so I read whatever he wrote about boatbuilding. His ideas to keep amateur boat building affordable is slightly different: in short , build the hull yourself and find an old donor boat. These boats may go on but often the type is no longer good for racing and you can pick them up cheaply. My wife had enrolled in a Laser sailing course with the local sail club and I joined her, however I found I am not fond of them.
Mr. Woods who usually designs multis for amateur construction does the occasional dinghy. He had this interesting hard chine dinghy and built her in a weekend at a boat show, and sailed her there as wel. There was no time for painting but her glued aluminium foil on the hull and then put a purple stripe on it. My wife fancied the boat immediately so much that we ordered the plans, found an old 420 for the rig and fittings, and right now I am cutting out her plywood parts. Now the xmas tree is out of the room so I soon hope to assemble her in a Dynamite Payson Instant style. The idea is to cut out parts outside or in the garage, do epoxy work in the living, take her outside for sanding and paint her in spring in the garage with 2 part poly-urethane. I am looking forward with a little trepidation to sail her.

[Jay Greer]

I am looking forward, with great interest, to hearing how that blow dart performs!
Jay

[robm]

That thing will scare Laser sailors... Phil Bolger would have liked it, except for the "complex" rig. The principles of "Eeek" applied to a modern single-hander skiff.

[cut3times]

Very modern design, looking forward to following the build. I am envious of any man who has a wife who would tolerate building in any room inside.

[Hugh MacD]

What!?! No foils??? Looks like way too much fun! Anxious to see your report next spring.

[Art Haberland]

That thing will scare Laser sailors... Phil Bolger would have liked it, except for the "complex" rig. The principles of "Eeek" applied to a modern single-hander skiff.

I fore see a lot of "eeek" in that, usually followed by a splash. Looks like fun

[johnw]

Here's a picture I got of the one Richard Woods built at Port Townsend in 2015. Will you rig yours as a sloop?

[amish rob]

Here's a picture I got of the one Richard Woods built at Port Townsend in 2015. Will you rig yours as a sloop?

It took me a second to figure out what was going on here.
The foil is shiny, Robert.
Ohhhh...

Neat looking little winged canoe.

Peace,
Robert

[FF]

So am I!

[FF]

I am looking forward, with great interest, to hearing how that blow dart performs!
Jay

So am I

[FF]

That thing will scare Laser sailors... Phil Bolger would have liked it, except for the "complex" rig. The principles of "Eeek" applied to a modern single-hander skiff.

I expect her to be faster, and if the second hand market in boats existed in Bolgers days, who knows? Eeek? Guess there will be a learning curve.

[FF]

Very modern design, looking forward to following the build. I am envious of any man who has a wife who would tolerate building in any room inside.

Modern, yes. Try to post first pics soon. And my wife knows all the work indoors wont leave a mess. Done this before. She is looking forward to springsail, she on her Laser, me on Zest

[FF]

What!?! No foils??? Looks like way too much fun! Anxious to see your report next spring.

Dont want foils. Yet. Hope I wont disappoint you.

[FF]

Here's a picture I got of the one Richard Woods built at Port Townsend in 2015. Will you rig yours as a sloop?

Dont think so. I dont see the advantage on such a hull, and like to keep her simple, at least in the beginning.

[Chris249]

That thing will scare Laser sailors... Phil Bolger would have liked it, except for the "complex" rig. The principles of "Eeek" applied to a modern single-hander skiff.

Eh? Dave Gentry, who built and sailed one, described Eeek as slow and a flawed design. Others pointed out that it was designed by someone who did not sail the type.

The Zest, on the other hand, is designed by a guy who is an excellent and highly experienced sailor in this sort of boat and who has been a national champ in a similar design. It's very well accepted (and has been repeatedly proven) that when it comes to fast dinghies there are many design tricks of the trade that are only known to those with experience in sailing such types. Given Richard's track record in high speed boats, this is doubtless very different from a Bolger in terms of speed.

One thing the Zest does, though, is to dispel any idea that "box boats" are a Bolger development or disliked by all of the "sailing establishment". Classes that are pretty much "box boats" have been around in fast racing dinghies for decades, in the shape of classes like Aussie Skates, Signets, Vauriens, narrow skiff Moths, Vee Jays and now the Zest. The basic concept has been accepted and popular for eons.

Oh, and the rig is not really complex and it's there for a reason. Experience in fast boats really teaches one how the rig and its lift/drag and control characteristics have to match the hull's speed and handling. For all the claims that he was a versatile designer, Bolger appears to have zero experience in truly fast craft or their rigs, which arguably meant his criticism of them was based on ignorance.

[FF]

It took me a second to figure out what was going on here.
The foil is shiny, Robert.
Ohhhh...

Neat looking little winged canoe.

Peace,
Robert

Yes, Love the color scheme

[amish rob]

Yes, Love the color scheme

Me too. It looks crazy and neat. I have a problem with shiny, nice things, though.
I have no class, see, and fancy things I own often reflect it. For my own, I’d need something resembling weathered galvanize.

I really do think she’s lovely. Foil, you say?

Peace,
Robert

[johnw]

Me too. It looks crazy and neat. I have a problem with shiny, nice things, though.
I have no class, see, and fancy things I own often reflect it. For my own, I’d need something resembling weathered galvanize.

I really do think she’s lovely. Foil, you say?

Peace,
Robert

Richard told me he used the adhesive mylar because you shouldn't paint epoxy right away, and he wanted the boat to look good that weekend.

[amish rob]

Richard told me he used the adhesive mylar because you shouldn't paint epoxy right away, and he wanted the boat to look good that weekend.

A-ha! Mylar. I was wondering for the future cyclecart projects...

And, he succeeded. That boat looks cool as heck.

Peace,
Robert

[cglynn]

This looks like a cool little singlehander. I love the idea of recycling a 420 rig, as those can usually be had for not much $$$.

There was mention of this hull being a "Box boat" type, ala Bolger. When I look at the lines drawing, it seems to me to be more of a narrow Goat Island Skiff. That design has been widely acclaimed as an excellent boat, so a similar (ish) hull shape should be just as snappy. In other words, loads of fun. But then again, Mic Storer of GIS fame did also design that Bolger inspired sailing canoe that is really nice too. Either way, Zest looks cool.

Looking forward to seeing the build progress, as well as the finished boat compared to a laser.

CG

[FF]

This looks like a cool little singlehander. I love the idea of recycling a 420 rig, as those can usually be had for not much $$$.

There was mention of this hull being a "Box boat" type, ala Bolger. When I look at the lines drawing, it seems to me to be more of a narrow Goat Island Skiff. That design has been widely acclaimed as an excellent boat, so a similar (ish) hull shape should be just as snappy. In other words, loads of fun. But then again, Mic Storer of GIS fame did also design that Bolger inspired sailing canoe that is really nice too. Either way, Zest looks cool.

Looking forward to seeing the build progress, as well as the finished boat compared to a laser.

CG

yes, in the past I would never build a boat like that for the cost of 'Harkenizing'. I hope to compare the boat with a Laser, and pehaps with Joost Engelen his Mick Storer Canoe

[RFNK]

Eh? Dave Gentry, who built and sailed one, described Eeek as slow and a flawed design. Others pointed out that it was designed by someone who did not sail the type.

The Zest, on the other hand, is designed by a guy who is an excellent and highly experienced sailor in this sort of boat and who has been a national champ in a similar design. It's very well accepted (and has been repeatedly proven) that when it comes to fast dinghies there are many design tricks of the trade that are only known to those with experience in sailing such types. Given Richard's track record in high speed boats, this is doubtless very different from a Bolger in terms of speed.

One thing the Zest does, though, is to dispel any idea that "box boats" are a Bolger development or disliked by all of the "sailing establishment". Classes that are pretty much "box boats" have been around in fast racing dinghies for decades, in the shape of classes like Aussie Skates, Signets, Vauriens, narrow skiff Moths, Vee Jays and now the Zest. The basic concept has been accepted and popular for eons.

Oh, and the rig is not really complex and it's there for a reason. Experience in fast boats really teaches one how the rig and its lift/drag and control characteristics have to match the hull's speed and handling. For all the claims that he was a versatile designer, Bolger appears to have zero experience in truly fast craft or their rigs, which arguably meant his criticism of them was based on ignorance.

So what do you think of it Chris? Is this the one for someone who wants a fast singlehander?

Rick

[FF]

20180211_163754.jpgBy now I have cut out most parts except the bottom, stem and stern. I made templates of rests of dacron cloth so I would not clutter my plywood with erased pencil lines. It is Hechthout, first time in my life I use such an expensive sort, and it is great stuff. Most is 4 mm thickness and the 3 plies seem equel thick. The time it costs makes me think a kit would be a good investment. And another good investment would be to insulate the garage and extend the central heating. It was too cold to do much cutting of plywood outside,but a jigsaw does not blow the sawdust far away. Had fun yesterday with my new toy the thicknesser to plane the battens for cleats to size. The construction is a mixture of stitch-and-glue and tack-and-tape with cleats that you first glue-and-scew to the bulkheads.

[FF]

IMG-20170814-WA0000.jpg New toys: A table with Kity tools that I allways wanted. I was looking for a thicknesser when I saw these offered. Probably over 30 years old but very good quality and I got the green light. It was originally meant for furniture makers with small shops: A tablesaw, combi of thichness planer and joiner, moulder, morticer, grinder with tool for sharpening the planer blades and one central motor. Two axes for belts and 220 volt, while most of these have 3phase motors. I am happy!

[Ian McColgin]

You must name her "pipistrello fuori dall'inferno".

[FF]

? My Italian is rusty, understand the last 2 words, can you explain?

[FF]

Bat out of hell?