Hobbies Japonica

[gordon bubbParticipant @gordonbubb68746]

This model dates from around the 1960s and was Hobbies Design No. 3254. I think it was available as a kit or just a set of plans. My father and I built it but we never had the metal keel mentioned in the instructions. I'm now old enough to be reverting to childhood and would like to get her sailing properly. So does anyone have any idea how to create a keel, i.e. what sort of weight should it be? The boat is based on a gaff rigged Norfolk Broads sailing cruiser and has a Mighty Midget auxiliary motor.

Gordon

[gordon bubbParticipant @gordonbubb68746]

[gordon bubbParticipant @gordonbubb68746]

Forgot to say she is 20" LOA and there is now an album with a picture of her.

Gordon

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Hi Gordon. If you could take another picture showing the underside that would help!

Not a yacht person myself, but I would hazard a guess that it may have been a flat metal keel, possibly with lead fixed to the bottom, as this would be something the home builder could easily do.

Is there a slot under the keel, or screw holes ?

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Just looked on the Hobbies website. They appear to have a stash of plans that appeared on annuals and magazines. It may be worth contacting them.

The first free-download plan I looked at, a yacht, has an aluminium flat keel with lead weights attached at the bottom

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FREE PLAN: MODEL SAILING YACHT ‘CHALLENGER’

6 September 2017 by Hobbies

[Ian JopsonParticipant @ianjopson21383]

If it helps, among my collection of Hobbies Weekly and associated plans I have the plan for 'Japonica' and the two issues concerned with the build. If they are any help I can copy them for you? I understand that Hobbie do still retain their complete archive, back to 1895, but most of it is in storage and inaccesible (I've even offered to look for something I want myself to save them the bother, didn't work) but a query to them might prove useful.

[gordon bubbParticipant @gordonbubb68746]

I will get a photo of the present keel shortly. It looks very home made and unfinished but I have no recollection whatsoever of making it myself. Maybe my father did it before I lost interest all those years ago. I will have to put it in the bath and see if it rights itself if it falls over.

Ian, I have the Hobbies instructions but not the plans. Hobbies themselves say they now have no knowledge of the kit.

I can happily make a keel given the criteria for one, e.g. should the model right itself with the mast and sails flat in the water?

Gordon

[Ian JopsonParticipant @ianjopson21383]

Looking at the plan and photos in the magazine instructions, the keel is quite shallow but " the depth of the keel should be increased by 1 1/2 inches to give greater stability ". I can't see any reference as to how much weight should be involved.

Hobbies changed ownership some years ago, so the curent managership may not know that the kit was number 3254 (kits always had the same number as the plan, which was the same as the magazine issue number) and it was 65/- with an electric motor and propeller unit included.

Please let us see a phot when you've finished.

[gordon bubbParticipant @gordonbubb68746]

A phot of the keel has been added. What look like car body filler around it has not been smoothed and the whole thing is not painted. I will post later in the week when it has been "bath" tested!

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Gordon,

If the keel were twice as deep, It would take 1 1/2 lbs to keep it upright, this is my normal type of keel for a 20" yacht.

The plate doesn't need to be so wide to get best sailing performance. Example attached of my Eventide.

Regards Ray

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Looking at that photo, it seems to me that there may have been a wooden fin going down and then presumably lead weights on the bottom. The present keel looks like an afterthought add-on on the cut off stump.

I would be tempted to try and sail her as it is to see if the keel is in fact adequate, as then you have some sort of starting point ?.

Ashley

[gordon bubbParticipant @gordonbubb68746]

I will see what happens in the bath and then maybe try the local lake. That is a normal lake, that is to say of unknown depth and unknown underwater hazards to snag a keel. It is used for hire paddle boats in the summer so plenty of water in the middle, it is the edges to worry about. There are only a few access points so good control is needed. I shall wait until my other boat is sorted out (a separate thread) so it can be used for nudging a stuck one. Or until a couple of other locals also getting back into boats have theirs ready.

Thank you all for your helpful suggestions and comments. I have taken out a subscription to Model Boats so will increase my knowledge over the next few months.

Gordon

[Ian JopsonParticipant @ianjopson21383]

Ashley, looking at the photos along with the plans, the keel is as designed. No deeper fin, so I assume the model relies on the weight to keep it upright. I suppose we are used to deep fin keels these days.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Interesting, Ian. Well, sail it as it is then! Ashley

[gordon bubbParticipant @gordonbubb68746]

Tried out an anonymous motor today with a 3D printed pulley and a home built ESC from probably 30 years ago. Elastic band coupling between motor and prop shaft. Seemed to work OK.

Held over with the deck awash she bobbed upright again so the keel is doing something. Once the messy electrics have been sorted out I can try sail power. There is a proper boating pond not too far away which will be better than the local lake for testing.

Gordon

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