Lysander 17′ Sailing Cruiser designed by Percy Blandford

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi All,

I hate trying to make a gooseneck fitting without too much engineering being involved, this is my solution with some drilled , folded and soldered joints brass strip, achieving the dual axis movement is a pain ! but I wanted to make it look a little scale like 🙂

Tim tells me he specially chartered an Easyjet flight to get the sails to me before Christmas, Way to go Tim 🙂

Regards Ray

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Nice neat job Ray.  Easyjet?  He could have paid for a decent airline!

[Chris FellowsParticipant @chrisfellows72943]

Yes, nice bit of brasswork. I’ve got that fun to come.

Interesting what is being said about the sails and useful. Those for the Fisherman are very similar and I was wondering whether the jib being past the mast was going to be a problem and it sounds as though it is, well with simple control. I suppose it’s a problem getting the jib past the mast?

And it looks as though you are going to use a jib boom now? Will the servo control this or is it going to be as you mentioned earlier, a self tacking jib on a horse?

My questions are a bit premature I know but I don’t really want to use a jib boom. If I reduce the size of the jib so that it sits in front of the mast can this be self tacking, or if not, controlled by the servo winch for the main sheet – as per the DF controlling both sheets?

Chris

[Tim RoweParticipant @timrowe83142]

Hello Chris

It is complicated having the jib come back past the mast because you need two sheets and it won’t be self-tacking.  Having the jib on a boom solves both problems.  It is a matter of choice.

Having the jib on a boom means that it can be controlled efficiently which is why I like the system.  For me, going away from scale is secondary to performance.  Bearing in mind though that I sail in in open water so I can’t walk around the other side of  pond on a rescue mission. The ability to sail well to windward it quite important.  Horse for courses and you have plenty of time to decide (plus you have an iron topsail!)

Tim

[Chris FellowsParticipant @chrisfellows72943]

Thanks Tim. As I’ve said before I’m only going to sail in light winds and as long as it sails I will be happy! I’ll reduce the jib so it misses the mast and take it from there. We have easy access to all sides of our lake so no problem there.

Iron topsail? Motor?

Chris

[Tim RoweParticipant @timrowe83142]

Iron Topsail – yes engine!

Tim

[Tim RoweParticipant @timrowe83142]

Lysander is a fair weather sailing model so the sail cloth we are using is wildly over-specified.  Almost certainly local reinforcing is not necessary however if you are using other materials it may well be sensible.  Anyway it brings some life to the sails, mimicking the real thing.

This is some white deck patch material with an aluminium template used to make out the fingers that I like to use.  Other sailmakers have there own styles from very simple to quite complex.

We need lots of these.

To make this kind of pattern at the tack and clew of both sails.  The reinforcement at the top of the sail is different because the angle is too small to fit all these in.

We also need some round discs made with a compass cutter.

And some of these for the battens.  The battens are 5mm wide strips of clear acetate.  Any thin flexible plastic sheet will do fine.
The batten pockets are made from strips of deck patch 8mm wide and these are used to hold the battens in place.

You will also need some fine wire, plated brass eyelets and an eyelet punch.

Tim

 

 

 

 

[Tim RoweParticipant @timrowe83142]

Here are the reinforcements as they are stuck to the sail.

Because there are three fingers and only two sides on the sail my system is to put the two edge fingers on the starboard side and the centre finger on he port side. There are no rules.

The head of the sail is different and the easiest way to do this is to put the reinforcement over-sized and then trim back with a sharp knife.

The notch for the gaff  has its own shape

The circles are folded over the luff of the mainsail only and these are for the lashing to go around the mast.

Here is a batten with double sided tape on one side.  The trick for separating from the backing is to stick a short piece of tape on the sticky side and it pulls away easily.  Do this a little bit beyond the end of the batten and then trim back.

Here the batten is stuck on the sail with the deck patch pocket ready to go on.  You can see the pencil mark under the batten for getting it in the right position. This is the advantage of using a transparent material.

The batten pocket is stuck over the batten with the inboard corners snipped off to help stop them peeling.  It look neater too.

Finally inserting the eyelets.  The best way to make the holes is with a hot wire heated over a candle.  It is quick and easy to get the right size.  Hold the wire just above the flame otherwise there is a risk of it getting sooty and that will stain the sails.

This is the head of the sail and you can see it has a soft headboard and just one finger down the leech.

That’s the main done. The jib is a bit more complicated and comes up next.

Tim

 

 

[Chris FellowsParticipant @chrisfellows72943]

It’s good to see your meticulous work again Tim and with something we don’t see very often and for something that is useful for us. I was thinking that sewing was going to be involved with my sails, hence why I’d asked my SiL.

Got a couple of questions but I’ll save those.

Chris

[Tim RoweParticipant @timrowe83142]

Hi Chris.  If the sails were panelled I would probably stitch the seams, especially on anything larger.  I wouldn’t want to rely on the double sided tape.  Tape is fine for sails made from Mylar film because you get a 100% contact area on the smooth surface.  Sail cloth, although hot rolled, still has a significant texture and so the tape is only really sticking to the high spots.  None of the tape on Ray’s sails (or Wild Duck or Eventide) is under any kind of load.  Tapes are surprisingly strong in tension and sheer but have much lower resistance in peel so that has to be taken into consideration in the design.

The specially chartered plane and private courier have done their stuff and Ray has the sails.

Tim

[Tim RoweParticipant @timrowe83142]

Going back a bit you can see that the luff of the main was not reinforced over its entire length.  We just had local reinforcement at the lashing points.  With new sail cloth or with film you don’t need that many either.
The luff of the main doesn’t have to support a big load.  Some tension is required to keep the luff straight and to stop it from flapping and because the luff is on the bias as supposed to the selvedge putting tension on the luff induces a little bit of shape and the more tension there is, the more this shape moves forward which is useful in strong winds.  These sails are too small for this to be that relevant, but in larger sails where performance is important it is a very useful feature.

The jib on the other hand is different and it is quite usual and good practice to use the jib luff as the forestay.  Now the sail is supporting rig loads and not just those required to set nicely.  This is where we use the luff tape.

This stuff.

The idea is to make a pocket on the luff of the jib and run a wire through it so the wire itself is the forestay.

Here are the three components for making the luff pocket.  The sail itself, the double sided tape and the luff tape.

The double sided tape is applied to one side of the sail.  The width of the tape and its position on the luff is quite critical.  If the tape is too close to the luff aft edge of the luff tap may not be stuck and this make the join
at risk of peel.  The tape may not lie flat on the sail which doesn’t look so good.   If the double sided tape is too far aft it may not be covered by the luff tape leaving a sticky line exposed.  This will attract dust and dirt and in no time will look horrible.  Here I have done one side and then turned the jib over so that the luff tape is towards to cutting mat.

Now we lay in the wire and this is the tack of the sail.

And here is the head.  The wire is taped down at each end with as much tension as possible.  This is to keel it accurately aligned with the luff.  This is important.

Next, double sided tape is applied to the top surface of the sail taking care to position it correctly.  The luff tape is then folded over the wire and stuck to the sticky tape.  The wire is now running in a pocket down the luff of the sail.

We don’t want the wire to be stuck in the pocket.  It should have just enough clearance to slide.  This means that the tension on the wire (now the forestay) can be adjusted separately from the tension on the jib luff.  Typically the forestay forestay has much more tension than the jib luff.

I supplied Ray with a wire with (I hope) plenty of spare because I don’t have details of his attachment points. Also a couple of crimp ferrules so he can make the forestay to the length he needs.

Actually Ray has a choice.  He can have a separate forestay if he wants and not feed the wire into the luff pocket.  Because the luff is reinforced along its length it will be plenty strong enough for this boat. We will see when he posts.

Here are the finished sails ready to be rolled up for shipment.  There is quite a bit to show on setting up the sails on the mast and boom but I will describe that in the Wild Duck / Eventide thread to save hijacking Ray’s any further.

I look forward very much to seeing Lysander on the water.

Tim

 

 

 

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Tim,

A magnificent job, I’m just fettling the spars and varnishing them, This thread material about sail making is really needed in the magazine, perhaps If Linsey runs Lysander as a free plan would be a good time next year 🙂

Kind Regards  Ray

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi All,

With the sails here now, I’m making a few twiddly bit to brighten her up , brass fairleads are a couple of hours drilling and filing, spars are varnished including the jaws on the gaff, as Tim mentioned the radio install, the only major bit of kit is the main sheet servo with its extension arm made, It will be good to see her finished for the new year,

Regards Ray

[Chris FellowsParticipant @chrisfellows72943]

That’s a big arm Ray! Interesting that you make your fairleads. I’ve searched more than once for my builds and haven’t found any suitable ones at 1:12.

Chris

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Chris,

Yes I maybe pushing my luck with the long arm on the servo, but it wont have to work very hard if I adjust the sheet whilst tacking 🙂

The fairleads are a bit rough and ready but ok, from  3/16″ square brass bar, drilled and filed to shape !!

Regards Ray

[Chris Fellows]

On Chris Fellows Said:

That’s a big arm Ray! Interesting that you make your fairleads. I’ve searched more than once for my builds and haven’t found any suitable ones at 1:12.

Chris

Nothing amongst these Chris?

https://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/acatalog/Model-Boat-Fittings-Cleats-p1.html

 

[Chris FellowsParticipant @chrisfellows72943]

Thanks Richard, there is!

I buy quite a lot from CMB and had looked through their offerings before but didn’t find anything, must have missed them.

When searching elsewhere I’ve looked for 1:12 and hadn’t found what I wanted. Kept thinking I must work out what size I need rather than scale.

Chris

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi All,

Will Christmas ever arrive ?? the preparations seem to have been going on for ever !!

Thanks to Tim’s excellent sail making skills the Lysander is looking good for the 2025 season 🙂

Horses and sheets to complete, now with the DF 65 keel fitted and on a borrowed stand I’m very pleased with her , 61 days so far I must speed up !!

Seasons Greetings

Ray

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Beautiful Ray, absolutely beautiful.

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Hi Ray,

That is one very nice model. It’s going to attract a lot of attention when you sail it.

 

Here’s hoping everyone has a great Christmas and a good New Year.

Jim.

[Chris FellowsParticipant @chrisfellows72943]

61 days, yikes! Looking forward to seeing how it performs on the water.

What’s next, the Sea Rover?

Chris

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Chris,

Yes Mini Sea Rover maybe my holiday project !! which is funny as every day’s a holiday isn’t it 🙂

I have a couple of new toys to clean up 🙂

My old friend who passed model’s they are works of art !! good memories of us boating together 🙂

Regards Ray

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

I take it the steam plant is out of the Navy Pinnace Ray?  If so that is a superb model.  The fuel tank looks like it is a pressurised liquid feed tank, which does away with all the challenges of gas pressure dropping with the gas cooling effect.  I take it the boiler burns meths?  What engine is on the end of it?

The Sun XXVII is a beauty as well but the pinnace is a cracker.

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Richard,

Unfortunately or not it’s not the plant from the Pinnace !! but not a problem I have a cunning plan 🙂

I was going to ask about the burner in due course, twin cylinder slide valve engine with a feed pump & displacement lubricator, I may build a tug for it next year 🙂 It even has a superheater coil in the smoke box.

More questions to follow for you 🙂

The Sun tug is a beauty fine details I’ve never seen before on a model !!

Happy Christmas

Ray

 

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

That actually looks very much like a Saito fuel tank so the rest of the plant might be as well.  I wonder if that steam plant would drop into the pinnace?

Merry Christmas Ray.  Staying at home or getting Christmas dinner cooked for you in Wales?  Either way enjoy the family time.

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