Tendency to build what’s in my head.

[Jackie NeedhamParticipant @jackieneedham63444]

The problem with me is that I get a thrill from taking ideas in my head and see if I can't bring them to life. I've always been that way. That said, here I am attempting yet something else, but based on memories over fifty to fifty-five years old now when I was in my teens and spent a lot of time down the bottom of my street at the boatyard. From 12 to almost 16, I was never without a boat, all of which washed ashore as broken craft after major storms. I would drag rubble back home, put something together with whatever previous parts, brass screws, and wood saved from all the scavenged salvage I found washed up on my beach. I learned that, back then, no two boats were built the same, so at this late stage, decided to build a Grand-Footy based on that and all my favorite "Built-in-America" concepts I can still picture in my brain and make my own sloop. This, by no means, makes me an expert. There is a lot I do not know about sailboats, in particular, but know that whatever problem I face can be overcome as long as I care about the final result and construct it to the best of my ability.

Like so many other things that happen in my life, what I wonder here is if I am the only one, and I must admit searching for others to touch base with from time to time to add tweaks to my own design. I am waiting for mahogany, oak, and walnut supplies to come in the mail., so currently, I am working on my red oak false keel, having installed a full bow to stern keel as the backbone of my yacht. It is also of my own design and know many would take issue with my idea, but need to see this through and ultimately sail it to find out if my craft cuts the water in the wind like it is pictured in my mind. Thank you for letting me share my intentions here, and, as I have put forward, wonder if there are others like me.

[Jackie NeedhamParticipant @jackieneedham63444]

Grand-Footy Sloop

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

It's great to let your imagination run riot but your model will still need to obey the laws of physics and scaling full size sailboats down needs to take account of the basic issue that the hull volume (& weight) decreases with the cube root but the sailplan only decreases by the square root so that models are inherently overpowered and therefore unstable unless oversize keel arrangements are made!

Do keep us informed with your progress though.

Colin

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Hello Jackie and welcome to the forum! What a good idea, building what you fancy rather than something a million people have already built!

Gosh, it must run in the blood! Ashley Needham

[Jackie NeedhamParticipant @jackieneedham63444]

You have made my morning, Ashley Needham, providing me with a much needed warm hearty laugh to start my day. Progress continues, sometimes quickly, at others, much more slowly, demanding meticulousness and substituting old-fashioned testing along the way over mathematical conclusions. Personally, I think I will end up with a craft that I feel more certain what to expect. It remains to be seen. I've been wrong before. I will pose a few questions here very soon on things I do not want to deviate from rc norm too much, but I want to keep my build like the boats mored offshore and in the boatyard slips where I grew up on Narragansett Bay.

One quick addition about blood. Before my late uncle passed away, he had trouble walking from declining health issues. He drew away away focus and forced sympathy, and worse, pity by leaning with panache on roughly 25 intricately hand-carved canes he made depicting family, places visited in his lifetime, and more. Jackie Needham

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