The View from the Helm

MIND THE GAP!

The Paine 14 design has a balanced rudder, making it exquisite to helm. This means that some of the rudder blade area is forward of the pivot axis. This is great for the helm balance, but since the aft end of the boat has deadrise, as soon as the rudder is swung off-center, a gap opens up between the rudder and the hull. It’s like a forward facing pair of scissors.

One week this past summer I took my friend Dennis sailing. It was blowing pretty hard, and just as I cast off the mooring a gust caught us on the wrong tack, forcing us to sail over the dinghy painter which was tied to the mooring float. Needless to say, in she went, and almost immediately we were tethered stern to wind, and a lot of it. The forces involved are huge. There was no choice but to wrestle the mainsail down- no small feat- and roll up the jib to remove the pressure. Then fish around underwater with the boom crutch to finally release the jammed rope, near the point of exhaustion. Not exactly a day of elegant relaxation on the water.

Then just to drive the point home we sailed over a lobster pot line an hour later and did the same thing all over again!

I was determined that this would never happen again. I considered the other ways that have been used to mitigate the problem: A windsurfer fin installed just forward of the rudder, or pieces of shock cord that stretch across the open maw- but neither is entirely proof against a jam for as we all know on a sailboat, if anything possibly can go wrong, it will! So I have invented an absolutely jam-proof solution to the problem. Since many other designs have the combination of a balanced rudder and veed hull, I offer my solution for your benefit. It will be fitted to all Paine 14s and York 18s and any similar yachts I might design in the future.

What I did was to swing the rudder off-center to its maximum possible turning angle. Then I extended the top of the rudder up until it just cleared the hull at this angle. Of course then when you articulate the rudder toward the centerline there is a hull in the way. This I carved away into a section of the surface of a cone, such that the top of the rudder just “sweeps” the concave cone with a paper-width of clearance- far too little for anything to force its way into the gap.

It works great. The amount of turbulence created by the little discontinuity is trivial. And no more embarrassing and potentially dangerous rudder jams! The new YORK 18, debuting next Spring, will have the same feature.

A balanced rudder that cannot foul. It’s swung over hard to port. The top of the rudder sweeps the hull with no space for anything to jam into.

It’s true- I’m semi-retired. But when Todd French needed a replica of Herreshoff’s SADIE (she can be seen at the Herreshoff museum in Bristol, RI), I just couldn’t say no. These two boats- Alerion and Sadie, are a real challenge. By modern standards they were very, very tender.  But by adopting a full keel and using SADIE’s 4″ beamier hull, this new SADIE will be an excellent, and adequately stable, performer.

Michael York has started the hull mold for the York 18. It’s early days yet, but he moves fast… I expect to see a hull in less than one month!

One picture is worth a thousand words. The Paine DVT work beautifully. There are expensive and unsightly alternatives, but this solution is cheap and attractive. Because they are parallel with the luff, they permit the use of a roller-furling jib, which would not be the case with conventional battens.

This shows how they work on a close reach. Note that the leech of the jib is nearly parallel with the luff. Without the DVT the jibboom would move up as it is let out, but as you see here, the DVT force it to stay low and rotate sideways, not vertically.

The DVT are at their most effective the further you let the jib out. Usually in these wing on wing situations the jibboom rises up in the air, spilling wind from the top of the jib. With the DVT this does not happen, and the entire jib remains effective.

ERICA

ERICA WINS EGGEMOGGIN REACH REGATTA

Our 45-foot Spirit of Tradition yacht ERICA just won her class at the ERR. Congratulations! Further information can be obtained from the present owner of the design- Ed Joy Designs, Camden, Maine.

Amelia on her way to Port Clyde.

Here’s Amelia, back from Florida and re-launched today in Port Clyde Maine. Come and sail her. I know, you can buy a whole fleet of old beat up sailboats for the cost of one new Paine 14. But if sailing is about fun, and showing off both beauty and performance, best bring your checkbook. Once you see and sail AMELIA, you’re going to want one of your own!

York Marine have the full sized loftings in hand and have ordered the material to start the YORK 18 hull next week. This yacht will be every bit as beautiful and high-performing as the PAINE 14- just a lot bigger. Mike York tells me he will have the first one sailing by August.

The YORK 18 will be trimmed out in beautiful varnished teak.

FRENCH & WEBB will be displaying the Paine 14 at the Palm Beach Boat Show March 20-23. I will be on hand Sunday March 23 to answer any questions, and will stay on through Monday to take any serious prospects sailing.

Here’s AMELIA in the FRENCH & WEBB shop prior to trailering to Florida.