New Boat 4 Sled

[BobJ]

You can see Monterey from Santa Cruz only 57 days/year on average. Portola and his soldiers tried 57 times to see it through the fog before giving up and trudging 57 miles, whereupon they saw the southern end of SF Bay.

And the poor crew of the SAN CARLOS - 57 of them had scurvy...

 

[H Spruit]

OK-OK-OK!
What does the discovery that Monterey has FOG, to do with the significance of the number 57 to the Mercury fleet?

 

[Dazzler]

For anyone driving to/from Monterey on Hwy 1, I recommend a short hike to the top of Mulligan Hill (elevation 60 feet) to view what Portola didn't see. Mulligan Hill is a famous landmark from seaward, and sits above the artichoke fields, just north of the mouth of the Salinas River.

Of course enquiring minds want to know why is there a hill named Mulligan in this otherwise Spanish explored and named area. And, I point out that Jackie did say that this is the History Channel. Although I may not have the slightest idea how the number 57 relates to the Mercury one design, I can provide an explanation for Mulligan Hill.

Mulligan Hill [Monterey Co.]. The elevation shown as Cabeza de Milligan, ‘Milligan’s Head’ on a diseno of the Bolsa del Potrero grant, was long known as Mulligan Head. It was named for John Mulligan, an Irish sailor and one of the earliest foreign residents of California. He arrived before 1819, taught the art of weaving to Indians at several missions, and became part owner of Rancho Bola de Potrero; he died in 1834 (Bancroft 4:747-48).

From: GUDDE, Erwin G., California Place Names, The Origin and Etymology of Current Geographical Names (Univ. of California Press) 2004

 

[sleddog]

Like shoes, keels come in all shapes, sizes, styles, and practicality. The keel design list, in no particular order, includes full keels, fin keels, bulb keels, twin keels, bilge keels. Peterson keels, elliptical keels, winged keels, lifting keels, canting keels, and torpedo keels on struts. Lead keels, iron keels, cement keels, and expended uranium keels (Eric Tabarly on the ketch PEN DUICK VI)

Unfortunately, keels are not without accompanying drawbacks. The brief fad of winged keels often caused grounding difficulties when the wings would get stuck in sand or mud and acted as an anchor.

Keels do little when the boat is level and not heeled over or making forward progress. At anchor, the pendulum effect of keels can cause unpleasant rolling. Underway, keels can pendulum fore and aft, causing pitching. And of course they can detach, usually at inopportune times. I will never forget the sight of the maxi-sloop DRUM in the 1985 Fastnet Race when she capsized after the keel sheared off due to a design error.

Keels are "mostly out of sight, out of mind" until they come in contact with the bottom, or floating objects. The current Vendee Globe Race around the world is having an especially high rate of attrition due to keel difficulties and strikes with "UFOs"

On a practical basis, from Maine to California to Hawaii, keels collect kelp, plastic, wildflife (including a large turtle we hit in the 1985 Transpac), rope including nets, lobster and crab pots, even submarines (again, the yacht DRUM, this time in 1988, off the coast of Scotland, when a submerged Royal Navy sub collided with DRUM. The Navy denied the incident until DRUM's owner offered to return the lens from their periscope which had holed DRUM's hull.

That there was genius, accidental or intentional, or just a yacht design feature of the early 20th Century, I do not know. But the fact is the Mercury Class One Design Sloop is well suited to sailing in waters where kelp, anchored and floating, can slow, even stop in their wake other more modern designs.

The Mercury's keel is angled 57 degrees aft from vertical on its leading edge. There is no magic in this number except for the fact it is great enough to neatly shed kelp without having to resort to kelp cutters, kelp sticks, "flossing," windows, G-Pros on a stick, or backing down to clear keels with more vertical leading edges.

The extensive kelp at Stillwater Cove? No problem for a Mercury. Sweet.

 

[sleddog]

Good Golly, Miss Molly, the National Weather Service (NWS) is calling for up to 12" of rain in the Santa Cruz mountains in the upcoming storms. What I would call a "firehose, they call an "atmospheric river (AR). "Possibly historic flooding in Yosemite, the Sierra, and elsewhere" they forecast. Except the NWS often uses the term "hydro" issues.

Most know "hydro issues" is short for "hydrologic" issues, or flooding. However, not all. Just across the border, in Canada, "hydro" means "electrical" or electrical grid. A hydro issue in British Columbia means electricity is down, not flooding.

Another example of different meanings for the same word is local slang for the 420 friendly crowd: "hydro" means "hydroponically grown marijuana." Does the NWS know this?

Further south, in the South Pacific, although most weather sites argue otherwise, a "cyclone" is not the same thing as a hurricane in the Northern Hemisphere. A hurricane in the Eastern and Central N. Pacific is defined as cyclonic storm with windspeeds equal to or greater than 64 knots. But in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, and elsewhere, a cyclone is defined as a tropical storm with windspeeds of 35-46 knots, a polite gale in the Gulf of the Farallones.

In fact, something that causes many nervous Milk Run cruisers to piss in their seaboots is that a Category 1 hurricane between the West Coast of North America and Hawaii, or in the Caribbean or N. Atlantic would be classified a Category 3 cyclone between New Zealand and Oz,Fiji/Tonga/Samoa/French Polynesia.

http://about.metservice.com/our-company/national-weather-services/tropical-cyclones/

 

[BobJ]

I was pretty close to chicken on that one and would have nailed it had I flipped my protractor upside-down.

On the subject of keels, how well do boats with (true) Scheel keels go to weather? The current object of my next-boat interest (at the cruising end of the spectrum) has such a keel:
Morris 32 on Yachtworld

Some good posts/explanation about Scheel keels in this thread.

 

[sleddog]

On the subject of keels, how well do boats with (true) Scheel keels go to weather? The current object of my next-boat interest (at the cruising end of the spectrum) has such a keel:
Morris 32 on Yachtworld
Some good posts/explanation about Scheel keels in this thread.

I first met MIT grad Henry Scheel at the One-Ton Worlds at Helgoland, 1968. I especially recall his friendliness, the sail number of his One-Tonner HAWK (#2020) and his interesting keel of which he was most proud.

HAWK, a Bill Tripp design, was fitted with the original Scheel Keel. My recall is, even with their amateur crew and untested boat, HAWK was not much off pace, upwind or down.

Personal reflection is, given all things else equal, I would love to have a cruising boat with a Scheel Keel. The tradeoff of shoal draft without much loss in keel efficiency or righting moment, and reduction in wetted surface is, theoretically, a good one. If you go aground, the Scheel keel is reportedly the best shape to get unstuck with. In addition, a Scheel keel lets you have the closest tie-up to the Corinthian YC bar.

Shoal draft keel = No thanks.
Shoal draft Scheel Keel = Yes, please

 

[BobJ]

The keel in that photo looks different in proportion and cross-section than DRUMMER's. I think Chuck Paine's boats (including this Morris) are supposed to have true Scheel keels but now I'm wondering. I'd have a hard time owning a boat that couldn't go upwind.

Otherwise there are many things I like about this boat. See any red flags Sled?

 

[sleddog]

Otherwise there are many things I like about this boat. See any red flags Sled?

No red flags, but a bunch of yellow ones, including the 6 digit price for a boat with a PHRF rating of 183, and plenty of varnish to maintain.
The underbody and displacement just doesn't give me a fuzzy feeling the Morris-32 is gonna go upwind or down very well, especially with just 4.25' of draft.
I'd prefer a mainsheet within reach of the tiller, rather than midships. Especially important for shorthanding.
For $100,000 less you could get a well maintained Express-34 with just as much room and coziness, a knot more speed, a local designer, and a couple of gallons of dark blue paint thrown in for good measure.
The good news is the Morris 32 has a 47 degree swept keel and skeg: good for shedding lobster pots when cruising Maine says Chuck Paine.

 

[AlanH]

Having read about Scheel keels for years, and not knowing diddly about them, I found this picture to be helpful.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=88173&d=1410724491

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My own current "I'd sail that" cruising boat wishlist is an Aloha 32. On thing I really like about the boat is that most were built with storage up forward instead of a useless V-berth. This shows the layout, which makes incredible sense to me. I'd move the traveler down into the cockpit. There's a nice bridgedeck just waiting to have a good traveler mounted on it.

I'm somewhat less wild about the rudder, seems kind of exposed, though no worse than any keelboat I've sailed in the past.

http://www.sailboatlistings.com/view/57619
.

 

[BobJ]

The wheel version of the Morris 32 has the traveler/mainsheet aft but I don't want a wheel. This is a problem with many boats I've seen - unless the boom is long enough for the traveler to be behind the rudder post, the tiller is in the way. On the Express 34 (and 37) the traveler crosses the companionway, but then no dodger, among other issues.

I'm surrounded by Express 34's at RYC and they just don't ring my chimes. We visited the Morris factory a few years ago - these boats are gorgeous and incredibly well-made.

Alan, that Aloha 32 has nice lines and is a relative bargain! Wheel though (which is my problem with the J/32, which would otherwise be pretty close).

Thanks for the input.

 

[AlanH]

The wheel version of the Morris 32 has the traveler/mainsheet aft but I don't want a wheel. This is a problem with many boats I've seen - unless the boom is long enough for the traveler to be behind the rudder post, the tiller is in the way. On the Express 34 (and 37) the traveler crosses the companionway, but then no dodger, among other issues.

I'm surrounded by Express 34's at RYC and they just don't ring my chimes. We visited the Morris factory a few years ago - these boats are gorgeous and incredibly well-made.

Alan, that Aloha 32 has nice lines and is a relative bargain! Wheel though (which is my problem with the J/32, which would otherwise be pretty close).

Thanks for the input.

We think alike.... I'd rather have a tiller than a wheel, any day. On a 32 foot boat, it seems obvious that there should be tiller-steered versions, but no. Problem is, unless you go back to the late 60's-early 70's or you buy something like a Westsail 32 or an Aries 32 with a really long keel and attached rudder, it's nigh upon impossible to find a tiller-steered cruising boat, 30-34 feet.

 

[sleddog]

Though memories grow dim, many still recognize the name of yacht designer Carl Alberg (1901-1986.)

Alberg grew up sailing with his family in Gothenburg, Sweden and moved to the East Coast of the U.S. when he was 24. He became a rigger, then sparmaker, before apprenticing with famous yacht designer John Alden.

That Alberg had design genius is not in doubt. In addition, his best designs were adapted to fiberglas during the early years of fiberglas construction. Over his prolific lifetime, Carl Alberg drew more than 56 designs that eventually became more than 10,000 boats.

Although it could be a stretch, Alberg's home waters of the islands of the West Coast of Sweden outside of Gothenburg have many kelp choked passages. In addition, Alberg's mentor, John Alden, knew a thing or two about full keel shapes.

Is it coincidence, or just chance, that most of Alberg's early designs had keel leading edges swept aft to 57 degrees? These succesful designs include the Sea Sprite 23, Alberg 30 and 35, Triton, Ensign, Ariel, Commander, and Electra.

We were watching storminess and drinking coffee the other morning at the Santa Cruz Harbor when Howard S. remembered something.

"Back in the early days of Wednesday Night Racing, Cal 20's were the hot small boat in Santa Cruz. They always seemed to get to the leeward mark well ahead of the Pearson Ensigns and Electras."

Howard continued with a gleam in his eye, "Then a funny thing would happen. The 5 Ariels, and Electra would pass the Cal-20's on the race back to the breakwater finish. This was because the Cal-20s, with the leading edges of their rudders and bulb keels only swept aft to 19 degrees, would hang up in the kelp off Soquel and Black's Points. To get around the obstacles, the Cal-20's had to sail 1/4 mile out to sea, into the current and chop. Invariably, the Pearson designs would sail the short cut through the kelp and get home first."

"Yup," chimed in Rich Gurling, who was there 50 years ago. "And we got a free bottom scrub to boot."


Ensign, (above), the largest class of full keel boats in North America, first launched 1962.

Below is the highly successful Bill Lapworth Cal 20 from 1961.

 

[ChrisK]

The wheel version of the Morris 32 has the traveler/mainsheet aft but I don't want a wheel. This is a problem with many boats I've seen - unless the boom is long enough for the traveler to be behind the rudder post, the tiller is in the way. On the Express 34 (and 37) the traveler crosses the companionway, but then no dodger, among other issues.

I'm surrounded by Express 34's at RYC and they just don't ring my chimes. We visited the Morris factory a few years ago - these boats are gorgeous and incredibly well-made.

Alan, that Aloha 32 has nice lines and is a relative bargain! Wheel though (which is my problem with the J/32, which would otherwise be pretty close).

Thanks for the input.

There is a Morris on E Dock in Brickyard Cove. I think Anna is the name. I can't imagine a prettier boat. Lots of impeccably maintained varnish. How this boat is kept up so well without covers is a mystery to me.

Chris

 

[BobJ]

Years ago we had a boat that was bright-finished oak from the bootstripe up (with teak decks). Comparatively, there's not that much brightwork on the Morris 32. Which model is ANNA?

 

[hodgmo]

"Is it coincidence, or just chance, that most of Alberg's early designs had keel leading edges swept aft to 57 degrees?"

57 degrees happens to be almost exactly 1 radian (57.3 degrees is closer). Radians are a natural unit for measuring angles and make calculating arcs and other circular and cyclical stuff easier, for example, a circle of diameter one has a circumference of 2*pi. I wonder if this was a factor in early (pre-computer) boat designs. (I also like the number 57 because it is 3 times 19, which is odd

FWIW, the angle of the leading edge of the islander 36 keel is about 48 to 53 degrees (from vertical, depending on exactly how its measured) and in my experience it has never caught kelp (or crab pot lines, etc). http://islander36.org/images/zmodel1.jpg

It’s also interesting that the Alberg and islander 36’s have bow overhang angles that are pretty close to the same as their keel angles (the bow overhangs are pretty close to being parallel with the leading edge of the keels).

 

[Dazzler]

Which model is ANNA?

M36 "Daysailer" And the secret to how all that varnish is maintained without a cover is multiple $$.

 

[BobJ]

Mind you, I wouldn't turn it down if someone gave me one - but the M36 is a good example of what Bob Perry says about many "spirit of tradition" designs: The underwater profile is tortured to fit the graceful lines above the waterline.

For absolutely no prize whatsoever: The iconic and hugely-successful Islander 36 was one of the very few production boats designed by Alan Gurney. But what famous ocean racer did he design, what image is painted on her transom and in her current condition, what is unique about her coffee grinders?

 

[sleddog]

Roilsome here today in Capitola. Seagulls were loving life, soaring motionless into 30 knot headwind.



Soquel Creek was a foot below flood stage. The ducks and coots preferred staying ashore as opposed to being flushed by 10 knots of muddy water.



On the beach, the colorful Capitola Venetian was sandbagged and boarded up.



The Capitola Boat Club had to haul their fleet



Water in Soquel Creek rushing downhill to the ocean.

 

[sleddog]

For absolutely no prize whatsoever: The iconic and hugely-successful Islander 36 was one of the very few production boats designed by Alan Gurney. But what famous ocean racer did he design, what image is painted on her transom and in her current condition, what is unique about her coffee grinders?

WINDWARD PASSAGE, designed by Alan Gurney, was the largest spruce sailboat ever built. Her legendary name, often abbreviated just "PASSAGE," is, to this day, spoken in reverence. The gold leaf whale on her transom gives recognition to her one time home port of Lahaina, Maui. Her coffee grinders are on the aft deck, and have rosewood handles.



For extra credit, why was WINDWARD PASSAGE's original keel a Scheel keel?