Bilge Keel and other considerations

Laser, 14 foot "catboat"

Sailboats have interesting math. Superficially they look simple, but they get a lot more complicated when they start leaning.

When a boat is "running" it doesn't lean much. It just goes. When it is "reaching", "hauled" or "close hauled" it leans a lot, which is also a great deal of fun. This is also when the hull is touching the least amount of water, and sometimes the centerboard or daggerboard or keel lifts out of the water, so the grip is somewhat lost and the boat gets squirrelly.

The Laser sailboat has a removable daggerboard. This keeps it in a line when under sail. The rudder steers against this fixed point that anchors it in the water, horizontally speaking. It has a simple sail, and no ballast (extra weight). Your body is the ballast, which also means the boat can accellerate like the business. And you can be slow and gentle or fast and frisky depending on expertise, which is also why this boat is Olympic grade and has medals associated in the Summer Olympics. It is not perfect, however. I think it is a bit heavy, at 130 pounds. Too heavy for me to lift up onto my car roof by myself, and I like to do things by myself. I value my solitude. I found a boat that does this, but its $9K. And you have to wear a wetsuit, which I want to avoid. The water temps here vary a lot. Dry sailing is valuable. Especially since I'd like to keep my insulin pump plugged in. It isn't fully waterproof, so flipping into the water would be a bad thing.

The full length keel in the Petersen Day Sailer is regrettably heavy, and the boat itself is likely meant for the sea, rather than lake use.

Note the long keel running the length of the boat bottom. This is thick and heavy. It also does the job of keeping the boat going in a line, like a centerboard or daggerboard. Now, imagine replacing this heavy bit with a couple inward leaning daggerboard trunks, which you drop down one after another so when the boat leans there's always a daggerboard in the water, even when leaning up. And then I started wondering if maybe I could reshape those boards to act as hydrofoil wings. Not too severe, just enough to counteract it flipping over. Also, I would really want to replace this rudder with a flip up so you can beach the boat. And I'm pretty sure that if I replace the heavy keel, that's around 1/5th the total weight. Also, I suspect that I can do this trick with a homebuilt stitch and glue wood boat, one coated in modern resin so it can't rot or sink, with a waterproof container airtight flotation chamber, as good boats do, and with oarlocks and space to store the oars. I was thinking that rubber sealed S-shaped seats would work well for that. Those look comfy, the kind you find on a Standard Moth. 

See the curve in the seat? That is comfy on the back of the knees. Now imagine about 10 inches of seat back which keeps out the water. And imagine setting up the boat so it physically won't lean beyond a certain amount. I am reasonably sure this is possible. Notice how pretty they are. All that curved plywood. This design is really light too. It's about 75 pounds. That is as light as a carbon fiber boat. This is most of what I want from a boat, btw. One light enough to get onto the roof. Not the guy wires (stays) to hold the mast steady. I was thinking that a mainstream carbon fiber mast fitted to this kind of setup would be an improvement. And since the Moth is an open design, rather than a One Design, you can do that and still race. This is the opposite of the Laser and Sunfish, which can't be changed or improved and still race. The other upside of a wooden boat like this is they retain value because they are pretty. I am still looking for a set of plans. 

So I have this plan of action. First wait for the reservoir to refill from El Nino rains this Winter. Then join the local club. Then sail their fleet boats (Sunfish). Then sail crew on other boats. Then I will probably buy a used Laser for a few hundred bucks, and most come with a trailer. I will have to decide whether to fix up a truck or hang a hitch off a passenger car. A Laser is only 130 pounds, so any car can tow one. Same with other kinds of boats that I'm pretty interested in. I don't need a pocket cruiser though those are kind of interesting too, in different ways. Having grown up in giant great white shark territory on the hypothermia in minutes ocean, I can't be very excited about sailing on the pacific coast personally. I think there's a future there for other people, and bigger ships, but I am most interested in small light-weight racing boats, like the laser, only lighter, and probably drier. There's time, plenty of time. First wait for the rains.