My friend Trevor sent me some photos recently of a spirited sailing dory he built. Unfortunately for us (and him, too), Trevor suffered a hard drive melt down this year, so pictures of the build are lost. Trevor is the person responsible for the Cape Ann dory build he shared with us a few months ago. He's an ambitious builder and his work is an inspiration!
This is from his note:
"I'm sending some pictures of the Cherry 16 yacht I built a couple of years ago, a 16 foot trailer-sailer designed by Frank Pelin of New Zealand."
"It is a stitch and glue design which goes together very easily and a very pretty boat, so I named her after my grand daughter, Melissa II."
"I cannot take credit for the professional paint job, it's epoxy paint sprayed on by my son in-law who runs a busy spray painting business. I did spend a lot of hours fairing the boat, under his supervision. I did not recess tape joins and paid the penalty of a lot more work in preparation."
"The all up weight of the boat is about 750 pounds and is basically a beamy Dory, it planes quite easily and is a lot of fun to sail. Unfortunately I am still using second hand dinghy sails and look forward to a new set sometime."
"The boat is still not finished inside, a work in progress..."
"The picture on the beach is in front of our club house (Trevor is Commodore of his local yacht club) situated in a narrow inlet at the Northern end of Western Port, Victoria, Oz. -- The maiden voyage."
"The other shots are taken during our annual feature race, the Warneet Around French Island Race (WAFIR). 'Where the hell is Warneet' I hear you ask? The Google Earth shots show."
"With the current rig the boat does not point up all that flash but is a rocket off and down wind. My skipper tells me to move my weight more to leeward to get the boat to heel more, this does help with going to windward. Typically dory, I think."
"On the south side of the Island the wind against tide, channeling through a fairly narrow gap, churns up a lively washing machine effect with three foot waves coming from several directions at once. The Cherry handled it quite well but it is exciting in a small boat. It does lack a bit comfort for an eight hour race, though."
"Being a small lightweight boat, crew position is critical. Downwind we both sit way forward and this gives us almost a knot more speed."
Thank you very much, Trevor for your insights on dory handling. This little yacht sure proves it's mettle!
It looks like quite a challenge to sail out the channel from Warneet, doesn't it?
Post Script:
An unidentified reader from OZ (I think)left a comment on the Cherry 16, but misplaced it with another post. I will copy it here, since it's a very interesting development in the boat for better windward performance:
"The Cherry 16 can go to windward well if set up right The Tasker jib looks too full. A flatter jib, set at 15% is ideal, but the main has to be rigged to suit this trim. The problem is the original design was for a family cruising boat in NZ moderate/strong winds. The Australian racing version was an improvement for the relative light conditions in Victoria and was some 7% quicker."
And, if that reader is out there, please respond to me directly: mbogoger@gmail.com
I'd like to hear more!
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