Saving Old Seagulls

That's very light!!!!!!!!

Nice H-A, I like the size, shape and weight. It looks ideal for carrying on a roofrack.
Can you post some pics and maybe even give us some of the measurements?
How would it fair in a sheltered sea? I don't know if you know Largs, the water around the area is quite sheltered by islands, that's where I'm thinking of. I've been following tuition from Manifold and I believe a v shape hull is suited for rough water where a flatter hull is ideal for standing and being in quiet waters. Your hull looks more flat, am I right?

Cheers
Gerard

When it has been tested I will know alot more. ( it gets dark so early now )

I did give the bow a bit of V to stop it slamming.

If you wanted to use it a lot in the sea then I would increase the freeboard and carry the v further aft.

Don't forget that this boat has been designed for a small upper estuary race, not for general sea use.

I expect to use it on my local river and the Thames, it should also paddle easily.

How heavy would a 24' version be ?

H-A

Had a free hour this morning between jobs, so chucked it in the local river.
Goes well, could have done with a couple more inches of freeboard. Seat position is good. It is a little tippy but no worse than a canoe. All in all I am very pleased.

Just need to finish the new engine

The river has just had all the vegetation on the banks cut, and most of it is now in the water.
Combined with the leaves it made it difficult to keep the engine running well.

H-A

It would be a lot more stable if you sat on the floor.

Looks good, is it not sitting a bit high at the bow? Looks like it would take off like a rocket. I realise with some weight it will plain out a bit, I'm not knocking it, just asking questions as I'm only learning about designs.

Another question, would adding skegs stabalise it more?

Look at the picture again outboard, what is missing out of that picture?

Boats are tippy when the center of gravity is too high.

outboard wrote:Looks good, is it not sitting a bit high at the bow? Looks like it would take off like a rocket. .

The boat weighs 27.4 kg, but the motor weight 19kg. So unloaded you might expect the bow to be up a little.

The fact that it is only three foot wide and very light means that it will perform like a canoe with regard to stability.

Or to be more accurate like a canoe with a 102 on the back.

If I had made it 6' wide then it would have been far more stable but heavier and with a greater wetted area.

I was trying to make the narrowest boat that was usable without the need for sponsons, which is what I believe I have done.

Time will tell, I will try and post some pictures of it loaded and with the new engine on. I will stick it in the Thames as there should be less leaves.

I did say to Charles L about having a last run at Cholsey before Christmas weather permitting

H-A

H-A, no intent to say anything negative, I did say I realised it was minus a body onboard. It was more of a question than being smart.

Like yourself I like the slim style but I'm more for stability, so I've learned something from you again. Looks really nice though.
I think where I'm intending going i.e. in the sea, more stability would be wiser, hence a wider boat.

Yes that is what I was aiming at, just enough stability at rest.

As Charles has said in the past it still needs to be stable and buoyant enough if you have a problem with the engine.

This one will be OK for Lerryn but having to work on the engine and deal with waves could prove entertaining.


H-A

Problem with the engine.

The only times I have had to lean over the stern when using a seagull was to remove fishing line wrapped round the prop shaft. It can be quite exciting removing the split pin, washer and prop then getting them back on before you drift onto the rocks.

I would never expect to need to mend a mechanical problem not in a race the length of the Lerryn race.

All joking aside I did need to remove weed from the prop when I tested the boat, with no weight in the bow I was left with about 1" freeboard. That can make it very final with no inbuilt buoyancy.

I do expect that with a small child in the bow I will have over 2 inches of freeboard if I need to clear the prop, so with no large waves or passing wake there should be no problems.

I shall start collecting milk bottles.

H-A

Manifold, if you've never had a Seagull stop on you, you've either been extremely lucky or you've not had very much Seagull time.

That illustrates the difference between racing & playing, if they stop when your racing it could be because they've thrown their toys out of the pram!

5 other brands at the moment.

H-A

8 or 9 & I'm not going out to check, too cold & wet, that makes us real sick puppies, HA.