The International Canoe

Morrison 2 progress.

Out of mould and cleaned up. Changed the profile of the gunwales to sweep downwards at the rear hitting minimum height at BMS and also minimalising rear deck buoyancy in an attempt to optimise planning. Currently making internal frames and and should be fitting them this week.

More pictures at http://www.intcanoe.org.uk/gallery/thum ... p?album=48

Very nice Steve, I see that you had it on the scales, whats the weight like? Not sure Dragonfly was weighed at this stage. Looking really fast, is that a spray chine at the front? been looking at the NS14 and R-design shapes , I think they have these up forward
Alistair

Alistair,

Yes the spray/chine rails are the significant new feature on the M2 design influenced by the 49er and also RS100. The idea being to sail it very much bows up and not slicing through the water hence reduced buoyancy at the back as well. The chines do need to be sharpened up a bit with filler to give the final shape. Weight of the shell including the internal bracing but no frames yet is 10.5kg. I think it could be 0.5kg-1kg lighter than this if taken from a female mould requiring less fairing.

That looks great Steve! Sweet lines. Looks to have less rocker than Scarlett O'Hara? It's hard to tell from pictures.

I will be interested to hear how well the spray deflecting chine works. I had hoped that the pronounced and very sharp chine on my boat would help detach spray from the topsides but that is not the case. It seems like yours is the next logical step. (Ha, 'step', get it?)

Do I understand you correctly that you have reduced the volume aft above the waterline to help planing? Can you describe how that would work?

It's a good thing your rudder isn't at the stern or you would need to be superhuman quick to dance back there to put it in at launch before sinking. At least that's what I found with my 90kgs and a thin stern.

It is really good to see new things being tried. Very inspiring. Wait till you see what I have in store for you guys at Travemunde. Hope it's legal.

Chris,

Glad you like it - coming from you I take that as quite a complement although of course Mr Morrison is the guru on this. I'm glad to hear you are "in step" with the concept

Underwater shape up to the chines should be pretty much the same as Scarlet although it is possible with my mould construction it has varied slightly from the profile. The frames were designed to take 6mm ply but I realised soon after that bending 6mm around the complex curves was never going to work so I used 3mm instead. Result is that it is about 3mm smaller all around resulting in a slightly smaller hull. It measures at the BMS but only just!

I discussed with Phil M the spray rails idea at some length and also looked at photos of Scarlet cutting through the waves and it seems this idea may help to reduce the amount of water thrown vertically in the air which must take energy and increase drag. May also promote lifting of the bows. Also taking note of Bethwaites Performance Sailing book about the sharp chines was an influence reinforced by Bill Beavers tank test article. Whether or not the lifting of the hull rather than slicing through the water as is typical of the canoe is valid will be an interesting test.

The buoyancy thing may be total cobblers but I wondered if when shifting weight back it would sink the transom and help lift the bows higher for planning?

Interested to see this new concept of yours - any piccies?

M2 update;

Frames now all fitted with d/b and rudder boxes. Rear deck about to be fitted and trying to work out how to do foredeck. Weight 13.2kg hopefully on target for around 20kg decked.

Image at http://www.intcanoe.org.uk/gallery/displayimage.php?album=48&pos=0

Dragonfly is nearly finished, 'only' the fairing to do.

http://www.mediafire.com/?t538zjvhj2hdd

Morrison 2 progress

All decks now fully carboned up. Just need to finish the mast step area and sort out the carriage tracks and various fitting locations. Will also fit a small side deck afair to allow no slip placement of feet on the gunwales and also somewhere to hide the bits of string. Weight is around 22kg.

Bit of a problem with the back - slipped disk diagnosed and having difficulty standing currently so pretty much everything on hold. Did manage to finish foredeck on Saturday which it retrospect was a bad idea. Sadly worlds 2011 will not have Sapphire competing in it but with luck can at least finish her for the last few events of the season.

Some new images at http://www.intcanoe.org.uk/gallery/disp ... m=48&pos=0

Sapphire - Morisson 2 progress,

I have had a pretty crap few months with major back issues and it was a real bummer missing the nats and worlds but now pretty much recovered and am able to stand for a reasonable period of time which is somewhat essential to complete the boat. She is pretty much there now and ready for painting - hope to launch at Oxford if not before as long as Rob can paint her during September.

Latest pictures at http://www.intcanoe.org.uk/gallery/displayimage.php?album=48&pos=1

That's looking really rather sweet Mr.C

Look forward to seeing it at Oxford.

BOb

M2 Update.

Bit late in the season but now fully rigged and ready to go. Should launch this weekend.

http://www.intcanoe.org.uk/gallery/disp ... m=48&pos=1

M2 Sapphire launched - couple of week ago. a few people have asked how I got on so here is my report;

Sailing today. Blimey - it's quite different to a nethercott - so light and acceleration is unbelievable! Wind was more than I was hoping for gusting 20mph which when she picked up the wind just took off.

Gunwales are just great, offers great confidence with the ultra grippy non slip I bought. The flatter deck compared to Scarlet offers more confidence when tacking and also when wind drops you have to be bloody quick getting in and you can hook your heels behind the gunwale and pull yourself in.

Chine rails really seem to work keeping spray down and do seem to lift the boat. Planes very high in the water which is what I wanted. I did have one situation where I hit a wave and the bow lifted high and she took off on the plane with the water right back to the mast - never seen that with a Nethercott.

Transom sinks but no big deal as not a problem when in normal sailing position or tacking.

My rig needs sorting. Not enough tension too much bend and spreaders wrong. The smaller spreader base i can see could be an issue trying to control mast bend - I need a lot more tension as the mast just had no support sideways and I didn't want to push it. Need to experiment but will move the spreaders forward about an inch tomorrow to get mast slightly inverted before putting up main. Feels very nicely balanced mind and tacks really easily. Much easier than
my AC.

All tie ons work well. Floor flexes a bit so I think a central spline is needed to spread load. Boat seemed solid when hiking from end of seat and no sign of nasty cracks or flexing. Need to be careful with hull skin as it does flex when pressing, say your knee against it.

You need to watch the nose. Managed a good nose dive with seat about half way back. I think you need to hike hard into a gust to get nose up and on sea will be interesting.

Recovery from capsize is easy but it doesn't half take off when she comes up! It did leave me behind on one occasion and i just couldn't keep hold of her, she shot off when the sails filled like a wild thing.

Feels very lively- scary at first but then one hell of a buzz. Broad reaching is really where it goes ballistic.

On the Sunday the wind dropped. I did find downwind performance a little dull untill she picked up a gust and then shot off on the plane. I can see that apparent wind sailing downwind is the way to make these boats perform but under 10 knots this probably won't happen. Robin was out in his AC and downwind when she was flying it seemed similar in speed to the AC with the kite up until the wind dropped. Going upwind there is probably little difference in flat out speed but the noticeable difference is acceleration especially if you bear away slightly to pick up speed. Also felt much more responsive to small changes in pressure and kept moving in the lulls.

Weather a bit crap now so not sure if much will be done before Christmas but if it is favourable should be trying out the new Hyde square top main in the next few weesk.

Oh by the way, weight will be about 53kg with a new seat being made by Rob.

Well done Steve.

I'm interested in your chines. I tried that once (not on an IC) and couldn't see much effect. I had hoped that the reversed chines would detach the spray from the topsides. Have you had time to notice if this is happening on your new boat?

You should be well tuned up by the '14 Worlds. Are you going? We should all follow your, maybe unintended, example and get those new builds under way soon. None of that last minute stuff...

Hi Steve
Great to hear boat in the water, and yes the new boats really accelerate! intrested in your last note there about a hyde square top main, any more info? I think myself and colin are finding main sail full ness and how easly it goes across is critical in tacking with the new boats.