The conversion of the canoe I built into an outrigger sailing canoe got me hooked on outriggers, so I had to design and build a better one. The Model B has a 16′ long by 16″ wide main hull that breaks apart into two 8′ pieces for easier storage. The construction method of the main hull is the same as for the kayak in the previous post.
The hull is once again symmetrical front to back so there are two identical bottom panels and four identical side panels.
The panels are temporarily taped together with duct tape then glued together with thickened epoxy covered by a strip of fiberglass tape.
Next the inside of the hull is coated with epoxy and the floor of the cockpit is reinforced with a layer of fiberglass.
The hull is flipped over and fiberglassed.
The deck is attached and fiberglassed, and the cockpit and hatches are cut out. The floats are made from foam encapsulated in fiberglass. I may have mentioned in earlier posts that I don’t like sanding. So I sent an AutoCAD file of the floats to a foam fabricator and for $40 they CNC wire cut the foam for both 6″ x 6″ x 12′ floats. I made a router fixture to cut the leeboard and rudder.
After an hour of cutting with my old underpowered router I decided to send an AutoCAD file of the foils to my foam guy. For $20 he CNC cut blanks for me.
The foam blanks are covered with four layers of fiberglass and peelply (no sanding).
I peel the peelply off the foils and trim the excess fiberglass from the trailing edges on the tablesaw and the foils are perfectly shaped. I am going to remove the foam from the center and pour epoxy with filler into the foils to add strength, but haven’t yet. The foils go into cassettes made from aluminum and nylon that clamp to the crossbeams. The depth of the foils can be adjusted by raising and lowering them in the cassettes, and the cassettes rotate on the crossbeams so they kick-up if they hit something.
Since I sail in the San Francisco Bay and there aren’t many beaches, the crossbeams fold on the starboard side to make it easier to access docks.
It takes about an hour to assemble the boat. The two halves of the hull are bolted together, The crossbeams are lashed to the main hull, and the floats are lashed to the crossbeams. The foils are attached, the sail is rigged, and the boat is ready to sail.
This boat is pretty fast when the wind picks up, and pretty wet – the leeboard kicks up a rooster tail. Tacking is better than in Model A, but I still have to paddle through sometimes. A better sail and moving the rudder to the stern should improve things. The biggest problem is the hull is narrow so there isn’t much room. I built a hiking seat but I still end up standing on the sheet or sitting on the tiller.
Model C will be longer.
