Doug's expedition up the coast of Australia has really inspired me. Then I got some more information on the Everglades Challenge in the US, and these two things combined have motivated me to design (and hopefully build) a single person camp cruiser inspired by Sidecar, but incorporating many of the new build ideas that have been posted in this forum over the past year. The accomodation plan and detailed specs are in Files under "Gardner's Layouts/Camper/camper.pdf".

The idea is to make a bigger, more comfortable sidecar that is easier to build and yet still small enough to compete in the Everglades Challenge. In addition to making it slightly larger (9m instead of 7.5m), I also plan to put in a pedal drive system to eliminate the need for an outboard to just make a narrow cut or find an anchorage when there is no wind.

The ease of build is based upon modular construction. The bridgedeck can be build seperately from each hull and then glued on top. By this I mean make the ww hull by bending up the infused panel, putting the deck on top with Dereks deck edge radius, so that the ww hull is flat on top and only 2.5' tall. Then build the bridgedeck, including the bunk and the cabin top and then just glue it on top of the ww hull. This would be slighly heavier because of duplicating the 20 sq ft of bunk space, but it should make building much easier.

I am still working on the mast detail and rudder detail drawings and I will post them as soon as I can.

I have come up with a number of questions for the more knowledgeable here in the forum:

1) For a boat this size, is 1 layer of 10 oz fiberglass enough? I was going to use 18 oz on the below waterline sections. I am guesstimating 0.5 lbs/sq ft based on 10oz cloth, for a total boat weight of 600ish pounds empty (WAG) plus maybe 500 lbs of provisions and crew (probably less, but I am trying to leave a big margin for error).

2) The boat is supposed to collapse to 10' while still being able to sail, and 7.5' for the trailer, or a container. I have this drawn with telescoping beams, with a 10' center section. This gives me 1.5' of overlap on the lw side and 2' on the ww side. Is that enough?

3) I have not done the mast detail drawing yet, but I am thinking of an easyrig, with the boom 1' above the lw hull. The main mast would be removeable, by using the boom and lower section as a socket and the upper mast would fit down inside. I was thinking of 3' of overlap on the mast (from the top of the lw hull to the top of the boom). Can I put a 39' mast (limit of a container) with just 3' of bury?

4) What sort of mast diameter would I need for a mast like this? I am figuring a 39' luff, 7' foot and an 80% roach, for a main of 218 sq ft, and a jib with a 4' foot, for 78 sq ft.

Thanks for all the help and feedback!

- Gardner Pomper

York, PA

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