--- In harryproa@yahoogrou
>
> To me the big advantage of the Wharram wing sail is the extreme simplicity of the concept, and the relative performance for the cost. A simple tubular wood (or Al) spar of reasonable weight with conventional rigging, and you get a reasonable performance rig. Not sure how that translates into a boat designed around the potential of a freestanding carbon fiber spar.
I can't see that a carbon mast without strings to hold it up would be any more difficult to make than a timber stick with strings.
I have thought a lot more about the Wharram wing sails in their simplicity of cut and their ability to adjust power and shape with different tensions on the gaff, downhaul and sheet and its ease of reefing but I have been playing around with my son's windsurfer and was most impressed with the way you can hold power on and the sail depowers in gusts. It would be nice to have that on a Harry but I wouldn't be pushing as hard on a cruiser so just the natural flex of the mast would probably be enough. It would be a bit of work getting the flex right to make the most of the combination.
>
> Thing about boats like the HP is it is really a labour of love, you are way out on the edge of a certain kind of development, and there really isn't going to be much in the way of testing one out to soften the jump into the deep end. Even if you could, it is doubtful there would be that great an economic case for a boat this unusual. The original examples were relatively small with the big bucks being in the spar, which is like a motor and there will always be some resale available.
I agree a labour of love, but what boat isn't, but don't see that far out on the edge. The stresses of multis is pretty well known for cruisers. True, the rudders are still being developed- mainly because we are wanting something better than standard styles on other boats- and a few ideas for reducing spray and drag are being thrown around, but the basics work well. I agree that the resale so far is not brilliant, but if I had had the money I would have bought Blind date for a lot more money that Col bought it for. It is a lot of boat for the materials. The economic case for building a boat like this is that you get a very good boat that does a lot of things that other boats can't do for less money than you can buy a reasonably seawothy boat second hand. I have no need to worry about resale value as I am prepared to write it off. I just have the cash to get it together and if I write it off, I will simply have to go back to paddling my outrigger. When I am too old and decrepit to sale, it will be the problem of my children or grandchildren (or even great-grandchildren
>
> Rob has made a long list of relatively in-expensive for type HPs. In contrast, the desire to make liveaboard large format roomarans is not without it's risk.
Some of the boats being built are quite large and Vis is plenty big enough. I don't think any one is really contemplating a roomaran but would simply like to be able to take extra guest short term. I do not even want a boat as big as a Vis, but a slightly stretched Harryat about 75% the weight of a Vis
It is also worth considering the strengths of the various types for different services. I like Oram cats, Rob pointed them out to me. He has a certain format, more recently his dream expanded to a world cruising type podcat. But his life remained tied more to the OZ coast, he built a motor cat, and is also resurecting narrow ballasted, in this case slipable narrow cats.
>
> Whatever you think you want, if practicality is to rule, it still needs to fit into your intended environment and use.
I am not sure where this is intended to go, but I do not see anyone pushing the boundaries too hard in practicalities, but exploring possibilities in a cooperative and constructive manner.
I have looked closely at telescoping beams and cannot see any problems with collapsing a Harry into a 4.2m wide mono berth and expanding to 6.7m for full sailing width and being able to sail gently at the narrower width. Much as I like Bob Oram's work, I still see too many advantages of a Harry
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe