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Maiden Voyage!

Finished the final bits this morning and then, after six months, took her out for the maiden voyage! It was perfect! The boat sails wonderfully and I am so happy with how it did!

And it happened on Opening Day of Yachting Season too! Perfect sailing day!

My Star 45 RC Sailboat on its maiden voyage!

Star 45 RC Sailboat on her maiden voyage

It was a very gusty morning with some good winds and a few calms... got to try her out on just about every type of wind.

Now it's time to do some tweaking and to finish the construction manual. Can't wait to sail her again and I really hope that some others decide to build their own Star 45 in the Seattle area so we can get a fleet going. Contact me if you're building one in the Seattle area.

In the picture below you can see the cedar planked bottom. I think it looks great!

Star 45 RC Sailboat Cedar Plank Bottom

In these images  you can also get a good look at the Carr Sails that I'm using. Rod Carr, one of the original Star 45 sailors, makes beautiful sails. He suggests a way to use small, metal slugs that fit in the mast track as a way to attach the sails. Follow his instructions (be sure to cut the slugs in half) and hang the sails as he suggests. It is MUCH better than a bolt rope!

Star 45 RC Sailboat custom stand

Star 45 RC Sailboat Carr Sails 

Here is a close-up of the slug 'jackwire' system the Carr Sails recommends to use. It's a bit like a traditional 'hanked' on system on big boats. The jackwire runs inside the luff of the sail. This is not a good picture because it looks like a wire is coming out of the slug, but that is actually one of the stays in the background. The actual wire can barely be made out inside the luff. Every 5" I cut a small window opening. The idea is that you feed the wire through the luff and every 5" it hits one of the openings. You then thread the wire through one of the slugs and then back into the luff. Then run it to the next window and so on. When the whole sail has been threaded then you slide each of the slugs down the mast track. Finally the wire is swaged on each end... one end to the mast crane and the bottom end to a screw or such drilled into the mast just above the boom.


Close-up of the spreaders I made. I like them, but if I hadn't had the bolt-eye's sitting around I would next time make them out of thinner, and simpler, brass tubing that is pinched and drilled at the ends. Or I'd use cotter pins in the ends. Either way is fine.



Peace!



Comments

  1. EliasApril 6, 2015 at 7:46 PM

    Hi i have started to build a star 45 and have found your blog very useful, keep the great work up! I am a little unsure about how to attach my keel mounting tubes to the bulkheads. Also could I use12mm plywood for the keel or would that be to heavy? Thank you

    ReplyDelete
  2. SteveMay 3, 2015 at 1:26 PM

    Hi Elias,

    Thanks for your comments!

    You essentially just drill holes straight down through your boat so that the tubes can run all the way through, and then you epoxy them in so they don't leak. To help the epoxy stick you can rough up the places where the tubes are epoxied with heavy grit sand paper. Read through the blog some more as I think there are a couple entries about it.

    Good luck!

    Steve

    ReplyDelete

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