Since it was determined last weekend at Lake Pepin that I have a weak spine, this weekend it was time to man up. First I removed the ragged skin to the closest bulkheads, sideboard or stringer. Then I cut out the what remained of the old spine. The original T-beam was constructed of 5/8” Sitka, 2-1/2” wide with triangles underneath. I made the new T-beam out of 1” x 3” White Oak with two verticals on the bottom, triangles underneath and horizontally at the bulkhead joints. For additional peace of mind, I added a layer of 45 degree carbon and a layer of biaxial carbon around the entire beam, plus one more layer of carbon on the top. And finally, carbon gussets at each of the corners were the beam and bulkheads meet. This construction should be dramatically stronger than the previous, which would have been fine, had I just followed Pat’s plans.
Rather than using a traditional top-mounted mast ball track, which would have spread the load out across 14” or so, I used a 6” countersunk style. This required the removal of a fair amount of material directly under the mast ball, when the shorter length was already concentrating the load in a smaller area. The mistake I made was not accounting for these impacts. But the countersunk style looked cooler. (That’s what we call “solid” marketing thinking!)
The spine didn’t actually collapse, rather, the track twisted, blowing out the side of the original beam. It was breezy that day on Lake Pepin, so in addition to carrying a bunch of lead, the stays were slacked off, which caused more side load on the mast ball, hence, the twist.
Hopefully the Northwest will be “On” for the coming weekend, so I can give Lorem Ipsum another shakedown, and try to catch Pat!
The Wisconsin Stern Steering Association regatta for 2023 has been tentatively called on for March 4 and 5. The site selected is Lake Kegonsa. Final confirmation will be made by 1 PM Thursday, March 2. Check back here after that time.
The NIYA Race Committee has called the 2023 Regatta tentatively on for March 3 – 5, 2023 at Lake Kegonsa, Madison Wisconsin.
The lake currently has 15 inches of ice, with a slushy surface from the recent snow that will melt quickly.
The rain event that starts tonight will revise the surface a good deal. The lake will be checked Wednesday morning to see if it is still viable for the Regatta. The final call will be made by noon or earlier on Wednesday.
SOLD! DN. Built circa 1965. Perfect beginner boat – has all the parts and it sails fine but not as fast as it could if someone tuned it up right. I think one SS shroud is a bit frayed. Mast & boom are wood. Hull weight: 69.2 lb, total everything: 182.2 lb.
While we wait for the Zamboni that will improve the ice, here is something from the files of iceboat historian Henry Bossett. Did you know that ice yachts not only hauled building materials and people but also conveyed livestock?
Hank Ward was the enterprising Hudson River ice yachtsman who ferried people and then sheep between Newburg and Fishkill, NY.
This 1879 woodcut depicts Ward’s iceboat ferry. The woodcut might be a pastoral view of reality because the restrained sheep were not willing passengers, and elegantly dressed “lady excursionists” in the close vicinity of livestock would have been a bad combination.
February 11, 1879, Evansville, Indiana Journal reported, “Ninety sheep were brought across the river, ten at a time. One or two trips were made so quickly that the boat crossed over and returned to the Fishkill side before the next ten sheep could be caught and their legs tied.”
