[Public-List] A new Alberg DIY project on Youtube

Michael Connolly crufone at comcast.net
Mon Dec 18 19:14:38 PST 2023 

In reference to the lengthened stern section. I don't know exactly what he was trying to accomplish.  There was a large cut out for I believe his proposed self steering gear. It didn't appear that he was going to alter the structure of the hull, just add this faring around the steering gear. I don't know if there would be any windage issues, but worry about a following sea crashing down on all that added structure.
Michael #133
> On 12/18/2023 5:15 PM EST Gordon Laco via Public-List <public-list at lists.alberg30.org> wrote:
> 
>  
> Hello Hugh, 
> 
> I agree with what you wrote below…  in my own view, as a professional outfitter and rigger of sailing ships and yachts, this particular project appears to be worrisome.  
> 
> Strangely enough, there is a precedent for this sort of thing… back in the 1950’s Adlard Coles, the famous English yachtsman and publisher, wanted to enter his yacht COHOE in a race whose regulations required a particular minimum length over all, and COHOE was a few feet shy of that.   She was a very well-found vessel and he had complete confidence in her, but the race committee were steadfast on holding to their rule.
> 
> So Coles went to a professional yard and had an aluminium false bow built on COHOE, lengthening her just enough to meet the rule.   He was very careful NOT to involve any of the yacht’s rigging with the extension, and literally immediately after the race he removed it, and sailed COHOE home across the Atlantic.
> 
> There’s a lot going on in a yacht with regard to stresses and balance.  Dramatic modifications can and do create unintended perils which may or may not be worth the added risk a particular modification invites.  
> 
> So what is risky?  What is brilliant and courageous?   I’ll put it this way…
> 
> Imagine you heard of a fellow who was new to driving.  He didn’t have a driver’s licence and had never owned a car.  He buys an old car, and sets off on a trip across the country from Halifax to Vancouver.   He gets as far as Calgary, but is killed at a traffic light because his car had bad brakes, bald tires, and he didn’t know red meant stop.   Would you say he’s courageous for going on the trip and getting that far?  Or would you say he too crazy risks and was luck to get that far?    People who understand cars and driving might assume the later… people who don’t might assume the former.    Seamanship and outfitting vessels is pretty much like preparing a car for a long trip.  There are basics anyone who understands cars just wouldn’t do… but someone who didn’t understand cars, just may do.
> 
> And all this reminds me of a fellow who came out of the audience about ten or so years ago after a talk I’d given at a big marine trade show.  He had a dream of sailing back to Norway on the one hundredth anniversary of his family emigrating to Canada.  He’d bought a 36’ wooden boat and was outfitting for the expedition.   We began corresponding by email and phone… I quickly realized he was getting into trouble.  He’d never owned a boat before and was making what any sailor would consider ill-advised alterations to the vessel.  The vessel was an old wooden motor sailer, basically a cabin cruiser with a short rig on it, and it was thoroughly rotten.   His repairs were patches and paint… his preparations, which he thought were clever and novel, were impractical.   I was gentle with him but after trying to tell him in an email that his boat was unsuitable to take to sea, he stopped responding.   I met him in January at the show… our last email exchange was in April.    In September I heard a news story on the radio that he was dead.  He’d got as far as off the coast of Iceland (sailing from Toronto) and his boat had literally fallen apart and sunk.  He encountered no bad weather, the boat was rotten and just fell apart.   
> 
> He had a life raft, but he couldn’t deploy it because the canister still had the steel shipping straps on it he should have removed.   He had a cold water immersion suit… one… but he had a nephew with him and he courageously gave it to his nephew, who then had the experience of watching his uncle die of hypothermia beside him in the water. 
> 
> They had a sat phone on board, but they wasted three days while the boat was sinking trying to talk to someone in Iceland when really all they had to do was call any national coast guard, such as our own in Canada, or call home and ask them to call 911, and the international rescue service would have kicked in and saved them both.
> 
> So he was dead… and I wondered if I might have saved him if I hadn’t worried about being polite when I saw with my professional mariner’s eyes what he was heading for.   I am at least relieved of that guilt, because I now know that I am not the only person who tried to help him and he refused everyone’s advice if it meant changing something he’d set his mind on.  Such as REALLY repairing the rotten stem and keel of the boat instead of just painting it.   
> 
> So just before COVID, a fellow in Montreal called me up and wanted to talk about paint.  He was a retired racing car engineer and reckoned with his deep knowledge of engineering and experience with high performance vehicles, he could certainly do something as simple as design a high speed cruising power boat to go to sea in.   He sent me pictures…  The vessel was rectangular in cross section with a welded steel frame… skinned with 1” thick birch plywood.  It was 60’ long, 8 feet wide and would draw about 1’ at rest.  The freeboard was something like 5’ and there was a large steel framed superstructure on it.    I didn’t worry about hurting his feelings… I told him that his boat looked to me like it might be the central hull of a trimaran, but without outriggers, it would never stay upright.   I then introduced him to Steve Killing, the brilliant naval architect who lives near me here who is one of the people who ‘invented’ the lifting foils America’s Cup catamarans use.   
> 
> The amateur builder got into conversation with Steve and the upshot of that is he abandoned the project as unsalvageable.   He was thinking he was going to take that boat to sea, and imagining ocean crossings made at 30 knots.   We think we saved his life, and perhaps that of whoever went with him.    And there have been others over the years.  Any of you remember a three masted vessel named ‘BLIND FAITH’ in Maine?  
> 
> So the unorthodox modifications of the Alberg 30 that was referred to at the beginning of this string bring all that back to mind.   I’ve seen the sketches the owner put online, I’ve seen the construction method in the video… I am frowning.  I hope this boat is never destined to go to sea and the modifications are just a fun exercise and the worst that will happen is the loss of an Alberg 30 with regard to specifications.   If it is intended to go to sea, I hope someone close to the owner will step in.   I hope that person is listened to.
> 
> Sincerely, 
> 
> Gordon Laco
> www.gordonlaco.com
> 705-527-9612
> 
> 
> 
> > On Dec 18, 2023, at 3:40 PM, Hugh McCormack via Public-List <public-list at lists.alberg30.org> wrote:
> > 
> > As the person who posted the original message in this thread, please understand that whatever anyone wants to do with their boat is entirely up to them and is none of my business.  You are quite right that a "...mod might be your cup of tea or it might not...".  I have learned much from what has been posted here and I am happy to support what others do if I can with my limited knowledge and experience but I stand by my original comments with respect to this particular project.  I hope that he doesn't endanger himself or others with his planned modifications because, in my non-professional opinion and based on his explanation of the project, I believe he could be affecting the future stability and handling of the boat.  I am concerned that he is making plans and decisions without the appropriate knowledge and/or advice, hence my comments about being confused and slightly shaken.  I hope his video postings generate that helpful feedback which I believe he needs.
> > 
> > Regards,
> > 
> > Hugh
> > 
> > ________________________________
> > From: Public-List <public-list-bounces at lists.alberg30.org> on behalf of Meredith Glacken via Public-List <public-list at lists.alberg30.org>
> > Sent: December 18, 2023 00:52
> > To: Alberg 30 Public List -- open to all <public-list at lists.alberg30.org>
> > Cc: Meredith Glacken <meredith.glacken at gmail.com>
> > Subject: Re: [Public-List] A new Alberg DIY project on Youtube
> > 
> > One of the great things about the Alberg 30 is how modifiable it is.  I
> > don't think I've been aboard a single one that looks the same, and that's
> > very cool.  A mod might be your cup of tea or it might not, but what makes
> > this email list awesome is all the helpful tips to those working on
> > projects from folks who have been sailing these boats for decades (or mere
> > days!)
> > 
> > We have some wonderful association members (including the owner of the
> > youtube channel linked in this thread) and others who are doing some
> > creative things to their Albergs and courageously documenting their
> > successes, failures, and experiments very publicly, and that's lucky for
> > us!  Let's remember to keep the content on this email list positive and
> > support our fellow Alberg 30 sailors who are trying something new.
> > 
> > Linking the Alberg 30 YouTube channels that I've had some fun watching.
> > Anyone know of others worth tuning into?
> > The Rigging Doctor: https://www.youtube.com/@RiggingDoctor
> > Sailing Tritea: https://www.youtube.com/@SailorJames
> > Huub Vlogs: https://www.youtube.com/@HuubVlogs
> > Sailing Aqua Marie: https://www.youtube.com/@sailingaquamarie1708
> > 
> > -Meredith Glacken, Fleet Captain, Chesapeake Bay Alberg 30 One Design
> > Association
> > 
> > On Sun, Dec 17, 2023 at 10:00 PM Gordon Laco via Public-List <
> > public-list at lists.alberg30.org> wrote:
> > 
> >> Yup…
> >> 
> >> 
> >> Gordon Laco
> >> www.gordonlaco.com<http://www.gordonlaco.com>
> >> 705-527-9612
> >> 
> >> 
> >> 
> >>> On Dec 17, 2023, at 9:52 PM, Glenn Brooks via Public-List <
> >> public-list at lists.alberg30.org> wrote:
> >>> 
> >>> Truly astonished. All pain. No possible gain.
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>> Sent from my iPad
> >>> 
> >>>> On Dec 17, 2023, at 5:53 PM, Michael Connolly via Public-List <
> >> public-list at lists.alberg30.org> wrote:
> >>>> 
> >>>> Perhaps he likes long overhangs.  He is attempting to protect his self
> >> steering gear from a rearend collision.
> >>>>> On 12/17/2023 12:47 PM EST Hugh McCormack via Public-List <
> >> public-list at lists.alberg30.org> wrote:
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> Youtube kindly offered me this video today: Can You Make Your Boat
> >> Bigger? | Windpuff's Rebuild [S1 Ep3] - YouTube<
> >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-KKqXfwyQI> since I have searched, in
> >> the past, for videos about our classic vessel.  I then looked at the 2
> >> previous videos to try and understand what his intentions are.  I'm left
> >> rather confused and slightly shaken.
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> Regards all,
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> Hugh
> >>>>> _______________________________________________
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