It was pretty fun. I kinda want to make another boat, but perhaps a small river pram with oarlocks and a balanced lug rig. We shall see if I can get like 4 months of workshop space some winter.
looks good! I especially like the bike trailer for it want to see more of that! I reckon it might work better to have the sheet tied at the back, and the free end come from the front back to your hand. it will be the same mechanical advantage but the ergonomics of pulling towards your body will be a lot easier
You might be right. I had actually moved the sheet around to a couple spots, and I wasn't 100% satisfied with where it ended up. I kept bashing my knuckles on the gunwhale lol. I am planning to build another bike trailerable sailboat at some point and I'll try and document the trailer and design considerations a bit more.
@@dominictarrsailing yep, when I was building the trailer for my sabot I was searching for anyone else that has done a bike trailerable sailboat and he was like the only one who had come up. I love the look of his skin on frame boat. The outrigger design has the advantage of only being 16" wide so it was easy to maneuver on the bike despite the length. I used 1/8" ply instead of the 1/4" the plans called for and then just put a couple sheets of glass on the bottom so it ended up being pretty light. Also having no centerboard means she was easy to launch from the beach. That said, you kinda have to beach launch because it takes at least 30 mins to lash up and rig and it can't be rigged on the trailer. Best part of the design tho is all of the attention she got and being really fun to sail. Not gonna win any races upwind but quite fun to slice through the waves on a beam reach. Here's hoping I can get some workshop access again soon.
@@HITABikes nice! that's gonna be light! though I would bet the hull would flex a lot being mostly a C shape. Actually in my opinion the sides on the Melanesia are a bit low I think it would be a lot more seaworthy (and structurally strong) with a deck / self draining cockpit. I've done a few outrigger canoes with trolleys, but usually pretty rickerty improvised trolleys, and I've always just walked them, is some cases... quite long distances! (5km) Easier to be extra carefully than to break something and have to fix it. I saw a (car) trailer that Gary Dierking built, that had the outrigger assembled but tipped sideways so when he got to the beach just had to put the sail on. I'd want to be confidant that it isn't gonna tip over before towing it on a bike though.
Having to tie off the outriggers with rope every time you rig would be pretty inconvenient. I am curious about other solutions that would be faster to setup.
I thought about designing some kind of quicker attachment during the build. There are a handful of ideas of ways to do it but the lashing has the advantage of being both strong and flexible. Ultimately I went with lashing just because it was in the plans and I wanted to get finished and get on the water. The full rigging process from the moment I stopped my bike to the moment I was on the water took about 30 mins once I had become fairly practiced. Taking the boat apart took the same amount of time but of course it felt longer. I am planning on building another one in the next couple of years and I'd probably go with lashing again, but I think the decision is up to temperament. I would be very interested to hear about any other fastening systems people have come up with for the ama.
This is literally the coolest thing you've ever done 😁
It was pretty fun. I kinda want to make another boat, but perhaps a small river pram with oarlocks and a balanced lug rig. We shall see if I can get like 4 months of workshop space some winter.
looks good! I especially like the bike trailer for it want to see more of that!
I reckon it might work better to have the sheet tied at the back, and the free end come from the front back to your hand. it will be the same mechanical advantage but the ergonomics of pulling towards your body will be a lot easier
You might be right. I had actually moved the sheet around to a couple spots, and I wasn't 100% satisfied with where it ended up. I kept bashing my knuckles on the gunwhale lol. I am planning to build another bike trailerable sailboat at some point and I'll try and document the trailer and design considerations a bit more.
@@HITABikes have you seen fossilfool? He has a good one. Although i think the outrigger canoe format has special potential here
@@dominictarrsailing yep, when I was building the trailer for my sabot I was searching for anyone else that has done a bike trailerable sailboat and he was like the only one who had come up. I love the look of his skin on frame boat. The outrigger design has the advantage of only being 16" wide so it was easy to maneuver on the bike despite the length. I used 1/8" ply instead of the 1/4" the plans called for and then just put a couple sheets of glass on the bottom so it ended up being pretty light. Also having no centerboard means she was easy to launch from the beach. That said, you kinda have to beach launch because it takes at least 30 mins to lash up and rig and it can't be rigged on the trailer. Best part of the design tho is all of the attention she got and being really fun to sail. Not gonna win any races upwind but quite fun to slice through the waves on a beam reach. Here's hoping I can get some workshop access again soon.
@@HITABikes nice! that's gonna be light! though I would bet the hull would flex a lot being mostly a C shape. Actually in my opinion the sides on the Melanesia are a bit low I think it would be a lot more seaworthy (and structurally strong) with a deck / self draining cockpit. I've done a few outrigger canoes with trolleys, but usually pretty rickerty improvised trolleys, and I've always just walked them, is some cases... quite long distances! (5km) Easier to be extra carefully than to break something and have to fix it. I saw a (car) trailer that Gary Dierking built, that had the outrigger assembled but tipped sideways so when he got to the beach just had to put the sail on. I'd want to be confidant that it isn't gonna tip over before towing it on a bike though.
Having to tie off the outriggers with rope every time you rig would be pretty inconvenient. I am curious about other solutions that would be faster to setup.
I thought about designing some kind of quicker attachment during the build. There are a handful of ideas of ways to do it but the lashing has the advantage of being both strong and flexible. Ultimately I went with lashing just because it was in the plans and I wanted to get finished and get on the water. The full rigging process from the moment I stopped my bike to the moment I was on the water took about 30 mins once I had become fairly practiced. Taking the boat apart took the same amount of time but of course it felt longer. I am planning on building another one in the next couple of years and I'd probably go with lashing again, but I think the decision is up to temperament. I would be very interested to hear about any other fastening systems people have come up with for the ama.