Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/04/15
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I had a British Seagull for my Cal 20 in Honolulu. Off Oahu, the wind would die in late afternoon, usually when the beer was done. Being a product of British engineering, it could run on strong black coffee if it wanted to run at all. The Seagull: great for nautical charm, a better boat anchor than a motor if one needed it to actually run. Charlie On Apr 15, 2010, at 10:53 AM, Richard Taylor wrote: > Larry - Amazing! You actually own one of these things. The Nomad > was one of the small cruisers I was very interested in when I was > seriously thinking of buying a small boat. The other was the Stone > Horse that I've talked about here before. > > I have real weakness for efficient design and the Nomad, despite > being, shall we say, err... gorgeousness-challenged, was certainly > that. I loved the boat but nothing came of it, or of the Stone > Horse, for that matter. I ended up buying a Thistle that I raced > for a dozen years. > > Now, just tell me that you power it with a Seagull outboard and my > life will be complete. :-) > > Regards, > > Dick > > > > On Apr 14, 2010, at 9:57 PM, Lawrence Zeitlin wrote: > >> The breadth of interest of Luggers continues to amaze me. Westerly >> twin keel >> sailboats are a comparative rarity in the USA but at least two >> Luggers have >> owned, or wanted to own one. Westerlys are not the Leicas of >> sailboats, more >> like the Mack trucks. Strongly built, almost indestructible, but >> slow and >> not overly responsive. >> >> >> As part of our personal navy we own a Westerly Nomad, an English >> twin keel >> auxiliary sailboat. We named it "Quark" since the Irishman we >> bought it from >> was named Finnegan. James Joyce fans will know the derivation of >> the name. >> It was extremely seaworthy and had full headroom, provided you were >> shorter >> than 5'10". It slept 4 and had an enclosed head and a small galley. >> The twin >> keels and skeg protecting the prop and rudder permitted it to sit >> upright on >> the bottom if the tide ran out. It could be towed on a flatbed >> trailer >> without any supports or bracing. We sailed it all along the >> Northeast US >> coast from Maryland to Maine, up the Hudson and the Erie Canal, and >> trailed >> it to Florida for a couple of months of boating in the Keys. >> >> >> We used the boat every summer and a few sabbatical winters from >> 1969 through >> 1996. When I retired from the university, I took my unused accrued >> sick >> leave pay and bought a larger offshore type motorsailer in Florida. >> We >> sailed up theIntracoastal Waterway and used until the end of last >> summer. >> Now that my kids have moved away and started families of their own, >> it was >> too big for two geriatric sailors to handle. And expensive too. In >> boating >> you pay by the foot. Besides it was overkill for sailing in the >> relatively >> placid waters of the Hudson Valley and Long Island Sound. We still >> have the >> older Quark although it is under wraps and parked on its trailer >> next to our >> garage. Right now I am refurbishing it for next season. It has had >> a long, >> well deserved rest. >> >> >> Here is a photo of Westerly Nomad "Quark" >> >> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Quark+in+water.jpg.html >> >> It is the boat just left of center in our local harbor. >> >> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Senesqua+harbor.jpg.html >> >> A main advantage of twin keel boats is that they trail easily without >> supports. >> >> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Trailing+Quark.jpg.html >> >> A page from the Westerly 1964 catalog. >> >> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/img002.jpg.html >> >> >> >> Twin keel yachts have been popular in Britain for more than fifty >> years. >> They have a number of practical advantages and a notable >> disadvantage. The >> twin keels and the rudder skeg provide a stable tripod-like support >> if the >> yacht takes the mud in areas where the mooring dries out at low >> tide. The >> yacht stays level and does not flop over on the side as would a >> single keel >> yacht. This stability when grounded permits the owner to >> intentionally beach >> the yacht to clean the bottom at low tide. The yacht does not >> require a >> cradle when stored for the winter and, if small enough, can be >> towed easily >> on a flat bed trailer. The relatively shallow draft makes launching >> easier. >> The disadvantage is, of course, poorer performance under >> sail.significantly >> hampered. For a given lateral plane, twin keels have greater wetted >> area >> than a single keel. The greater frictional resistance simply makes >> the twin >> keel designs slightly slower on all points of sailing. >> >> Larry Z >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >