Help, I’m In Love: Arthur Ransome’s RACUNDRA

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Carl Cramer

By pure happenstance and almost by mistake, I recently purchased a copy of Arthur Ransome’s RACUNDRA’s First Cruise.   First published in 1923, this was Ransome’s account of the cruise with his wife Evgenia and friend (“the Ancient Mariner”) through the eastern Baltic aboard their custom boat, RACUNDRA.

RACUNDRA was about 30′ LOA, and was designed by Ransome’s friend, Otto Eggers, Reval (now Tallinn), Estonia.

The story is fabulous, and is reminiscent — to me — of Erskine Childers’ TheRiddle of the Sands.  Except that Ransome’s tale is non-fiction.

On, now, to RACUNDRA.  Here she is:

I love this boat!

She’s a little more than I want… but I can handle that.  Ransome wanted to be able to handle her himself.  Thus, her tiny sail area.

So, your challenge today should you choose to accept it:  Redesign her with a modern rig.  The winning entry will get a WoodenBoat hat and my gratitude, both paid for by me.  You don’t have to do anything more than her rig, please.  Please post your designs here, under “Comments.”

As it turned out, RACUNDRA’s First Cruise became a popular book, Ransome’s first such.  Of course, Ransome went on to achieve great renown with his Swallows and Amazons series.  I have just ordered a copy of his RACUNDRA’s Third Cruise,  and am trying to track down a source for her plans.

Here’s a link to the book:  http://www.amazon.com/Racundras-First-Cruise-Arthur-Ransome/dp/1898660964/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327417811&sr=1-1

and here’s more information about Arthur Ransome:

http://www.arthur-ransome.org/

And — wouldn’t you know it? — here’s a link of a reference in the Forum:

http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthread.php?111039-Recundra-sail-plan-lines-etc 

 

Thanks in advance for your comments.  Carl

Posted in My Wooden Boat of January 2012 | Tagged , , , , , | 15 Comments

Oppikat, “A Boat for the Little People”

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Carl Cramer

This one knocks my socks off… and I hope yours as well:  Oppikat, by Dudley Dix.

(Photos courtesy Frank Nagel)

I’m so excited by this boat that I’m posting early…

Dudley designed this for kids.  As he says on his website,

“She is a small and manageable boat for children to sail either one or two-up as a primer into cat sailing. She is also versatile enough to allow father to sail her either by himself or while teaching small children.

The size has been set for ease of handling both on and off the water. The 2,75m hull length, 1,7m beam and 4,65m mast length make it a car top boat, without having to dismantle hulls and beams. It will also fit neatly on top of the trampoline of a larger cat. From roofracks to launching will be a matter of minutes and a minimum of fuss.”

(Renderings courtesy Dudley Dix Yacht Design) — Oppikat vs. Opti

Her specs:

LOA:  9’0″ (2.75m)

LWL:  9’0″(2.75m)

Beam overall:  5’7″ (1.70m)

Draft:  8″ (.20m)

Weight (approx.):  88 lbs (40kg)

Mast length:  15’3″ (4.65m)

Mainsail:  48 sq ft (4.5sq mtr)

Jib:  15 sq ft (1.4sq mtr)

And the cost of plans?  Just US$ 55.00

A little more:  ”The overall image is thoroughly modern, in the style of the latest racing cats. The keels, moulded integrally with the hulls, will give windward ability and a pivot point for tacking, without the complication of daggerboards. Their draft of 200mm is shallow enough to allow easy beaching and sailing in shallow water. The rudders have simple fixed blades for simplicity. They do not project below the keels so they have protection in shallow water to reduce the number of concerns for novice sailors.

The rig uses a simple sleeve luff mainsail fitted over the tubular aluminium mast. The rigging is hooked onto the front of the mast at a cut-out in the sleeve and comprises only a forestay and single shrouds, attached to the chainplates with lashings rather than bottle screws. An optional jib with integral forestay can replace the standard forestay, for higher performance. The mainsail has a large roach and is fully battened. The large foot batten replaces a boom and is controlled by the mainsheet which runs on a wire bridle on the aft beam. Buoyancy material in the double skin top panel of the mainsail will assist with righting in the event of a capsize.”

We all need to build this boat with our kids.

Please read more about the Oppikat at the following two websites, and please comment below?  I think Dudley has a true winner.

P.S.  Dudley asked Frank (the builder), and this was his response:

Frank reports that he didn’t record the time spent building but estimates 200-300 hours. Material cost excluding sails was €800-900, so about US$1200-1400.

http://dixdesign.com/oppikat.htm

http://dudleydix.blogspot.com/2012/01/oppikat-boat-for-little-people.html

 

 

Posted in My Wooden Boat of January 2012 | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment