Longboard Windsurfing article

http://www.lbwindsurfing.com/ just published an article I wrote about the Expedition Windsurfer. Pretty cool stuff. Check it out.

Sail and fin testing

Video is a bit jumpy and short. I put my 11 year old on an old johnboat and had him work the camera. To get Jace out to the boat he stood on the deck just in front of the mast. The board did very well. Even with his 70lbs.

Sail testing

These are some photos of the local color. I missed a great shot of some bottle nose dolphin jumping out of the water. Looked just like Sea World.

I took the board out today in a light westerly sea breeze using a 7.4 Aerotech Zenith and the board performed very well. I like the sail size and boom size, they felt light and comfortable. The sail rolls small enough to store in the board when not in use. I did not use my GPS so I don't have any numbers for speed.

Dagger board

Here are some photos of the modified dagger board. I will need to have one made correctly so it will hold up under use.

Details

I wanted to provide a better view of the board, so here are a few photos from different angles.

Last Friday I took the boat out to test the sailing capabilities and to try to determine where to put the foot straps. I rigged a 9.5m sail with cambers. The wind was South to South West at about 10-15kts. Using my GPS to track my speed and distence,
I maxed out 11.8kts and sailed 9 nautical miles in about an hour twenty minutes.
In increasing winds, approximatly 15-18 reached a maximum speed of 12.6kts and traveled 5.16 nm in 42 minutes.
All of this sailing was done in the typical back and forth short distance sailing of windsurfing.

What I learned:

• Even with a large sail and increasing winds it seems that the max speed is around 12-13 kts. This could improve with properly positioned foot straps
• In low winds the boat is very fast on all points of sail.
• The boat jibs very easily and is very stable.
• As the wind increased the need for a dagger board decreased. I was able to head up into the wind about as high without the dagger board as with it.
• The hull seems to be all displacement. I was not able to pop it up on a plane even when the wind seemed to be strong enough. This might be due to the weight, length ratio. It may also be that with foot straps I could push it enough to get to plane. But if we consider the normal speed of a kayak even at 12kts its pretty fast.

More testing this week. I want to try to use a smaller sail and rig and try some different size fins. I have been using weed fin that might not be enough area for the boat.

Here I'm trying the boats standup paddling abilities. It's a lot more stable than I thought it would be. I did not have the skeg in the boat so it fishtails a bit. I think that I need to add some no skid to the deck. It seems a bit too slippery in some conditions.

Here I am paddeling up the Peace River testing the seat and the boats abilities to move up river.

Video of first launch

Here is a short video of me sailing the boat with a

Just launched

After a brief test run, I have determined that I have some bugs to work out before she is truly ready for an expedition.

1. The two deck plates on the stern leak. They are partially under the waterline most of the time a need to be better sealed. I tried to find the largest deck plates possible and these apparently are not designed to be under the waterline. Any suggestions would be great.
2. The stern deck plates do not allow enough room to slide dry bags in under the top lip. Since the stern is at such a sharp angle it reduces the entry space between the bottom of the boat and the top of the deck plate. This may not be a real problem when the midships deck plates are installed. I can still slide a sail into the hull by rolling it tight.
3. The overall weight is about 20lbs heavier than I think it needs to be. As a result of my lack of boat building experience I may have used too much resin in the early building stages. The added weight does not seem to affect the boats sailing abilities.

Here are some photos of the boat in the water. It was very stable and fun to sail. I had to learn to tack the v-nosed bow as it performs differently than a typical long board with a flat bottom.

One of the first things I noticed was how quietly it cut through the water. The v-bow slices the water noiselessly.

Almost done

Here are some photos of the almost finished first ever expedition windsurfer crossover. I have to do a few more things before it is completely done. I need to install two more deck plates about midships for better equipment access and install the foot straps.

The EXP008

Work on the expedition windsurfer continues...very slowly.
I will have photos posted soon but to update I have reached the painting stages. I have sanded until I can hear the sander in my sleep. I hope to have the boat in the water no later than October 15th, even if the paint is not dry:)

I still have not decided on a name for this type of board/boat. What do you call a sit on top kayak that you can sail like a windsurfer, paddle standing up and has enough capacity for multi-day camping? Any ideas?

Slalom race in St. Pete in March.

I was not able to race in this one, my arms were still mending from my car crash. Everyone had a great time thanks to Britt at North Beach Windsurfing and all his hard work.

Crazy tree hugers!

Little Blue on the Peace.

A trip down the Peace

Here are some photos of a trip my kids and I took down the Peace River. It is always a fun time with kids.

How to plumb a fin box

After my first attempt at installing the fin box i realized that it was in crooked causing the fin to lean to one side. I had to find a way to plumb the box before glassing it in. The photo shows my best solution. I used a long fin to lessen the degree of error.

work continues

I have made little progress in the past few months since my accident. Here are some photos of the boat so far. I have to re-build the daggerboard box and try to find a way to make it lighter.

I would like to ultimately install a retractable skeg but for now will use the power box system normally used on windsurfing boards. It would be nice to be able to pull the fin up into the board rather than having to stop and unscrew the fin and take a chance of loosing it. I hope to have the boat in the water no later than April 15th.