Comfort in DB N12

[Matt (Guest)]

The reason that N3486, my home made annies apple has not been seen on the water recently is that my wife/crew says it is uncomfortable to sit in. Mostly I think she objects to the grovelling around on her knees in light winds. Can anyone suggest alterations (no matter how complicated to achieve) that could be made to make N3486 more comfortable.

As a starter I have already decided to install a raised cable routing around the centrebox in order that all cleats and ropes are out of the way. In addition I will be removing the foot steps that are used during roll tacks as they tend to cause bruises.

Are there more sensible ways of dealing with light wind sailing that having the crew in the boat?

Any thoughts welcome.
Matt

[icecreamman]

Has the boat got a thwart, as the added couple of inches when raising your bottom does help a little as I can vouch for when sat at the front end of Roly Mo when I have crewed for Bernard. As a helm I would not remove the kickplates. In fact Bernard is still toying with the idea of having his made larger and closer to the size of the ones I have in Transmogrifier. Hope this helps Matt.
 

[Martin]

Knee pads?  Progrip in strategic areas?

[matt (Guest)]

3486 once had a thwart but we removed it as it was proving to be a bit dangerous when we were caught out by gusts offwind.I think we also thought the scrunched up posture sitting on a thwart over a high floor didn't do much for quick reactions.

I've been wondering about raising the side (and fore) decks, lowering the floor to the waterline or even lower, or maybe turning the crews compartment into a single bottom so that the wife/crew can sit on the d/b with her feet in on the lower deck.

Has anyone tried any of those alterations?

Matt

[Antony]

Matt,
It would be good to see you both again after all that effort you put into building her!

I suspect that you will get a lot of opinion and advice on this one.  For what it is worth my views are:
1.  I would never expect anybody to crew for me in a DB 12 with no thwart, and you should certainly try putting it back.
2.  A partially self-draining boat is something that people should continue to work on, as there are clearly comprimises that maintain the rigidity of the new boats while sacrificing some of the self-draining attributes for comfort..
3.  The more radical option of raising the side of the boat, as Gavin has done, is very hard to retro-fit... perhaps you should build another one!

Antony

[Matt (Guest)]

Thanks for that Anthony,

Has anyone experimented with a floor lower than the waterline? I imagine that might substantially improve the posture on a thwart at a cost of having to rely on some old techniques for draining the boat in case of a capsize.

I have a scheme for raising the decks in mind but that is very much a nuclear option.

Matt

[THG]

Talk to Mr Turner / Mr Cooke at Aaarvark as they changed the DB on Crazy Diamond from a true DB to sort of hybrid and provided the room he was looking for.

THG

[Charlotte]

[Matt (Guest)]

<Are there more sensible ways of dealing with light wind sailing that having the crew in the boat?>

beginning to think that is a good idea myself actually. it wasn't a very good thwart in the first place anyway ;-)

[Grebesailor]

Have a chat to Bob Murrell (N3435) (number in yearbook.) He removed the double floor at the front to keep 'er indoors willing to crew and it doesn't seem to have slowed him up at all. Possible even makes the boat more stable when righting.

I even seem to recall Bob did an article for Ratchet about it.

[grazz]

The way we made ours comfortable was a very low double floor (only just above the waterline) and a higher boom. That way even when you're sitting on the thwart you've still got some head room.

Personally I wouldn't do without my kick bars for roll tacking, but they are right under the toe straps so not in a place I tend to catch myself on. An alternative to the kneeling position is to prop your heels and back against the side of the boat and sort of crouch on your feet (it sounds painful but it's better than kneeling, and easier to move around).

We also have two  generous knee shaped pads made of pro-grip behind the centre board case for those windy days when you don't want to be in front of the thwart. I also use these as a position check to make sure I'm not kneeling so far back that I interfere with steering.

Happy renovating!
Zoe

[paul turner]

I see my name is mentioned above re Crazy Diamond - please refer to the other thread on this subject about taking the floor out, crew and helm comfort etc! And I find my new AC (Microclipper)even more comfortable than the China Doll!