December 22, 2007 Merry Christmas and Happy new year! Help me welcome our newest Swift builder/Member Matt Broughton from Florence South Carolina. Matt will carry USA 087 and is our 89th builder/owner.
Some time ago I promised to do a PDF on how to do the ends of the hardware free trap and cap shroud system. Here you go!
November 15, 2007
We’ve added a series of new parts on the “Buy Plans and Parts”
page.I would still encourage everyone to
try to find the time to make their own.Some of these rigging parts are not practical to make “one off” and
builders would do well to team up with others to divide the workload.It is sometimes almost as easy to make 4 or 5
of a particular part as one.Mast steps,
mast bases, sliding vang sleaves, levers, and pivot arms are some of those
parts.If you make multiples, bring the
extras with you to FortDesoto
and either sell them there or, if they are up to standards, I will post them
and the price on this website.It is not
my objective to be in the parts manufacturing business, however, we need a
reliable supplier.Please do not
hesitate to sell at a lower price than those listed if you can make it work.As always, those with significant Swift
sailing experience and on-the-water R&D time will be given preferential
treatment on the parts page.
Many of these parts are now in inventory and can be
delivered in a mater of days.Several of
the improved designs will soon be highlighted on this site, however, you can
get some idea with the text on the parts page.
We’ve designed a very slick new shroud adjuster that is far
cleaner and stronger than previous versions, however, we are working to bring
the cost in line.To that end, we are
trying several modifications and will keep you updated.The original will be highlighted in the next
website update at the end of the month.Stay tuned!
Bram
October 24, 2007 Below you'll find information regarding the 2008 Swift Solo North American Championship and Musto Invitational. Please check in from time to time to keep updated as decisions are made and news is posted.
Bram October 10, 2007
Please help me welcome Jon Gross from Dana Point California to our ranks. Jon is our 88th member and will carry Sail Number USA 086.
We look forward to working with you Jon. Feel free to use this mailing list to gain any information that you need. You'll find our class members take a lot of pride in helping out by providing information on techniques and material suppliers.
Best regards,
Bram
Be sure to check in on the new page in the menu that deals with solving problems. Reading this could save new Swift sailors some time and grief. October 5, 2007
First, a big welcome to Kerem Kirkpinar as our newest builder member (member #87--Sail number SIN 101). Karem is from Singapore and, because of a special request, will be issued sail number 101.
Please feel free to ask for whatever information you need Karem. It is our goal to help you finish and sail your Swift as quickly as possible.
Also, we want to welcome a new spar builder. Our Australian builders (Steve and Jordan) have been working with CST Composites to help develop spars for the down-under Swift crowd. http://www.cstcomposites.com/Solo%20Swift.htm . CST is a well known, quality spar builder for a number of skiff classes and it seems that there has been interest in the US Swift class as a couple have been ordered. We look forward to seeing these spars in action and will post comments as we get information on how they perform with various sail combinations. Matching luff curves and flex characteristics with flat top mains is no small undertaking and CST's experience should serve us well.
Please also notice the new page on the menu dealing with mistake/breakdown prevention called "Avoiding Problems". We've had a number of requests for this kind of information and hope to link it to a class forum sometime soon.
Bram
September 14, 2007
Help me welcome our newest builder member, John Harmuth from Madison Connecticut USA 085 (not far from Bill's place in RI). John is the 86th Swift builder/owner to join our ranks.
John, I think you'll find this mailing list and the people on it very helpful both during the building / rigging process and during the early sailing process. Most questions will be answered within an hour. Don't hesitate to use it as a resource to help you locate materials or to answer questions about the process. Also, you have my phone number (253-848-4732) and I'm usually available.
First, a big welcome to Kerem Kirkpinar as our newest builder member (member #87--Sail number SIN 101). Karem is from Singapore and, because of a special request, will be issued sail number 101.
Please feel free to ask for whatever information you need Karem. It is our goal to help you finish and sail your Swift as quickly as possible.
Also, we want to welcome a new spar builder. Our Australian builders (Steve and Jordan) have been working with CST Composites to help develop spars for the down-under Swift crowd. http://www.cstcomposites.com/Solo%20Swift.htm . CST is a well known, quality spar builder for a number of skiff classes and it seems that there has been interest in the US Swift class as a couple have been ordered. We look forward to seeing these spars in action and will post comments as we get information on how they perform with various sail combinations. Matching luff curves and flex characteristics with flat top mains is no small undertaking and CST's experience should serve us well.
Please also notice the new page on the menu dealing with mistake/breakdown prevention called "Avoiding Problems". We've had a number of requests for this kind of information and hope to link it to a class forum sometime soon.
Bram
September 14, 2007
Help me welcome our newest builder member, John Harmuth from Madison Connecticut USA 085 (not far from Bill's place in RI). John is the 86th Swift builder/owner to join our ranks.
John, I think you'll find this mailing list and the people on it very helpful both during the building / rigging process and during the early sailing process. Most questions will be answered within an hour. Don't hesitate to use it as a resource to help you locate materials or to answer questions about the process. Also, you have my phone number (253-848-4732) and I'm usually available.
Best regards,
Bram
2007 Swift Solo North American Championships Final results: Final results (individual races): Place SailNameSkipperTotal 1 USA013Unfortunate EventsBram Dally 18 2USA050 FuguRobert Harper31 3 USA002Felicity Made BadRon Watt 39 4 USA033Mark White43 5 CAN048Roger Write51 6 CAN001Number OneJocelyn Mike 70 7 CAN 063Gross InjusticeChris Wickham 84 8 USA056Der SpringerCouncell Keith 98
YOU SHOULD'VE BEEN THERE!!!!
With the exception of a little rain the first couple of days of the clinic, the 2007 Swift Solo North Americans could not have gone better. We had a variety of wind conditions and nice weather for the event itself.
Above all else, we were shown a great time by the Vancouver Fleet and the Jericho Sailing Center. Mike Cotter (the sailing center manager) has assembled a first class staff of really helpful people. The facility is privately run but open to the public and attracts a large number of onlookers to the outdoor restaurant / pub deck on the second floor. Both the disabled and the junior sailing programs are well run with an amazing amount of attendance.
Ron Watt did a great job as Regatta Chairman and with the help of Mike Jocelyn and Mike Cotter, the event went off without a hitch. Peggy Watt, called on her resources to put together great gift baskets as trophies and again volunteered her expertise and time to photograph the event (Many of the pictures are hers)--thanks again Peggy.
Special thanks to Ronstan, Fisheries Supply, Banks Sails, and Forte for sponsoring our diners and awards. These companies have came through for our class from the beginning and this year was no exception.
Karl Schulmeister put in a lot of time for us running the clinics and taking video and pictures. Thanks for all the help Karl--great job!
Robert did an outstanding job of running the AGM. New officers were elected (Robert is our new Pres, Chris Wickham is our VP, Warren Stevens if our Treasurer, and I am the Chairman of the Technical Committee and Class Measurer). Look for the minutes soon.
I'm still a bit tired and I know I've missed a number of people who deserve a lot of thanks.
As for the racing--several images come to my mind as I think back:
Mark White has blazing speed upwind in the 6 to 8 knot wind range and I can still see him pointing higher and going faster than me and everyone else on the way to the weather mark. He will be impossible when he has another year under his belt and figures out how to shift gears better.
Mike Jocelyn also is very fast in the fluky stuff to weather and was up in front at the first mark a number of times.
It was also good to see Chris Wickham get a chance to sail a bit since his boat is not quite finished yet. Karl took some great video of Chris sailing my boat.
While Mark was given the award for the most improved since last year, Roger Wright is the guy if you look back two years. His downwind speed improved significantly during the event--thanks in part to Karl. Both of these guys have made amazing improvement.
Robert continues to be really fast in the heavier stuff to weather and was always in the hunt at the finish.
Keith Council has come a long way and has admirable determination. Look for him to be in the hunt in the future
Ron Watt and I were involved in a knock down--drag out with duplicate individual and total scores through the first nine races. The tenth race saw a repeat of the very tight racing until the last weather leg when Ron broke down. It's anybody's guess what might have been the result if that breakdown had not happened.
Ron Radko and the Musto guys were a great addition to the regatta with Ron finishing up front a number of times (he's really improved a lot this season). We are becoming more like one class both on and off the water and future will be brighter for both classes because of this camaraderie. Class guys--all!
Thanks to everyone who attended and/or helped out. We can all look forward to a great year for the class and to next years regatta (somewhere in the eastern half of the country--seems to be a lot of talk about Fort Desoto again). I'm excited about our new slate of officers (congrats to Robert, Chris, and Warren) and the outcome of the AGM (see the Minutes)
I've got to go clean up my gear and put it away now--not an unpleasant job as I think back on the people and fun of the past 10 days.
Bram
More to come!
October 5, 2007
First, a big welcome to Kerem Kirkpinar as our newest builder member (member #87--Sail number SIN 101). Karem is from Singapore and, because of a special request, will be issued sail number 101.
Please feel free to ask for whatever information you need Karem. It is our goal to help you finish and sail your Swift as quickly as possible.
Also, we want to welcome a new spar builder. Our Australian builders (Steve and Jordan) have been working with CST Composites to help develop spars for the down-under Swift crowd. http://www.cstcomposites.com/Solo%20Swift.htm . CST is a well known, quality spar builder for a number of skiff classes and it seems that there has been interest in the US Swift class as a couple have been ordered. We look forward to seeing these spars in action and will post comments as we get information on how they perform with various sail combinations. Matching luff curves and flex characteristics with flat top mains is no small undertaking and CST's experience should serve us well.
Please also notice the new page on the menu dealing with mistake/breakdown prevention called "Avoiding Problems". We've had a number of requests for this kind of information and hope to link it to a class forum sometime soon.
Bram
September 14, 2007
Help me welcome our newest builder member, John Harmuth from Madison Connecticut USA 085 (not far from Bill's place in RI). John is the 86th Swift builder/owner to join our ranks.
John, I think you'll find this mailing list and the people on it very helpful both during the building / rigging process and during the early sailing process. Most questions will be answered within an hour. Don't hesitate to use it as a resource to help you locate materials or to answer questions about the process. Also, you have my phone number (253-848-4732) and I'm usually available.
Best regards,
Bram
2007 Swift Solo North American Championships Final results: Final results (individual races): Place SailNameSkipperTotal 1 USA013Unfortunate EventsBram Dally 18 2USA050 FuguRobert Harper31 3 USA002Felicity Made BadRon Watt 39 4 USA033Mark White43 5 CAN048Roger Write51 6 CAN001Number OneJocelyn Mike 70 7 CAN 063Gross InjusticeChris Wickham 84 8 USA056Der SpringerCouncell Keith 98
YOU SHOULD'VE BEEN THERE!!!!
With the exception of a little rain the first couple of days of the clinic, the 2007 Swift Solo North Americans could not have gone better. We had a variety of wind conditions and nice weather for the event itself.
Above all else, we were shown a great time by the Vancouver Fleet and the Jericho Sailing Center. Mike Cotter (the sailing center manager) has assembled a first class staff of really helpful people. The facility is privately run but open to the public and attracts a large number of onlookers to the outdoor restaurant / pub deck on the second floor. Both the disabled and the junior sailing programs are well run with an amazing amount of attendance.
Ron Watt did a great job as Regatta Chairman and with the help of Mike Jocelyn and Mike Cotter, the event went off without a hitch. Peggy Watt, called on her resources to put together great gift baskets as trophies and again volunteered her expertise and time to photograph the event (Many of the pictures are hers)--thanks again Peggy.
Special thanks to Ronstan, Fisheries Supply, Banks Sails, and Forte for sponsoring our diners and awards. These companies have came through for our class from the beginning and this year was no exception.
Karl Schulmeister put in a lot of time for us running the clinics and taking video and pictures. Thanks for all the help Karl--great job!
Robert did an outstanding job of running the AGM. New officers were elected (Robert is our new Pres, Chris Wickham is our VP, Warren Stevens if our Treasurer, and I am the Chairman of the Technical Committee and Class Measurer). Look for the minutes soon.
I'm still a bit tired and I know I've missed a number of people who deserve a lot of thanks.
As for the racing--several images come to my mind as I think back:
Mark White has blazing speed upwind in the 6 to 8 knot wind range and I can still see him pointing higher and going faster than me and everyone else on the way to the weather mark. He will be impossible when he has another year under his belt and figures out how to shift gears better.
Mike Jocelyn also is very fast in the fluky stuff to weather and was up in front at the first mark a number of times.
It was also good to see Chris Wickham get a chance to sail a bit since his boat is not quite finished yet. Karl took some great video of Chris sailing my boat.
While Mark was given the award for the most improved since last year, Roger Wright is the guy if you look back two years. His downwind speed improved significantly during the event--thanks in part to Karl. Both of these guys have made amazing improvement.
Robert continues to be really fast in the heavier stuff to weather and was always in the hunt at the finish.
Keith Council has come a long way and has admirable determination. Look for him to be in the hunt in the future
Ron Watt and I were involved in a knock down--drag out with duplicate individual and total scores through the first nine races. The tenth race saw a repeat of the very tight racing until the last weather leg when Ron broke down. It's anybody's guess what might have been the result if that breakdown had not happened.
Ron Radko and the Musto guys were a great addition to the regatta with Ron finishing up front a number of times (he's really improved a lot this season). We are becoming more like one class both on and off the water and future will be brighter for both classes because of this camaraderie. Class guys--all!
Thanks to everyone who attended and/or helped out. We can all look forward to a great year for the class and to next years regatta (somewhere in the eastern half of the country--seems to be a lot of talk about Fort Desoto again). I'm excited about our new slate of officers (congrats to Robert, Chris, and Warren) and the outcome of the AGM (see the Minutes)
I've got to go clean up my gear and put it away now--not an unpleasant job as I think back on the people and fun of the past 10 days.
Bram
More to come!
October 5, 2007
First, a big welcome to Kerem Kirkpinar as our newest builder member (member #87--Sail number SIN 101). Karem is from Singapore and, because of a special request, will be issued sail number 101.
Please feel free to ask for whatever information you need Karem. It is our goal to help you finish and sail your Swift as quickly as possible.
Also, we want to welcome a new spar builder. Our Australian builders (Steve and Jordan) have been working with CST Composites to help develop spars for the down-under Swift crowd. http://www.cstcomposites.com/Solo%20Swift.htm . CST is a well known, quality spar builder for a number of skiff classes and it seems that there has been interest in the US Swift class as a couple have been ordered. We look forward to seeing these spars in action and will post comments as we get information on how they perform with various sail combinations. Matching luff curves and flex characteristics with flat top mains is no small undertaking and CST's experience should serve us well.
Please also notice the new page on the menu dealing with mistake/breakdown prevention called "Avoiding Problems". We've had a number of requests for this kind of information and hope to link it to a class forum sometime soon.
Bram
September 14, 2007
Help me welcome our newest builder member, John Harmuth from Madison Connecticut USA 085 (not far from Bill's place in RI). John is the 86th Swift builder/owner to join our ranks.
John, I think you'll find this mailing list and the people on it very helpful both during the building / rigging process and during the early sailing process. Most questions will be answered within an hour. Don't hesitate to use it as a resource to help you locate materials or to answer questions about the process. Also, you have my phone number (253-848-4732) and I'm usually available.
Best regards,
Bram
2007 Swift Solo North American Championships Final results: Final results (individual races): Place SailNameSkipperTotal 1 USA013Unfortunate EventsBram Dally 18 2USA050 FuguRobert Harper31 3 USA002Felicity Made BadRon Watt 39 4 USA033Mark White43 5 CAN048Roger Write51 6 CAN001Number OneJocelyn Mike 70 7 CAN 063Gross InjusticeChris Wickham 84 8 USA056Der SpringerCouncell Keith 98
YOU SHOULD'VE BEEN THERE!!!!
With the exception of a little rain the first couple of days of the clinic, the 2007 Swift Solo North Americans could not have gone better. We had a variety of wind conditions and nice weather for the event itself.
Above all else, we were shown a great time by the Vancouver Fleet and the Jericho Sailing Center. Mike Cotter (the sailing center manager) has assembled a first class staff of really helpful people. The facility is privately run but open to the public and attracts a large number of onlookers to the outdoor restaurant / pub deck on the second floor. Both the disabled and the junior sailing programs are well run with an amazing amount of attendance.
Ron Watt did a great job as Regatta Chairman and with the help of Mike Jocelyn and Mike Cotter, the event went off without a hitch. Peggy Watt, called on her resources to put together great gift baskets as trophies and again volunteered her expertise and time to photograph the event (Many of the pictures are hers)--thanks again Peggy.
Special thanks to Ronstan, Fisheries Supply, Banks Sails, and Forte for sponsoring our diners and awards. These companies have came through for our class from the beginning and this year was no exception.
Karl Schulmeister put in a lot of time for us running the clinics and taking video and pictures. Thanks for all the help Karl--great job!
Robert did an outstanding job of running the AGM. New officers were elected (Robert is our new Pres, Chris Wickham is our VP, Warren Stevens if our Treasurer, and I am the Chairman of the Technical Committee and Class Measurer). Look for the minutes soon.
I'm still a bit tired and I know I've missed a number of people who deserve a lot of thanks.
As for the racing--several images come to my mind as I think back:
Mark White has blazing speed upwind in the 6 to 8 knot wind range and I can still see him pointing higher and going faster than me and everyone else on the way to the weather mark. He will be impossible when he has another year under his belt and figures out how to shift gears better.
Mike Jocelyn also is very fast in the fluky stuff to weather and was up in front at the first mark a number of times.
It was also good to see Chris Wickham get a chance to sail a bit since his boat is not quite finished yet. Karl took some great video of Chris sailing my boat.
While Mark was given the award for the most improved since last year, Roger Wright is the guy if you look back two years. His downwind speed improved significantly during the event--thanks in part to Karl. Both of these guys have made amazing improvement.
Robert continues to be really fast in the heavier stuff to weather and was always in the hunt at the finish.
Keith Council has come a long way and has admirable determination. Look for him to be in the hunt in the future
Ron Watt and I were involved in a knock down--drag out with duplicate individual and total scores through the first nine races. The tenth race saw a repeat of the very tight racing until the last weather leg when Ron broke down. It's anybody's guess what might have been the result if that breakdown had not happened.
Ron Radko and the Musto guys were a great addition to the regatta with Ron finishing up front a number of times (he's really improved a lot this season). We are becoming more like one class both on and off the water and future will be brighter for both classes because of this camaraderie. Class guys--all!
Thanks to everyone who attended and/or helped out. We can all look forward to a great year for the class and to next years regatta (somewhere in the eastern half of the country--seems to be a lot of talk about Fort Desoto again). I'm excited about our new slate of officers (congrats to Robert, Chris, and Warren) and the outcome of the AGM (see the Minutes)
I've got to go clean up my gear and put it away now--not an unpleasant job as I think back on the people and fun of the past 10 days.
Bram
More to come!
Ron Watt and Bram Dally had continually close racing until Ron broke his boat
Mark White (this years most improved sailor) was blazing fast in the 6 to 9 knot wind range
getting serious between races
Mike, napping on the Fisheries Supply marks
Hey, get that Musto back here
Mike Cotter, I don't know how we'll ever thank Mike for his support in putting on this regatta
Sailing like a blind man after punching out one lens of my perscription sun glasses in race 10
Robert Harper sailed a great series to finish 2nd
Ron Watt with another great start.
June 18th, 2007 With so many new Swifts hitting the water, I thought I would share some tips for making your life a little easier over the next several days.The first tip is covered in the attached PDF. You'll find that the standard tiller extensions are great but there are a couple of things that will help make them betterDuring tacks and gybes you will briefly let go of the extensions. There will be many other times as well that you'll wish you had just enough friction in the rudder that you can briefly drop the extensions to use both hands to perform some task. The attached PDF is the best answer I've found to date. It provides just the right amount of friction and is durable. As most of you know, I cut all of the foam crap (except the end ball) off the end of the extension right from the beginning.The second tip is to very slightly bend your tiller extension upward at about the point where the shock cord attaches. This will give you a couple of additional inches of clearance above the water in the off chance that your tacks or gybes are not perfect. While the shock cord will eventually bring the tiller back forward after a blown tack, this will often keep it from being swept aft in the first place.
June 15, 2007 Well I finally finished the rudder cassette "Rudder Cassette PDF". Let me know if you find anything hard to understand. It is easy to make changes.
It's getting really exciting out there with so many boats about to be launched. Dave Lindsay, Warren Stevens, Chris Wickham, Darius, David Kerr, Ian McPhail, Steve Nichols, Bill Schulman will all be launching their boats very soon (let me know if I left you off the list).
Be sure to get your entry forms into Robert soon for the North American Championship at Jericho.
June 7, 2007 Recently I was asked about the new adjustable forestay system PDF. I responded by pointing out that it was listed right below this news section. The problem was, I had posted an old copy during the conceptual stages. While I had written a new complete PDF, it had never been posted. So try clicking on that again guys and my apologies for the mistake (the mind is a terrible thing to lose).
For those rushing to get ready for the North Americans at Jericho, let me know if you need help. We really want to make sure you're up and running for the regatta. I look forward to seeing you there. Bram
May 19, 2007 It’s been good to see that Swift sailors are finally back at it in the US and Canada. I was beginning to believe that our usual warm spring weather was never going to show up. Some good things are happening. We’ve established a “standard” set of blades with "pricing from Phil's Foils". You can order any section you like but these blades are currently thought to be the state of the art. As you can see in the price list, Phil is offering them either finished or unfinished. I’ve had several people point out that there is currently no PDF construction manual for rudder cassettes. That is being fixed. I have one under construction in my garage and I’m documenting the construction process. You can purchase the foam blank for this unit from Bob at Flying Foam.com http://www.flyingfoam.com/launch.html . This blank makes the cassette with about 1/8” gap all the way around the rudder for the Spar-Tite gasket. I’ve negotiated a deal for the class to obtain all of the foam blanks needed to build the parts for a Swift for $165.23 plus shipping ($11 to $26 in the lower 48). This includes foam blanks for the rudder, the rudder cassette, the daggerboard, the launcher throat, and the tiller. I have six sets in my possession and I can sell two to those who want to pick them up at my house (I’ll be using four of the sets myself). Bob has informed me that he has made many blanks for the Swift Solo Class in the past. Ron is about to publish the entry form for the NA’s at Jericho and everything is progressing nicely. It will be a great regatta with a laid back atmosphere and an emphasis on helping our new people understand sailing the Swift. Jericho is one of the finest sailing centers I’ve seen with a good public restaurant and beer garden overlooking the rigging and launching area. I’m really looking forward to seeing and sailing with all of you again. Best regards, Bram
April 7 2007 Great news, Revchem has joined us as a supplier of our glass needs. They have assured us of an ongoing supply of hybrid and s-glass as well as our other glassing needs. The first roll of hybrid and s-glass will be in Monday April 9. Don't delay getting your order in since is will take a little time between rolls. The contact information is: Revchem PlasticsMr. Marv Fleck253 305-0303e mail mfleck@revchem.comphysical address:Revchem Plastics1132 Thorne RoadTacoma, WA. 98421.
I finally got a chance to sail with the new experimental kite lead system and it is not as good as I'd hoped. I am modifying it and will have a report as soon as the weather warms up again. Pictures to follow!
April 1, 2007 By now, I had hoped to have finalized our relationship with our new supplier and to have determined that the new kite system I've installed was a success. Unfortunately, things often take longer than expected and these two items are no exception
Revchem Plastics has been working hard to get all of the components together to meet our glass and epoxy needs. It has taken longer than they anticipated but they are getting very close. Look for an announcement and details within the next week or so. Sorry for the delay!
The new kite system was finally put to use on Thursday. Unfortunately it requires further modification before I would recommend it to anyone. The objectives of the system is to move the sheeting angle aft a bit (to soften the leech of our kites just a little) and to increase the wrap on the ratchet blocks to lighten the kite sheet loads a bit. I still believe that these objectives will be met but with further modification. Look for pictures and a report as soon as the weather warms back up a bit (wind chill has been around 35F).
Bram February 12, 2007 First help me welcome Wojtek Pagacz of Toronto Canada (CAN 084) as our 85th member and Swift builder. Many of you are not aware that the North American Swift Solo Championships and clinic has been moved to Jericho in Vancouver Canada. The move was necessary to ensure good attandance. A new webpage will be added this weekend to cover the event and to provide information to those attending. Swift sailors who plan to attend include : Ron Watt, Warren Stevens, Chris Wickham, Bram Dally, Robert Harper, Mark White, Mike Jocelyn, Roger Wright, Ian MacPhail, Keith Deller, possibly Keith Council, David Lindsay, and my new boat if it is finished. Please let me know if I've left anyone off the list or if you've decided to join us. The dates for the clinic and regatta will be; Clinic July 22nd, 23rd, and 24th Lay Day July 25th Racing July 26th, 27th, and 28th The date and time for the AGM is TBD
Bram
January 18, 2007 Well, the weather in the Northwest has continued to delay work on getting some PDF's completed for the class (we've been pelted with record rains followed by record winds, followed by two weeks of really cold weather with snow--completely unusual in our normally mild climate).
So the only reasonable thing to do is to look at Swift video and dream of sailing in the warm water of Fort Desoto or Huntington Lake this summer. With that in mind, I've edited two new videos that I hope you'll enjoy ("video page"). Both are higher quality and will take some time to download but once you're done, I think you'll want to watch them several times. The first new one shows some great boat handling in 18 knots of breeze. We we eventually include some narration with that video for training purposes. The second video will make it clear why we are a bunch of Swift addicts (this video will not help your problem). The picture at the top of the page was lifted off of this video.
Sorry for the large size of the videos but I'm a little tired of looking at tiny, low quality video that doesn't really show much. Enjoy! At Huntington Lake, we intend to get footage of everyone who wants it. Remember to bring bright clothes and smile.
Bram
HAPPY NEW YEAR
January 8, 2006
Help me welcome Art Bedard from Canton CT to our class. Art is our 84th builder / member (USA 083) and hopes to become a certified builder of Swifts. Don't hesitate to ask us if you have any questions Art! You'll find our members very helpful and anxious to see another Swift in the water.
Everyone, be sure to look at the Builder Blog page--lots of great pictures of Al Pritchards construction progress.
I would like to ask all of you to help me out. Since we brought the class forum into play my email has been busy with questions, responses to calls for volunteers, suggestions, and misc. that used to go to catzooks (our subscription mailing list) for all to see. This makes things more difficult for me because the same questions get asked and answered repeatedly and without keeping the other class members and our archives up to speed. I think we may have inadvertently discouraged you from using catzooks in favor of the forum, however, because of the inability to post attachments, this does not work in many cases. I would ask all of you to return to using catzooks for builder/class issues (that are directed at me) until we can make the forum more user friendly. Al has suggested that we may be able to move to a Forum that allows attachments from everyone and that may be a fairly big part of the solution.
I look forward to returning to hearing your questions and suggestions / ideas on the catzooks mailing list.
Best regards,
Bram
December 21, 2006
We wish you and your families a great Christmas.
Here is the adjustable forestay PDF that I had promised. This is a rather cleaver way to make a 9 part purchase system that is much more compact than any available 7 part system. You simply make these parts up by using common Harken single blocks. The second picture shows the unit with a mountain bike tube cover. The entire unit is about 1 1/4" in diameter.
I highly reccomend installation of this system as it makes your boat much easier to de-power rapidily while sailing.
Right after the first of the year we will make a 12 part purchase variation of this compact system to use on the primary shrouds. Future parts kits will be modified to include the necessary parts to install these systems. Overall, the price of the kits will likely come down a bit as we eliminate all calibrated turnbuckles and levers (we will be adding a total of twelve Harken 312s however).
Bram
Dec 1, 2006
I apologize for some delays in getting the new forestay PDF posted. Snow has kept me from getting my Swift home where I can take photos and show the system requirements (oh, but the skiing has been outrageous). I should be able to get it home tomorrow and post the PDF next week.
We've abandoned the idea of installing and testing a gybing cassette for the daggerboard for now. The first consideration on all system R&D is whether it can be easily installed on existing boats. If the answer is "no", we don't bother to proceed. The gybing cassette is quite easy to install in the Swift but locking the cassette on center for downhill sailing places a high point load on the trunk recesses that will almost certainly cause problems on boats not specifically built to take those loads.
Bram
November 26, 2006
Great News, Huntington Lake has been selected by our class to be the site of the 2007 Swift Solo North American Championships and "how to" clinic. We will hold the clinic on July 16, 17, and 18th and the racing on July 20, 21 and 22nd. This is an idea location for consistant medium air and great, non-intimidating, launching. Be sure to bring your family as the hiking, swimming, and site seeing are spectacular. We'll post more info on the Venue, Lodging / Camping, Restaurants, etc. very soon.
Also, next week we'll post a PDF on the new forestay adjuster and how to adapt it to either style forestay fitting. You can opt for either a 16 to 1 or 20 to 1 purchase system. Below you see some home made fiddle blocks below that you can assemble yourself in 20 minutes for use with this system
Bram
November 4 2006
About a month ago I thought that the rainy season had returned to Western Washington. I was wrong. Instead we've had another dry month that has kept me busy doing things outside (including sailing my Swift). Well, that has all changed and the last two days combined with the forecast have convinced me that the rains have come and I can look forward to working on Swift parts in my garage, getting this site up to date, and writing some sailing tips and explaining the results of the R&D over the eight months (notice that the site has been reorganized so that all construction info, including your pictures and blogs, are under "Construction info". I've also adding a "more tips" page with some light air stuff). I will be writing some new "how to" PDF's that will include making a new style forestay fittings, rudder cassettes, gybing board cassettes, and some other misc. stuff.
As the season ends, I'm struck by how much we've learned in the past 5 months that have made the Swift both faster and easier to sail. While I've been convinced for some time that the Swift is the fastest single handed skiff around the race track, we are brand new where boat for boat testing is concerned and I believe "you ain't seen nothing yet". We will continue to share what we've learned this season and will consolidate our sailing tips.
I've added a page under the "Home Page" menue called "news archives". Many builders have asked about stories from the past and I will be moving old news stories to that page.
October 28, 2006
Well, it looks like the season is over in Seattle for this year. It's been a good year in spite of the serious yard re-landscape distractions. Ron Watt and I have been able to do quite a lot of sailing together. We've learned a fair bit and look forward to next season.
It's been exciting to see all of the new boats that are close to completion. Steve Nichols has done a particularly good job of documenting the process, so be sure to check out his blog at www.aussieswift.livesaildie.com
I'll be bringing 013 home soon and will post some primary and forestay pictures as well as some other successful ideas that we've tried this summer. This winter I intend to install a gybing cassette for the daggerboard and will post a PDF showing the process for those who want to install it.
Most of you are aware that I've given the www.swiftsolo.org site over to the class. We are a non profit organization and this separation was necessary because I sell plans, sails, and other Misc. on this site. Do check it out. Al Pritchard has done an outstanding job of organizing and displaying links to our construction erata. Every builder should check out this information during the construction process.
Keep the sawdust flying and the knuckles out of the disc sander.
