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PolySail International
LINKS PAGE
Click here for the POLYSAIL HOME PAGE
We’ve updated our ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL LINKS for polytarp sailmaking, sail theory, home boatbuilding, messing about, and other nautical aspirations. These sites will also connect you with enough additional sites to keep you surfing for weeks.
POLYTARP SAILS AND SAILMAKING
JIM MICHALAK'S BOAT DESIGNS In addition to being the driving force behind the Midwest Homebuilt Messabouts, Jim Michalak has written a number of thoughtful essays on the construction of polytarp sails. A former aerospace engineer, Jim designs carefully thought out small boats for home construction, many of which are pictured on his pages, and offers inexpensive catalogues of his designs.
JOHN'S NAUTICAL & BOATBUILDING PAGE John Kohnen has put together the aptly named Mother of All Maritime Links on this site; and, if you browse the site for a few moments, you will find instructions for building a Tyvek sail here as well.
MESSING ABOUT IN BOATS ON LINE This is the Internet version of the messabout Bible Messing About in Boats edited by Bob Hicks. Both the site and the magazine come highly recommended for all those who enjoy small wooden boats at the grassroots level. There is an online subscription form for the $24 a year magazine (well worth the price for any aficionado who has not yet subscribed).
ODD SAILS FROM POLYTARP Craig O'Donnell provides excellent information on the construction of polytarp sails, including Gunter sails, batwing sails, Chinese junk sails, and his own sharpie sprit sail. There's also a picture of the irrepressible Captain Freddy who sailed from Massachusetts to Florida with only blue polytarp sails on his boat. (Last I read in Soundings, Captain Freddie was back in Rhode Island trying to sell a book about his adventures.)
STEVENSON PROJECTS Offers plans for pocket yachts, dinghies, daysailers, and the ever popular Weekender. This is a great site for Weekender owners and other boatbuilders to post their current projects. There is an interesting comparison of polytarp and Dacron sails under the "What about Sails?" section of the Frequently Asked Questions page. The conclusion: "We found (after quite a bit of swapping around in different configurations) that the Dacron had a bit of an edge in lighter airs, but the tarps were much better as the wind picked up! I won't presume to figure out why, but over the years, we have not felt the need to go with 'real' sails very often."
AIR FOIL/SAIL THEORY AND RESEARCH
AERODYNAMICS For the amateur scientists, here’s all the applied aerodynamics you might ever need to understand how thin airfoils and sails work.
AIRFOILS More airfoil theory.
AMATEUR YACHT RESEARCH SOCIETY This site includes Cedric Savineau’s Speed Sailing Site, in case you want to try to break the world sailing record for sailboats of over 50 knots. Of course, windsurfers have pushed that speed to over 60 knots last I knew.
CRABCLAW SAIL RESEARCH Michael Schacht’s Proa File is dedicated to the “Western re-discovery of the Pacific Sailing Canoe.” Here you will find some fascinating research by C. A. Marchaj comparing different forms of the crabclaw to other sails. Crabclaws apparently use vortex flow rather than laminar flow to generate lift. As a result, certain crabclaw sails seem to be superior to Bermuda sails. Don’t miss this site!
NORTH SAILS 3DL
Most of the America’s Cup boats use these high tech laminated sails. Here’s how they are made using
hydraulic forms, guys “flying” over the sail surface to laminate the synthetic
layers, etc. In PolySail construction, we use bags of mulch or
strategically-placed lawn chair pillows to substitute for the hydraulics, and
guys walking around the sail and on the sail surface to construct our “high
tech” laminated sails.//na.northsails.com/Racing_Sails/How3DLIsMade.htm
PROSPECTORY More information on crabclaw sails. There is much room for a lot of comparative research and experimentation with these sails.
MASTS
GLEN-L Glen-L offers aluminum masts at this site. Glen-L is also one of the largest providers of boat plans and kits for the home boat builder. You can get to their home page as well from this site.
MAST ARTICLES The DN Ice boaters have a lock on articles about building wood and composite masts.
TEXAS TOWERS TELESCOPING ALUMINUM ANTENNAS This site could be a resource for inexpensive aluminum masts.
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HOME BOATBUILDING: DAVE'S PROJECTS FOOLHARDY, A 16' SHARPIE I tested my latest creation at the 1999 Midwest Homebuilt Messabout at Lake Monroe near Bloomington Indiana. Here's a brief account of my findings. POLYSAIL: A BOLGER CARTOPPER This father-son project started my boatbuilding and sailing "career." 1940's BOAT PLANS My brother Dan, who is an antique dealer, recently came across an old paperback from the 1940's that he passed along to me. For 50 cents dreamers got How to Build 20 Boats. Many of the designs look surprisingly modern and the plans are fairly complete. I plan to add one or two at a time to the site. WEST VIRGINIA My son and sailing partner Ryan is serving an nine-year hitch in the Navy as a submariner. More recently he’s become a trainer of nuke recruits. Before 9/11, I had the chance to observe one of these subs firsthand with a ride to sea aboard Ryan’s sub the West Virginia.
This is a view from the bridge on the sail. Note the dolphins leading the sub out to sea.
Ryan aboard the West Virginia
In 2001 I restored an OK dinghy for Ryan and his wife. The OK dinghy was a popular racing class boat prior to the introduction of the Laser. However, the OK was pretty tender, and, as Ryan learned after almost meeting his Maker, not the easiest boat to launch offshore into breaking waves. The OK dinghy and its trailer did not hold up well in the salty air around Kings Bay, GA. When its trailer collapsed just outside the base enroute to a new assignment, the OK dinghy became a part of the Georgia interstate landscape.
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NOTES ON HOT TUB AND HOT TUB III For information on the evolution of Hot Tub, a 50-lb. scow made from Styrofoam, fiberglass, wood, and epoxy, click above.
The PolySail guy (sans sails) rowing Hot Tub II at the 1998 Midwest Homebuilt Messabout. RADCRAFT Ever heard of a Radcraft? Click here for before and after pictures of this 16' runabout. She was sold in 2000 to an executive from an insurance firm.
Dave and son Ryan aboard Canada, an older America's Cup contender. I'm in the back with Ryan as a grinder immediately behind me.
In 2003 I built the sharpie ESSENCE from my own design as a test bed for different types of PolySails. |
My wife and I became proud grandparents in 2002. For the grandson’s first Christmas, I built him a boat (naturally) that could be used as a boat, sled, cradle/rocker, or toy container. The boat sits on a removable rocker base. Built of oak and mahogany, it should last for awhile. That’s Chocolate Mousse holding up the Captain who is cutting his teeth in an appropriate nautical fashion.
Z-BOAT This is the latest version of the Hot Tub series (2004). It could be the go-cart of the water if things work out. Notice that the Captain has already outgrown his first dinghy.
Here’s a project that I started just before getting the itch to build Hot Tub IV—the restoration of my sharpie Foolhardy. She’s now about a foot and a half shorter after losing her transom to rot after spending a winter upside down with her aft deck and transom covered with water. A muskrat was living there, but he scooted out when I turned the boat over after the water level went down. Fortunately, I got the new bottom on and glassed before this winter set in. |
HOME BOATBUILDING: Most of these links will provide you access to hundreds of other excellent websites on boatbuilding.
AMATEUR BOATBUILDER’S PAGE Discusses materials options and other aspects of building.
BOATBUILDING.COM Explore hundreds of links to the boatbuilding community organized by categories at this site.
BOATBUILDING PAGES Another site dedicated to us boatbuilders.
BOATBUILDING SUPPLIES This site claims to have been on the web since 1991 and has accumulated hundreds of suppliers' links.
BOLGER E-GROUP Here's a discussion group for you Phil Bolger design fans that was recommended to me by Bobcat builder Chris Flynn.
CANOE SAILING A joint effort by Dan Miller and Craig O'Donnell provides our paddling friends with everything they might want to know about getting a little assistance from the wind.
COMMON SENSE DESIGNS Offers plans for several of Phil Bolger's cruising sailboats, including that all time favorite Micro.
DUCKWORKS MAGAZINE "Written for and by Those Wacky Homemade Boat Builders" reads the subtitle. With pages of resources, letters, features, comics, and a project photo gallery, Chuck Leinweber has created an outstanding site for homebuilders. Post your story on Chuck's site and enjoy a pleasant little ego trip.
FREE BOAT DESIGN RESOURCES Gavin Atkins offers a gem of a site for "Amateur boat designers; seriously cheapskate boat builders; land-locked dreamers; (and) lovers of sharpies, dories, skiffs and pocket cruisers." I personally feel at home in all of those categories. Don’t miss THE RULES of boat building when visiting this site.
GREAT ENCOURAGEMENT TO BOATWRIGHTS Stuart Wier offers plans, books, and copious sources of information as encouragement for us builders to earn the title of boatwright.
GOOD OLD BOATS This site is "...for sailors who own, maintain, sail, or love terrific sailboats 10, 20, 30 or more years old." They include a page of free and inexpensive "fixer-uppers" gleaned from web and print sources.
H.H. PAYSON & CO INSTANT BOATS Yep, it's the instant boat man himself on the web-H.H. "Dynamite" Payson, the builder of all those wonderful Phil Bolger designs and author of Build the New Instant Boats. If you need a set of tested plans, this is the place to get them. I counted 26 sets being offered, all in the $30-$40 range. In addition, there's a page of testimonial links to folks who have built many of these boats.
MARITIME HISTORY PUBLICATIONS HOME PAGE The University of Newfoundland maintains the Internet Journal of Maritime History. Imagine our surprise when we found our website listed in this august publication. Their listing of this site reflects the comprehensive nature of this site's information about boatbuilding and sailing.
MESSING-ABOUT.COM Frank Hagen’s site goes to the heart of small boat building and sailing. Lots of links here for you gaff sail nuts.
MORE OLD BOAT PLANS All the plans I couldn’t figure out how to load onto my free 1940’s OLD BOAT PLANS are available at this site. You can also purchase a CD of these plans on this site.
RICHARD FRYE'S PAGE Good pictures of Richard's Featherwind and Weekender.
THE SAILING INDEX This searchable database is another of those well-organized sites with tons of resources.
SIMPLICITY BOATS David Beede transitions from a back yard builder to award winning designer by winning Duckworks Magazine’s design contest with his sharpie skiff Summer Breeze.
THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN COUNTRY FIRE SERVICE CHERRY GARDENS BRIGADE Some of our mates down under asked to be linked to our page.
THE TRAILER SAILOR Provides tons of resources for the small boat sailor organized into useful categories. Post a message or a question on the message board and you are nearly guaranteed a response.
UNCLE JOHN'S GENERAL STORE Uncle John offers a skiff kit for rowing or sailing that includes the "hard parts" for the first-time builder. His inexpensive, rapidly assembled kit is a great concept that fits right in with our philosophy of making boating and sailing available to the low-budget builder.
ZEIGER FAMILY BOATBUILDING PAGE This Alaskan family shows us what boatbuilding is all about.
MATERIALS
BALTEK This company offers high tech balsa/epoxy laminates for those of you who want extremely light boatbuilding materials-and can pay the price.
EPOXYPRODUCTS.COM This site has all you ever wanted to know about epoxy and more. In addition, it’s the most economical source of epoxy products for boat builders I’ve found.
MAS EPOXIES Good prices on epoxy and fiberglass cloth for boat builders.
WEST SYSTEM Another excellent site for epoxy, fiberglass, and lots of articles about boatbuilding.
SITE BUILDING:
MICROSOFT bCENTRAL If you are a novice at web site development like I am, this is a good site to get inexpensive tools to improve your website.
PAYPAL PayPal offers a number of tools for Internet store fronts, such as shopping carts, credit card payments, and “buy now” tools. Great for doing business over the Internet.
PolySail International
22 Sunblest Court, Fishers, Indiana 46038-1175.
Email polysail@aol.com or call Dave Gray at 317 915-1454
This page was last updated on 1/12/05