Re: [bolger] Bolger Black Skimmer
And we are always happy to listen. Thank you for a fine exposition
confirming what I had always thought about one of my favourite Bolger
designs.
HJ
C. Andrews wrote:
confirming what I had always thought about one of my favourite Bolger
designs.
HJ
C. Andrews wrote:
>Always happy to wax on about one of my favorite boats.
>
>
Always happy to wax on about one of my favorite boats.
Perhaps I should introduce myself very briefly. I was one
of the original members of this list, in its first
incarnation 7 years ago. I've been busy with other things
the last few years, although I still have the Bolger Light
Schooner I built, now in storage in the wilds of Gardena.
You can see pics of my schooner in action on the Light
Schooner Page. You can also see pics of my Black Skimmer,
on my first trip to the North Channel in 1996.
I also commissioned the Brigantine shown in Boats with an
Open Mind. There's a boat I really regret, but the money
never showed up to have her built. Still, she's quite a
dream ship--I hope someone builds her, or has her built,
someday.
Ok, enough egoboo.
I bought my Black Skimmer used in 1994. The basic boat was
sound, but the rig needed to be rebuilt. I had a very fine
custom aluminum trailer built for the boat by Trailex of
Canfield, Ohio (I can't recommend Trailex too highly...great
guys, great product, reasonable prices. I had them build a
custom trailer for my Light Schooner also).
I rebuilt the Black Skimmer rig to the solent lug plans Phil
made for another owner. I skipped the elaborate tabernacle
however, in favor of a much more primitive, but still
useable, arrangement. After some months of work on rig and
hull, I took the boat to the North Channel in 1996 and 1997.
The 1997 trip was a single-handed, two-week cruise from
Little Current west about 40 nautical miles to the Turnbull
Island group, and back. It was one of the most intense and
enjoyable experiences of my life (well, maybe not more
intense than 16' breaking swells and 35-knot trades in the
Alinuihaha Channel in the middle of the night on an
open-ocean cruising boat...but, then, that's a whole
different thing from lake sailing!)
The Black Skimmer is, in my estimation--and after studying
many other designs for similar use--the best along-shore
cruising boat I know of. She has impeccable sailing manners
on all points. Sails well in light airs or heavy, has a
light weather helm in nearly all winds with the sails
trimmed correctly; she will self-steer flawlessly on all
points above a beam reach. She's very well-behaved in a
knock-down--that is, she comes right back up with no
problem; she can also handle a fairly nasty sea with aplomb,
assuming reasonably astute helmsman skills (I had her out in
a short, nasty, 4-5 foot chop and while she could be a
little wet, I never had the slightest qualm)--sailed
correctly, in enough wind, Black Skimmer just slices through
even a fairly substantial swell. I have to admit that she's
not much fun in light-airs and a confused sea. She mostly
just sits there bobbing, wondering why you put her in that
position...
She is quite fast in conditions that allow it, even
thrillingly fast.
She sails to windward impeccably, in my view. No, not as
high or as fast as a modern fin-keel boat, but get her
trimmed right, put the leeward board down just-so, and
she'll get you where you want to go. Pressures on the
working board are very, very high in strong winds. Make
sure the lashing block is made of oak, properly bolted, with
no cracks. I once went sailing on a Black Skimmer on Cayuga
Lake in a heavy north wind, everything was great, she was
just steaming along, when, with no warning the lashing block
for the working board split in half. We had to motor home.
Some optimistic type had fabricated the lashing block from
fir or something. Not a good idea.
Her rig is ideal for her service, and about as simple, and
efficient, as such a rig can be.
Black Skimmer will also sail to windward in a foot of water.
That is not hype, she really will.
I found the leeboard arrangement on the boat ideal. I much
prefer it to any other form of lateral resistance, in an
along-shore boat. I also prefer lashed leeboards to fixed
leeboards. Seems like there's less to go wrong with lashed
leeboards, and there is less stress on the structure
overall, at least, in my view.
I would not take her into ultimate open-ocean conditions.
She's not meant for that service. She's an along-shore
boat, for lakes and rivers, estuaries and bays. She's
perfect for snuggling into even the shallowest little cut.
In the North Channel I anchored in several places no-one
else could even consider going. I didn't have to worry
about all the ledges and rocks in the area, so I could sail
as close to shore as I liked without giving it another
thought.
Black Skimmer has so many clever and useful design features
(many of which showed up in later Bolger boats), that I
can't list them all. The cat-yawl rig, the giant cockpit
and the bow-well are my favorites.
The solent lug rig worked fine, but unless I was trailering
the boat all the time, I'd stick with the original rig.
Just a personal preference...although dodging the lug-yard
as it comes down in a heavy breeze is a tricky business, and
something you don't have to worry about with the original
rig.
Beyond all else, she's pretty. One of the prettier boats of
any sort I know of. Couple that with her enormous utility,
and it's hard to imagine a better small camp-cruiser for
semi-protected waters. I can't.
I sold mine a few years ago, after my move to the left
coast. I regret her a little...but, I figure, there'll be
another one along when it's time. Hence my previous post to
the list.
Best,
Charles Andrews
SoCal
Perhaps I should introduce myself very briefly. I was one
of the original members of this list, in its first
incarnation 7 years ago. I've been busy with other things
the last few years, although I still have the Bolger Light
Schooner I built, now in storage in the wilds of Gardena.
You can see pics of my schooner in action on the Light
Schooner Page. You can also see pics of my Black Skimmer,
on my first trip to the North Channel in 1996.
I also commissioned the Brigantine shown in Boats with an
Open Mind. There's a boat I really regret, but the money
never showed up to have her built. Still, she's quite a
dream ship--I hope someone builds her, or has her built,
someday.
Ok, enough egoboo.
I bought my Black Skimmer used in 1994. The basic boat was
sound, but the rig needed to be rebuilt. I had a very fine
custom aluminum trailer built for the boat by Trailex of
Canfield, Ohio (I can't recommend Trailex too highly...great
guys, great product, reasonable prices. I had them build a
custom trailer for my Light Schooner also).
I rebuilt the Black Skimmer rig to the solent lug plans Phil
made for another owner. I skipped the elaborate tabernacle
however, in favor of a much more primitive, but still
useable, arrangement. After some months of work on rig and
hull, I took the boat to the North Channel in 1996 and 1997.
The 1997 trip was a single-handed, two-week cruise from
Little Current west about 40 nautical miles to the Turnbull
Island group, and back. It was one of the most intense and
enjoyable experiences of my life (well, maybe not more
intense than 16' breaking swells and 35-knot trades in the
Alinuihaha Channel in the middle of the night on an
open-ocean cruising boat...but, then, that's a whole
different thing from lake sailing!)
The Black Skimmer is, in my estimation--and after studying
many other designs for similar use--the best along-shore
cruising boat I know of. She has impeccable sailing manners
on all points. Sails well in light airs or heavy, has a
light weather helm in nearly all winds with the sails
trimmed correctly; she will self-steer flawlessly on all
points above a beam reach. She's very well-behaved in a
knock-down--that is, she comes right back up with no
problem; she can also handle a fairly nasty sea with aplomb,
assuming reasonably astute helmsman skills (I had her out in
a short, nasty, 4-5 foot chop and while she could be a
little wet, I never had the slightest qualm)--sailed
correctly, in enough wind, Black Skimmer just slices through
even a fairly substantial swell. I have to admit that she's
not much fun in light-airs and a confused sea. She mostly
just sits there bobbing, wondering why you put her in that
position...
She is quite fast in conditions that allow it, even
thrillingly fast.
She sails to windward impeccably, in my view. No, not as
high or as fast as a modern fin-keel boat, but get her
trimmed right, put the leeward board down just-so, and
she'll get you where you want to go. Pressures on the
working board are very, very high in strong winds. Make
sure the lashing block is made of oak, properly bolted, with
no cracks. I once went sailing on a Black Skimmer on Cayuga
Lake in a heavy north wind, everything was great, she was
just steaming along, when, with no warning the lashing block
for the working board split in half. We had to motor home.
Some optimistic type had fabricated the lashing block from
fir or something. Not a good idea.
Her rig is ideal for her service, and about as simple, and
efficient, as such a rig can be.
Black Skimmer will also sail to windward in a foot of water.
That is not hype, she really will.
I found the leeboard arrangement on the boat ideal. I much
prefer it to any other form of lateral resistance, in an
along-shore boat. I also prefer lashed leeboards to fixed
leeboards. Seems like there's less to go wrong with lashed
leeboards, and there is less stress on the structure
overall, at least, in my view.
I would not take her into ultimate open-ocean conditions.
She's not meant for that service. She's an along-shore
boat, for lakes and rivers, estuaries and bays. She's
perfect for snuggling into even the shallowest little cut.
In the North Channel I anchored in several places no-one
else could even consider going. I didn't have to worry
about all the ledges and rocks in the area, so I could sail
as close to shore as I liked without giving it another
thought.
Black Skimmer has so many clever and useful design features
(many of which showed up in later Bolger boats), that I
can't list them all. The cat-yawl rig, the giant cockpit
and the bow-well are my favorites.
The solent lug rig worked fine, but unless I was trailering
the boat all the time, I'd stick with the original rig.
Just a personal preference...although dodging the lug-yard
as it comes down in a heavy breeze is a tricky business, and
something you don't have to worry about with the original
rig.
Beyond all else, she's pretty. One of the prettier boats of
any sort I know of. Couple that with her enormous utility,
and it's hard to imagine a better small camp-cruiser for
semi-protected waters. I can't.
I sold mine a few years ago, after my move to the left
coast. I regret her a little...but, I figure, there'll be
another one along when it's time. Hence my previous post to
the list.
Best,
Charles Andrews
SoCal
--- In bolger@y..., "C. Andrews" <chasds@m...> wrote:
see also the scan of the
old Small Boat Journal
about using a Black Skimmer.
http://www.hallman.org/bolger/BlackSkimmer/
> Always happy to wax on about one of my favorite boats.As long as we are waxing,
see also the scan of the
old Small Boat Journal
about using a Black Skimmer.
http://www.hallman.org/bolger/BlackSkimmer/