Category: Nesting-PT 11 updates

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Having a bailer in a dinghy is a very important thing. Dinghy sailing in gusty wind can get wet, especially if the captain is not paying attention and dips the rail. Russell came up with a handy bailer idea. ptwatercraft.comThis oblong fabric softener bottle offers both a wide mouth scoop and a low profile that fits neatly below the seat tongue. Stashed inside for minor spray is a sponge. This green sponge was a waste of pennies. It does little more than spread spray water. A good absorbent sponge like this PVA sponge or 3M C41 7456-T is a much better choice. I personally like these pop-up sponges but they do not hold up well if left outside, which is kind of the point environmentally.. 😉 DSC09645This bailer installation does not interfere with nesting. There is room to spare. We used carbon glue on eyestraps and a bungee cord to keep the bailer stored out of the way but within quick reach.

If you capsize, sweeping the water out with your arm or sloshing out the water before getting back in gets most water out. See it all on this video.  PTW :-) PT Watercraft website

 

 

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The water is cold here. The idea of jumping into it takes some courage so this video has been put off for way too long.  Russell actually did about 8 capsizes while I happily recorded them....or so I thought. In sunlight I could not see if I was recording or not and guess what... I had some nice video of my feet, and Russell getting ready to capsize.. I had to ask him to do it all again and by this time he was pretty chilled with teeth chattering and all. Well, he persevered and I got in there afterwards so that he would not be the only one to freeze, and because I had never done it before! It was much easier than I thought it would be. Lucky me had a wet suit but the initial shock of the cold water was not wasted on me even through the wetsuit. So the footage we got was limited but hopefully fun and informative. If for some reason you cannot view it, please let me know.  I did use some music that may cause it to block. If that happens, I will have to change the tunes.. PTW 😉

PT11 Capsize video

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We took the sailing option very seriously for the PT 11 and it's a good thing we did. Most of the PT 11 builders have chosen our rig and foils.  The sailing performance of this boat is not only measured in sailing ability, but also in simplicity and ease of setting up the rig. Setting up and breaking down a sailing rig is always a bit of work, especially if you are doing it alongside a cruising boat. It's true that the easier the set-up, the more one goes sailing. Our rig is as light and easy to use as possible.         The carbon fiber mast is two-piece and sleeves together. The boom carries all of the hardware and running rigging. The gooseneck fitting is made by us. It has no moving parts, installs instantly, and is held to the mast by the sail and vang. High quality snap and "S" hooks make set-up significantly faster.

The sail is small (54 sq. ft.), but it's a powerhouse, thanks to a good sail designer, Sandy Goodall. The sails are made from our favorite sail cloth, Dimension Polyant.(TM)

The PT 11 sailing rig is sold complete and ready to use.

The rig comes in its own bag measuring  just over 8ft long..

ptwatercraft.comIn the bag, carbon mast, boom, running rigging, and 54 ft sq sail.    All this weighs 13 pounds!

ptwatercraft.comOut haul and main sheet tackle.

ptwatercraft.comGooseneck and vang  The red part is the sleeve on the sail.

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ptwatercraft.comHaving fun!

ptwatercraft.com

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A new video has been posted showing the PT Eleven nesting dinghy being towed at 9 and 15 knots. Check it out here: Towing the PT 11

Also, as a heads up, we have yet to update our PT 11 water tight hatch blog. It just got lost in the stack of "to-do's". Since our original hatch blog last year, we offer an improved hatch kit with our PT 11 kits. This has recently come to my attention because this outdated blog has been referenced on some forums and I thought, hmmm, we need to fix this... Thus, a new post will soon be up. Coming soon, we will have 2 additional sizes of water tight hatch kits designed with the SCAMP in mind. Thanks to Howard Rice and Josh Colvin of Small Craft Adviser magazine, our hatch design has gained the interest of SCAMP builder's. A detailed post about this will also follow soon. PTW :)

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A good friend of ours decided to be a beta builder for a Non-nesting version of the PT Eleven. He wanted a fun sailing dinghy for his grandson. Yesterday, word got out that he was launching the boat that he began in June. Lots of curious friends showed up to give it a spin. I am totally hooked on dinghy sailing now... So congratulations Alex on a lovely little boat. "Pata" will be at the wooden boat festival this coming weekend, Sept. 7,8 and 9th!  PTW

ptwatercraft.comptwatercraft.comptwatercraft.comptwatercraft.com

 

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We have developed a case to carry and protect your stored dagger board and rudder for the PT11. We are using a fabric called "Evolution"(tm) or "Block-out", designed for classic car covers. It is water repellant and breathable so you can put your foils in the case wet. These bags are not padded but the fabric is slightly cushioned and chafe resistant, and  the case is double stitched with heavy, UV protected Polyester thread. Our design is streamlined and fitted to the foils shape. Separate pockets house the dagger board and the rudder while a single flap closes both openings, secured with 2" x 9" Velcro.  Custom made in the USA. Retail price of $90

ptwatercraft.comptwatercraft.comptwatercraft.comptwatercraft.com

http://www.ptwatercraft.comShown above with the PT Swift applique.

Close up detail of the fabric texture showing both sides. ptwatercraft.comSee the options offered for the PT Eleven nesting dinghy.

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FOILS (DAGGER BOARD AND RUDDER) KIT
Foils are like wings that operate underwater. As with sails, the shape of the foils directly affects performance. The PT 11 sails amazingly well against the wind, mostly due to good foils.
Dinghy foils are usually either very expensive or they are crude and inefficient. The PT 11 foils are neither, but like the boat itself there are multiple glass & epoxy steps to make them long lasting. One could just epoxy coat them and go sailing, but from our perspective that would be a waste of very high quality plywood and a lot of CNC machine time.
The kick-up rudder design is something we are proud of. The case is fun to build, works very well, and folds for stowing.
Building the case requires multiple epoxy steps and can be done while finishing the foils.

Our foils kit contents are shown in this picture, along with the optional tiller and hiking stick. The foils are a machined NACA .012 section.ptwatercraft.com

A detail of the steering hardware package; Note the scribe marks on the rudder case walls for aligning the pintels.ptwatercraft.com

The rudder and dagger-board are machined in halves from high grade Okoume plywood.

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The halves are then glued together and vacuum bagged in our shop before shipping to the builder.ptwatercraft.comThis picture shows the finished foils.ptwatercraft.com

The Rudder folds for easy storage. ptwatercraft.comSee the OPTIONS PAGE on our website for prices.

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Thank you Randy, for surprising us with  this video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYMEamd3ME8

Randy's channel also features the Boatschool cutting the PT 11 in half. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7xLYkaX4LA&feature=relmfu

Cheers! PTW