Brooks
Sep 26, 2009, 11:37 AM
Here are some photos of John's squarerigger hull. He modeled his on the Berbice, a 1780 foretopsail schooner. We decided a flush deck design, instead of bulwarks, might work better for RC as it would give more room below decks for the gear. Plus, most American topsail schooners were flush decked, at least until the Brits captured them and added bulwarks :-). Berbice was probably one of several American privateers captured then purchased into the Royal navy. She was used as a tender out of Antigua. btw, I've sailed out of English Harbour, Antigua, the old Royal navy dockyard. The entrance is deep but narrow. Frigates (Nelson commanded one), and 2 deckers regularly sailed in and out, long before tugs were available. The seamanship of that era is unsurpassed.
I will try to rig this ship as a brigantine, with the option to convert to the topsail schooner rig. Due to the narrowness of the aft section, and the less buoyancy in consequence, I am not sure whether the ship will support squaresails on the mainmast (like Aldebaran). The original ship did not have mainmast topsails, according to Chapelle.
This hull has a lot of deadrise, meaning that the cross section is triangular below the waterline. Deadrise was a well recognized feature of fast sailing ships. However, it does reduce displacement (and thus cargo capacity). John's hull, while the same length as Aldebaran, has about 1/2 the displacement. It should be pretty fast, I may have to install a secret sea anchor, deployable on My command. Hornblower did that, readers of Forester may recall :-)
I will try to rig this ship as a brigantine, with the option to convert to the topsail schooner rig. Due to the narrowness of the aft section, and the less buoyancy in consequence, I am not sure whether the ship will support squaresails on the mainmast (like Aldebaran). The original ship did not have mainmast topsails, according to Chapelle.
This hull has a lot of deadrise, meaning that the cross section is triangular below the waterline. Deadrise was a well recognized feature of fast sailing ships. However, it does reduce displacement (and thus cargo capacity). John's hull, while the same length as Aldebaran, has about 1/2 the displacement. It should be pretty fast, I may have to install a secret sea anchor, deployable on My command. Hornblower did that, readers of Forester may recall :-)