The Winklebrig Forum

David Peck
Username: David_peck

Registered: 04-2008
   
Posted on Thursday, September 03, 2009 - 11:53 am:      
I have owned Cockle for four summers.
The first year was defined by teething troubles with the engine, no wind, too much wind, grey skies and rain, high Spring Tides, and prevailing Northerlies on a North facing anchorage. Result no sailing to speak of and barely enough hours on the engine to justify its' first service.
The second year didn't happen at all due to one of the trailer's suspension arms collapsing at the bottom of my drive. Better here than at 60mph on the M56 I consoled myself.
The third year was fraught with the new axle causing loads of problems, and once again bad weather exactly as the first year, resulting in virtually no sailing and grey skies.
So to 2009, and a very de-motivated WB owner set off with yet another new axle, a 1350kg Indesuspension unit, this time, for his usual annual Month's holiday in Nefyn N Wales.
Result, four weeks of, no trailing problems, a very obedient out board, blue skies, moderate to strong SW winds and a boat which has exceeded all my expectations. I have, this summer realised what a really great boat the WB is under sail, very quick and well behaved. What a difference blue skies and a fair wind makes!
I'm on a real high, with loads of enthusiasm for a Winters' rigging mods and cabin comfort development, and hopefully loads of good sailing in 2010.

Julian Swindell
Username: Julian_swindell

Registered: 03-2007
   
Posted on Tuesday, July 14, 2009 - 10:10 pm:      
I have had an email form someone living in Weymouth who is keen to try out a Winkle Brig to see if it is the boat for him. He asked if I knew anyone who rented out their Winkle Brig. I don't think there is, but I wondered if anyone would be happy to take him out for a sail? I can pass on email details if there is

James_parsons
Username: James_parsons

Registered: 04-2009
   
Posted on Monday, July 06, 2009 - 10:50 pm:      
Dear all. I see that a few WBs are based at or near Chichester Harbour, which is where I most frequently sail. I wondered if people would be interested in meeting up one weekend in the Summer and sailing to a suitable pub for lunch, or, dependent on weather, popping across together to Isle of Wight and back? Or could overnight and come back next day.
Julian suggested I put my idea on the forum so here it is...
Let me know if you're interested, together with your suggestions, and ideas for dates. I am happy to co-ordinate and make any necessary bookings etc. You can either reply to this thread or email me at jamesparsons(at)btinternet.com.

Roger Parish
Username: Roger_parish

Registered: 03-2007
   
Posted on Thursday, March 19, 2009 - 09:04 pm:      
Great to get the boat back on the water today. The weather was fantastic and just enough wind to fill the sails. Unfortunately there was no crew so only able to take a picture alongside. As usual all the ropes were tangled so this was opportunity to sort things out before the first TSA outing at Easter on north Norfolk Broads. We will be launching at Colin Buttifants Swallowtail Boatyard on Wednesday 8th April. Hope to see other Winkle Brigs over Easter. Hope you all have a enjoyable 2009 sailing season

Martin_cartwright
Username: Martin_cartwright

Registered: 04-2008
   
Posted on Saturday, January 31, 2009 - 04:32 pm:      
This two yearly event in Brittany is taking place 18-24 May. I am thinking of going (Portsmouth-St Malo, then a 3 hour drive). Has anyone been in the past? Is anyone else going?
http://www.semainedugolfe.fr/index.php?langue=gb&mod=

Ben Fraser
Username: Ben_fraser

Registered: 10-2008
   
Posted on Saturday, October 25, 2008 - 10:08 am:      
Does anyone have any information on the stability and heeling angles of a winklebrig, particularly what the angle of vanishing stability is? Either officially or through personal experience!?

Julian Swindell
Username: Julian_swindell

Registered: 03-2007
   
Posted on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - 10:26 am:      
This has been one of the worse sailing seasons I can remember. We have had to run for home and even get towed home on occasions because of the storm force winds over the south coast. Last year wasn't much better. I think I have logged less total distance sailing this year than I did over a long weekend two years ago. How is everyone else doing.

Colin Firth
Username: Colin_firth

Registered: 04-2008
   
Posted on Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 03:12 pm:      
Jenya Tan is planned to take us cruising the Broads this summer. In the past we have used a home made mud weight using a plastic tub with concrete - not v. successful as no suction. Can any WB sailor advise on weight, shape and AVAILABILITY of a suitable mud weight, commercial or home made? We have 2 anchors, the main being a Foblight Aluminium/Magnesium 3.9kg (equivalent to a 10kg steel apparently) with weighted rope, and hope the mud weight will double as an "ANGEL".

Julian Swindell
Username: Julian_swindell

Registered: 03-2007
   
Posted on Friday, April 04, 2008 - 10:08 pm:      
All of the SPAM has been a nuisance, but things have improved. I launched Pelican today, April 4, so the new season is under way. I am keeping her on a swinging mooring for the first time, so it will be interesting to see how it works out. At least I can now come and go at times to suit me and not the oat yard. No sailing yet, just motoring around a few times to practice picking up the mooring.

David Cawston
   
Posted on Monday, February 25, 2008 - 08:21 pm:      
In 4 weeks time we will hopefully be moored up at Hunters Yard on the Norfolk Broads having enjoyed some fabulous sailing over the Easter weekend (well I have to be optimistic don't I). And hopefully I will be in the company of several WBs. So if you have nothing else planned, please try and join in the TSA Easter Cruise (you do not have to be a member but at only £6 per year, it will not break the bank). We will be launching on Good Friday morning at the Swallowtail Boatyard which is almost nextdoor to Hunters and joining the rest of the fleet somewhere up Hickling/Horsey for the first night. Many other TSA boats will launch at Martham Boatyard (not Martham Ferry Boatyard). Let's see how many WBs we can get sailing together. The 4 we had on Windermere last October looked great.

Roger Parish
   
Posted on Saturday, October 06, 2007 - 02:21 pm:      
The Trail Sail Association has arranged a cruise on Windermere over the weekend 19th-20th October. Partan and Markie plan to be there, launching at Fell Foot at south end of lake on Friday 19th. Other members will probably launch at Ferry Nab. Dave Cawston has negotiated a £30 inclusive fee to cover the use of slipway, car and trailer storage and to stay Friday night on the jetty. If anyone intends coming and wants to launch at Fell Foot then let me know. The gates close at 5pm but I will arrive before then and get a key. Hope to see some more Brigs there. If this weather holds it may even be warm!

Julian Swindell
Username: Julian_swindell

Registered: 03-2007
   
Posted on Monday, September 24, 2007 - 03:56 pm:      
I pulled my boat out and took her home yesterday. I shall post a message here shortly giving a brief synopsis of where I went and how it went this year. If others do the same, we can start to build a log of what the Winkle Brigs have been up to this year.

Julian Swindell
Username: Julian_swindell

Registered: 03-2007
   
Posted on Monday, September 03, 2007 - 05:28 pm:      
We had a real adventure last week. My friend Desmond and I (he's a genuine master mariner, I don't take risks) sailed from Poole to the Hamble. I feel I am a real sailor now. We spent the first night at Poole Quay Haven (£14), which allowed us a full english breakfast ashore before setting out. Then motoring into an East wind we reached Chrischurch Harbour, where we went in on top of the tide to pick up an empty mooring for lunch. The entrance is complicated. It doesn't seem possible that the channel markers can be so close to the shore, but they really are. The outgoing ebb tide reached nearly 7kt.
Then we carried on motoring to Yarmouth via the North channel, just in time to get the turn of the tide to take us past Hurst Point. Yarmouth is beautiful (£10 per night). Next morning we sailed back and forth across the Solent, going deep into Newtown River. When the tide turned we had to motor and it was touach and go that we got into Southampton Water against it. Then across to the Hamble where we motored right up to Bursledon, where Desmond's cousin owns the Elephant Boatyard and we put up there for the final night. The main point we proved was that two 6ft 3in men can sleep in a Winkle Brig for three nights without killing each other! I chickened out of the return journey and trailered Pelican back to Poole. Real sailing!

Julian Swindell
Username: Julian_swindell

Registered: 03-2007
   
Posted on Monday, July 30, 2007 - 11:40 am:      
I know some of us can go sailing nearly every day and some just have the odd outing they trail to. I would be interested to hear how often people get to go sailing during the year.
For myself, my boat sits in my garden from October to April, I'm a summer sailor. From April to September I keep her rigged on a trailer at Rockley Boat Park on Poole Harbour. I drive down most decent weekends which I think usually works out about 20 times a year. Some times I just go for the day, but I try to go for at least one overnight out if I can, so I suppose I manage about 30 days sailing a year. Not too bad when I live 90 miles from the coast! How often does anyone else get out?

Julian Swindell
Username: Julian_swindell

Registered: 03-2007
   
Posted on Wednesday, May 09, 2007 - 04:32 pm:      
There have been a few comments on problems with tacking the WB on other threads, so I thought I would start a thread on this subject. Here's how I do it when sailing solo:
1: Try to ensure the leeward board is down and that the boat speed is high. I'll bear away (or is that bare away , I'm never sure) if necessary.
2: Push the tiller down slightly, then as the boat starts to turn, push it right down and simultaneously move across the boat to the downwind side (this movement of body-ballast seems crucial on my own).
3: All being well the boat comes round until the foresail backs. I let it back hard and turn the boat whilst I centre the tiller, and only then do I let out the old sheet and pull in the new. All being well I sail off happy.
4: If I remember (I usually don't), it is then up with the windward board and down with the leeward one.

To aid single handedness, I have a rope jambed in a cleat under the tiller to hold it in any position I want. This keeps her sailing in the right direction whilst I sort out the foresail.

Where I have real problems is tacking when reefed in a strong wind. She just won't quite go through the wind on most attempts. Any suggestions?

Julian Swindell
   
Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2007 - 08:17 pm:      
I can't take my boat to the water and make it drink until April. Is anyone else afloat yet? Does any hardy soul sail all winter? I quite enjoy the winter break, sorting out all the little changes, moving cleats 5mm one way or the other (usually back to where they were in the first place) and then looking forward to the spring boat jumbles, where I can buy even more stuff I don't really need. I finished repainting and varnishing today and the fitting a fixed boom gallows at the back (more on that later). I'm almost ready to sail again, apart from the brakes :-(

Julian Swindell
   
Posted on Wednesday, March 14, 2007 - 01:49 pm:      
I currently sail in and from Poole Harbour. superb area for small the, shallow draft boats.

I have sailed in the Dart estuary, but it is small and you soon have to sail out into the open sea. Scary...

Paul Thomas
Username: Paul_thomas

Registered: 01-2011
   
Posted on Saturday, April 27, 2013 - 03:48 pm:      
A helpful passer by has informed me that the blue colour of Partan's hull is a British Standard colour, and that as such I should be able to get paint to match it. As there are a few scratches and quite a few blemishes in the gel coat I was considering repainting the whole hull, but some matching paint would allow me to merely touch it up a bit where necessary. Does anyone know about such things? I have found numerous colour charts on www but they all have different numbers and names. I would like to know what colour/number to ask for. I imagine this info would be of interest to most owners.

Geoffrey Osborn
Username: Geoffrey_osborn

Registered: 01-2009
   
Posted on Sunday, June 17, 2012 - 05:01 pm:      
While towing Calidris back home for spring fitting out the sliding hatch disappeared.
Fortunately the hatch had not caused any harm to anyone as the prevailing wind had taken it well off the road to the nearside verge. I went back to look for it and found it in the long grass it had taken the top washboard staple & hasp and padlock with it. It was damaged but repairable. The upper washboard was smashed to pieces, but I found enough to draw up for a replacement. My questions are:- has anyone else had a hatch that was not secure? What stops a secure hatch from coming off? What is the normal procedure for removing the hatch, and replacing it?

David_owens
Username: David_owens

Registered: 04-2010
   
Posted on Saturday, March 31, 2012 - 09:14 am:      
My Winklebrig is the newer type with bilge boards fixed by bolts tightened easily with an allen key. I take the bilge boards out every year and clean and anitfoul them. Last year one of the bilge boards had an audible vibration, but only at a certain speed. This year the vibration is much worse and at most speeds, though still confined to one bilge board only. Does anyone else have this problem - and how do I fix it? As the boat is in the water, I can't see them directly, but I know I tightened up the allen bolts tightly before launching