The Winklebrig Forum

Hello Winkle Friends,

the new season comes closer, at the first of April VROUW KIRSTEN will be back in her element. Not many time left to do all the things she requires: renewing varnish on bulwark and baseboard, cleaning the hull and renewing anti-fouling after two years, the top-light have to be replaced because of leakage which was caused by a little  crack in the body and some more little jobs.

Nothing big, but it needs time and have to be done until beginning of March. In March a professional boatbilder will coat the seats in the cockpit with oak 

Photos will follow.

Remember - Preparation for the new season - it is not far off!

Gerold

 Just to complete my post: Since my first post in May I had some trips at my home area and the Baltic sea and got more experience with the good-tempered character of my VROUW KIRSTEN. It is not a problem to sail at 5 to 6 Beaufort, unless you have enought space and listen to the boats knowledge. She still shows whats to do and I felt very comfortable in several situations wth strong wind and whitecaps around me. All nautical manoeuvres, properly accomplished, promoted  my confidence with this boat.
Maybe the bulwark is a little low, I will think about that, especially at sea it is very comfortable to have a little more support.

Kind regards

Gerold

Hello,

I prefer to let the mast into the tabernacle, fixing boom and gaffel at the boom gallow and a second, larger and mobile boom gallow for the mast. All other infos to fix the hull you can read above I have made too.

If the bridges on your way are high enough you may transport your WB as shown at the photo below 

But - to be honest, I didn´t   

Hello Paul,

at my trailer (Roller Coaster 3) I have enough space to replace the bilgeboards if the boat is still on the trailer. 

By the way, the new bilge boards worked excellent at my trip to the baltic sea last week. The additional weight regarding to the ones before made of wood/iron feets gave more stability not only under strong conditions 

I will check the bilge board housings next winter because they looked in need to renovation.

Kind regards

Gerold

Hello Martin,

I think your book Needs no plugging - it is excellent!

Could you make a photo of the way you fixed the staysail at the boat? I am undecided if I should fix the staysail at the bow sprit or direct at the bow of the winklebrig.
I believe the bow itself would be the right place, but I am not shure which equipment would be the right, f.e. a hull plate or an eye bolt or eye plate. 

Thanks a lot for your help!

Gerold

Just had a discussion regarding style, dimension and benefits of one or two foresails at the Winklebrig. I found several pictures of WB´s with two foresails. Does anyone have experiences with this and may write them down here?

Thanks a lot


Gerold

Last sunday we did it at 4-5 Beaufort, some squalls up to 6 Beaufort. With a crew of 4 men we had really wet feet but enough ballast.
And a lot of fun!

Hello you,

the new saison has started, unfortunatly each weekend with strong wind up to 5 Beaufort, guts up to 7 Beaufort. To be honest, not my preferred wind force.

Today I ´ve been again at my boat bridge and looked sceptical to lots of sea spray over the waves, again 4 to 5 Beaufort and strong guts.

My question to the one´s with more experience: Am I correct if I think the range of 2 to max. 4 Beaufort is the most comfortable and definitly reasonable range of wind for a Winklebrig single handed and fitted with standard sails (hight peak gaff and foresail).

May be I am a little worried but it is my second season and I am still leraning.

Thanks a lot for your points of view!


Gerold

Hello,

in 2016 I was very satisfied with the power of my Torqueedo at each situation. But, to be honest, on a lake of app. 38 sq km  are not so many difficult situations.

This year I launched the WB 120 at strong wind of 5 to 6 Beaufort, squalls up to 7 Beaufort. I had to transfer the boat leaving one small cove against the wind, app. 400 m parallel to the wind and at least back into another cove with tailwind.  It was a distance of app. 1 km with remarkable waves and the boat danced in a vivacious manner 

The Torqueedo worked full power and gave for the distance 10% of battery charge. I could control the boats movement direction safely all the time.

Gerold

Hello David,

you are right with the weigth, 24 kg´s per board is correct. I did not use any coating because normally I am sailing in freshwater and corrosion may be a problem in a few years. Only 1 or 2 weeks a year we are visiting saltwater. The only thing I added was a PTFE sleeve between the stainless steel retaining pin and the blade  to avoid electrochemical corrosion.

I have reduced the weight of each board a little chamfer each blade a little like a wedge. But at least I only lost 2 kg´s per side because I want to save the width of the boards for guide in the housings. To avoid scratching in the housings I rounded the edges at the upper side on the whole length.

VROUW KIRSTEN will be back in her element in the second week of April. After my first trip I will add my personal experience with the new boards.

Kind regards


Gerold

Hello David,

thanks a lot, but I have the bilge boards ready  . During installation I will add your tip with the rubber parts.

Kind regards

Gerold

Hello,
after several problems last year i have made an inspection of the bilge boards. Both made of epoxy coated marine ply with iron legs. I found the coating was fractured so water could break into the ply. 
I decided to renew both boards using a water resistant alumina. Because of the higher specific weight I have to optimize the shape on my milling machine.
Please find enclosed, if interested, the technical drawing for the raw shape of the biilge board. Photos of the new boards will be posted later.

Kind regards

Gerold

Now the new clothing store is nearly ready. The solution for the anchor chain system has to wait until the next winter, but the first step is done.
Thank you for the suggestions and images!
Kind regards

Gerold

Hello ,

the spring is coming closer, from first of April we will be on the water again. But - there is a lot to do until VROUW KIRSTEN will be in her element again.

Regarding to our discussion last year the tiller was one of my projects. A combination of a 1.4571 stainless steel rudder blade, 4 mm thick, raisable, with a new helm stock made of glued layers of  oak to avoid any warping of the oak. I have used a Bindulin 2 components glue.

I have made shape of the new tiller close to the template of Martin, which I felt was perfect. Because of the hollow blade housing I will have to manufacture a reinforced lower holder to cominate the axle of the blade with em.

I will add the techncial drawing and a photo of finished tiller when it is ready.

Greetings to all the ones working at the boat!

Gerold

Although I believe  as a Winklebrig owner you are still lucky I want to send you all the best wishes for Christmas and a Happy New Year!