machone

Member

Registered: 26 Oct 2020

Posts: 3

Jimmy Skiff I

Hello FyneBoatKit forum!

I do not know why I have not been on the forum before, I don’t think I knew it was here. I purchased the Jimmy Skiff plans and I think some resin in 2013. I have the first picture of bits of wood looking like the outline of a boat in 2014 so I must have properly started it then. I was wondering why it took me so long but browsing through the photos I realise there has been a move, deaths, marriage, two job changes and a child during that time, so no wonder! Certainly I spent more than the 11 or 15 days advertised(ridiculous!).

Anyway, launched last year and named after my Sister in law who used my nice bits of marine ply as ramps for moving heavy stuff into a removal van while I was at work, Dase has been both fun and challenging to build and sail!

The first sail was on my own as the boat was finished shortly after my Daughter was born. I remember taking lots of great photos and videos and she sailed beautifully, and quite fast compared to other boats on the water. Unfortunately, the photos ended up at the bottom of the Ijsselmere along with one crock, some keys and my pride. The KNRM plucked me out and dragged the half submerged Dase to shore after my wife had called because she realised after the fifth time the sail came up and went down again that I would not be able to stop the boat being submerged.

Since then I have been sailing her quite a bit, with the addition of some buoyancy bags lashed under the thwarts. She is quite lively and you have to concentrate in gusty conditions. I can see why the Jimmy Skiff II design has the changes it does, all of them make sense to me. However, I don’t have the time to build another one so Jimmy Skiff I ‘Dase’ will do!

,

spclark

Member

From: "Driftless" Wisconsin USA

Registered: 19 Mar 2020

Posts: 465

Re: Jimmy Skiff I

Yes, well glad your first venture turned out well! We’ve been learning about how these sailboats can be finicky when new builders first launch them! I’m more often posting to that Waterlust in Norway thread, and the OP along with another builder in the UK are well ahead of me on the ‘recovering from capsize’ learning curve....

Seems ballast isn’t a bad idea, makes these craft a little more stable when their waterlines are higher than if sailed empty.

machone

Member

Registered: 26 Oct 2020

Posts: 3

Re: Jimmy Skiff I

Hi spclark

My boat is a Jimmy Skiff I, not a waterlust, but as a sailing kayak a waterlust will be quite narrow and with the instability that comes with that. If one of the builders is in Bergen that’s not too far from where I work and sail my Jimmy Skiff. I haven’t capsized since that first trip and she is fun to sail. I think the first capsize was in a way good, because I was a bit too relaxed and I would not have thought about extra buoyancy. It happened in about a 1m sea when the wind died. I left the sail up and started rowing and caught a wave on the stern which threw the boat off balance and it just kept going. Easy enough to right but without buoyancy and with the waves, not a hope of bailing out.

Sailing in the fjords here in Norway the winds are fluky and Dase is not the sort of boat you can sit back and drink a coffee in, you have to be attentive or she will try and tip you over. 2 up, she is more stable but not great going upwind in light airs more than single handed. I might have made the mast a bit ‘chunky’ which doesn’t help with stability but then again it is an unsupported mast so needs a bit of strength. It flexes quite a bit in a strong blow.

These are observations from 18months sailing. I have sailed mirrors, a grebe, lasers and wafarers previously and I would say this boat falls between a laser and a mirror for stability. They are not complaints, I chose to build the design and I am hoping to sail this boat for years, with any luck. However, had the II been available when I started I think I would have gone for that. I think extra buoyancy should be mentioned in the plans and I do think any builder should anticipate spending longer than advertised on a build, unless they don’t mind a rough and not very durable finish. Still gives me a thrill every time I launch, though, and I don’t think that feeling would be the same from an off the shelf fiberglass alternative.