Seabat / Beachcomber dinghy help

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bornagainmothie
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Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2012 1:28 pm

Seabat / Beachcomber dinghy help

Post by bornagainmothie »

We have had a couple of Go Boating open days at Greensforge over the last weekends, so quite a few new recruits for membership and beginners sailing courses. One of our visitors was asking if we could help him set up a Seabat dinghy. He has never assembled it and is concerned about where the ropes go and what will need replacing.
We had a good chat about what bits he has, and a look at some photos of the boat, which looks complete and in fairly good shape. It will be a few weeks before he brings the boat over, which will hopefully be when he starts on our RYA Level 1 course.

Knowing that the CVRDA contains a wealth of information and experts in lost classes, I came here to do some research and have already learned (thanks to Trebor and his Aquabat website) that its probably not a Seabat but a Beachcomber!
The owner told me it was 13ft long and the photos clearly showed a cockpit.

Any thoughts on what we might need to get it working?

Cheers

Lyndon
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trebor
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Re: Seabat / Beachcomber dinghy help

Post by trebor »

Hi Lyndon,
Nigel's got one, the pictures on my website are of him sailing, I never got to sail Aquabat against Beachcomber, to compare performance, he is best person to ask about what bits he needs.
Robert
Minisprint 4230
Tinker Traveller 160
Mirror 61147 Anastasia
http://www.aquabatdinghy.co.uk
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trebor
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Re: Seabat / Beachcomber dinghy help

Post by trebor »

What a coincidence, their is one for sale on ebay, never seen this variant though, this one appears to have a cockpit.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sea-Bat-vinta ... 33a2917038
Robert
Minisprint 4230
Tinker Traveller 160
Mirror 61147 Anastasia
http://www.aquabatdinghy.co.uk
bornagainmothie
Posts: 222
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2012 1:28 pm

Re: Seabat / Beachcomber dinghy help

Post by bornagainmothie »

odd isn't it?, you don't see one for years, then the market is flooded with them!

I was going to ask how rare it might be? :o

The ebay one looks like plywood, our friend's is GRP with a larger, topper sized cockpit.
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trebor
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Re: Seabat / Beachcomber dinghy help

Post by trebor »

Their are more Seabats and Beachcombers than Aquabats, you only get about one Aquabat per year turn up but approx 10 of Lateen rigged variants.
I have had 12 enquiries via my website the last couple of years, I know to one Aquabat rigged with a full Laser rig.
The membership secretary at my club had a Sunfish years ago, he said it was an easy boat to sail, due to having only one sail control.
Robert
Minisprint 4230
Tinker Traveller 160
Mirror 61147 Anastasia
http://www.aquabatdinghy.co.uk
Nigel
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Location: Thornbury SC, Bristol

Re: Seabat / Beachcomber dinghy help

Post by Nigel »

Ah the Beachcomber.....it is sobering to think that the Laser could have ended up this good if only they had persevered with it.


Beachcomber 13ft LOA, Seabat 11ft 6in LOA.

The sail insignia are very similar. The Beachcomber is a black solid "B" shape. The seabat is similar but with a white thin "S" superimposed.

A few variants over the year - Aquabat being the latest with a Una Bermudan rig. I think the ones with the foredeck extended past the daggerboard are always wood and were a design modification to simplify (home) building.

Seabat did not originally have a footwell but it would be an easy change on a home build and I have seen a couple like that.

Rigging:

uphaul - tied onto the top spar at the convenient gap in the sail sleeve, through a hole in the wooden plug at the top of the mast and down to one of the cleats either side of the mast base (or on the mast itself)

"gooseneck" - either a metal ring that goes around the mast of a "figure of 8" type lashing - I added a bike seat post clamp to give the lashing something to butt up against

Downhaul - just a line down from th gooseneck to the second deck cleat. I added a block at the boom and riveted a combined block/cleat windsurfer thingy to themast to give more purchase.

Mainsheet = rear sheeted 1 to 1. Tied to the boom then through a block on a rope horse to your hand

Easy to sail but needs some wind as not very efficient. Points better on one tack than the other due to the mast interfering with the sail shape but you can choose which side to put the sail on the day depending on the course.

Very stable due to the centre of effort in the sail being so low and it actually carries a lot of sail area due to it being an inefficient design upwind. Downwind on a windy day it can really fly and even upset the shiny new boats occasionally - you will also probably be the last person out there as the wind picks up.

Nigel
Nigel
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Re: Seabat / Beachcomber dinghy help

Post by Nigel »

should have added -

sail - booms go though sleeves and the end of each boom is tied off to the sail leach to give it some tension. The twin booms are attached to each other by interlocking rings
bornagainmothie
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Re: Seabat / Beachcomber dinghy help

Post by bornagainmothie »

Thanks Nigel,

The owner said it was 13ft because he had measured it after being asked by another sailing club.

Interesting you mention additional fittings for a gooseneck, as one of his concerns was rusting jubilee clips around the mast. I wonder if that was some attempt at a gooseneck. We will see when he brings it along.

I will pass on your tips and the website details. Hopefully a new recruit for all of us :)
Nigel
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Location: Thornbury SC, Bristol

Re: Seabat / Beachcomber dinghy help

Post by Nigel »

My pleasure.

Happy to help.

I would get rid of the jubilee clips. The way the rig works, the more important function is to stop the rig moving forward in relation to the mast hence the bike seat post clamp on the lower boom to act as a stop for the figure of 8 lashing.

Is it wood or fibreglass?

Nigel
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