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Lots of boats come to Oriental, some tie up at the Town Dock for a night or two, others drop anchor in the harbor for a while. If you've spent any time on the water you know that every boat has a story. The Shipping News on TownDock.net brings you the stories of the boats that have visited recently.
September 26, 2014
“I‘d never built one.” Art Halpern says of his decades working on boats. “I’ve built every part of a boat you can imagine.” But constructing one from the keel up was something he didn’t do until moving to Oriental a few years ago. After two years of creating “Felix,” Art can now say he’s built a boat from scratch.Felix, though, is not just any boat. For starters, it is, like its cartoon feline namesake, a “wonderful cat.” The 37-foot long wood composite vessel is one of the largest catboats of its style on the East Coast.
Felix’s low free board and shoal draft were inspired by century old work boats. With her centerboard raised, she draws 3 feet. With the board lowered, she draws 10 feet.The main cabin is one large compartment. It is divided longitudinally by the long, narrow centerboard case. Art is still finishing the interior.For decades, Art and his wife Terry lived and sailed in St Thomas, US Virgin Islands. Art worked as a mechanic, repaired diesel engines and supplied batteries to boaters. A few years ago, the Halperns moved to Oriental. Art decided to build a boat.
He settled on a design influenced by Barnegat Bay catboats. Art describes them as, “work boats that carried lots of sail to get them home in light air”. To deal with the area’s shallow waters, the craft had a centerboard that could be lifted to access shoal areas. For stability, they relied on wide beam, up to 50 percent of the boat’s length on deck.
Art wanted a boat that would sail well, even in light airs. For that, Art says, “you need lots of sail area and minimum wetted area.” The design that caught his eye was Charles Mower’s “Spy” design from the early 1920s.
The line drawings for Charles Mower’s 1924 “Spy” design. The top, side on view, illustrates the vessel’s distinct features. Instead of a large fixed keel that runs the length of the hull, the design relies primarily on the centerboard for lateral resistance. The rudder hangs on a large wooden skeg that ends just aft the centerboard.As much as he liked the design, there were some things he wanted to change. The original plans did not show an engine. Art wanted one. The centerboard reflected the building materials available at the time – iron and timber. This resulted in a large centerboard that occupied a good deal of the cabin. Art thought it would be better to have a long, narrow, foil-shaped centerboard. This would give the board more lift, allowing the boat to sail closer to the wind. It would also take up less interior room.
He enlisted naval architect Morgan MacDonald to redraw the almost-century old lines. Art built Felix based on this new set of drawings.
A photo of the new set of line drawings that reflect the changes made to the old design. The large centerboard has been replaced by a long, narrow one and the skeg in front of the rudder has been shortened. The original design was stretched to 37 feet. The pencil marks and stains were incurred in the course of Felix’s construction.One unusual thing about Felix is how she’s powered. For motoring, most sailboats this size rely on an inboard engine attached to a propeller via a steel shaft. When the boat is under sail, the shaft and propeller create drag.
Art felt there was a better way. He designed and built a propulsion unit that would retract in to the hull when not needed. A 12-horsepower diesel generator drives a hydraulic pump. Hydraulic lines lead from the pump to a propeller assembly mounted in a tube. When the motor is needed, the unit is lowered in the water. To reduce drag while under sail, the propeller retracts up the tube, in to the boat. Art estimates this reduces drag by 10 to 15 percent, and lets him “add a few knots of speed”.
The generator that drives the hydraulic pump resides below the cockpit sole. The straight end of the varnished mahogany rests on the end of the centerboard. The round end covers the well in which the propeller unit resides.A closer view of the pulley arrangement used to raise and lower the propulsion unit in its circular well.The propeller in the motoring position. It is designed around a 9.9 horsepower high thrust Yamaha outboard engine lower unit. The unit retracts in to the hull. In the raised position, the circular disk forms a seal against the hull, reducing water turbulence. (Art and Terry Halpern photo)A traditional shaft and propeller aren’t the only things missing from the bottom of Felix’s hull. Absent in the underbody is a keel.
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Most monohull sailboats Felix’s size rely on a heavy keel for stability and to keep them upright. As the boat heels over, the heavy weight acts as a counterbalance, overcoming the sail’s tendency to push the boat on its side.
Not so with Felix. This cat does not have a ballast keel or internal ballast. Instead, to remain upright under sail, she relies on a wide beam. Felix is 14 feet wide. Much like a person standing with their legs spread wide, this makes it harder for the sails to push the boat over on its side.
The head-on view. In naval architecture terms, the wide beam gives Felix plenty of “form stability”.Viewed from aft, the wide beam is especially apparent.A wide, clear view for the helmsmanArt Halpern built Felix with this lack of ballast in mind. For its length, the boat is light. It displaces 8,500 pounds. The weight is concentrated as low as possible in the hull. The diesel engine, stoutly built centerboard case and the centerboard are located just at or below the waterline. The decks are three-quarter inch plywood sheathed in fiberglass. The top of the cabin house is one half inch thick. Instead of heavy stringers, frames and bulkheads, Art says the laminated cabin house sides add most of the longitudinal stiffness.
Higher up, where cutting weight brings the most stability benefits, the boat is built with the lightest materials possible. The carbon fiber mast – at 60+ feet – weighs 125 pounds. Instead of metal wire rigging, the spar is held up with low stretch synthetic line. High tech laminates were used to build the sails.
The intersection of heavy and light materials as viewed from the forward compartment. The dark, carbon fiber mast rests on the mast step in the bottom of the hull.The mast is held upright with high tech synthetic line. Here, the terminal fittings that secure some of the rigging to the hull.For all the emphasis on performance, the boat features some lighter touches such as this cartoon figure inlaid in the front of the wood cabin house. “Felix,” says Art, “was named for the magic cat.”Up next, building Felix.
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Art started building Felix in 2012 in a shed at Sailcraft Services boatyard. While he did much of the work himself, he credits Alan Arnfast and the marina crew with helping him get the boat finished in a timely manner. (Construction photos by Art and Terry Halpern)
Work on Felix began in spring of 2012. To provide the hull’s shape, a series of computer-cut molds were aligned and secured. Here, the ash stem and backbone have been installed. The first strips of cedar have been epoxied in place. Ross Halpern stands behind the pump that mixes the epoxy resin and hardener in the proper ratio. Also assisting with construction was Kevin Hamilton.Thin strips of milled cedar are edge-glued to each other with epoxy resin. They are held in place with plastic nails fired from a pneumatic nailer. Later, instead of removing them, as is traditionally done in this form of construction, they will be left in place when the molds were removed. Art says this saved lots of filling and sanding of nail holes.The hull is sheathed in three layers of fiberglass. This adds strength and prevents the wood strips from absorbing water.The hull was built upside down. Here, using a special cradle, the hull is being turned right side up so the centerboard case, decks and cabin house can be installed.The floors, wood supports that span the center of the hull, are installed. The first bulkheads and the centerboard are also bonded in place. Aside from these few structural elements the hull is, and will remain, lightly built.The centerboard is built. It is foil-shaped to give the hull lift. This helps the boat sail closer to the wind than the flat board it would have been traditionally rigged with. So it will sink away from the hull when it is lowered, lead is added.
After two years of building, Felix was ready for launching. Art says without all the help of friends, family, hired help and volunteers, he wouldn’t have been able to complete the large project nearly as quickly.
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Art says Felix’s build was as much about meeting new people as it was constructing a vessel. On May 29 many friends and onlookers gathered to watch his creation take to the water.
Looking back on Felix’s build, Art says going from a person who’s worked on lots of boats but never built one, “wasn’t as big a leap as you’d imagine.”
Now he’s making the transition from boat builder back to boat sailor and Art says he feels “a bit sorry” that construction is done. It’s been bitter-sweet, the completion of “Felix.” With the boat now moored off his back yard, he doesn’t get as many visitors as when he was building her and so many people stopped by.
Now that there is a boat to sail, Art plans to take Felix on the Pamlico Sound for starters. There may be some more distant coastal cruising in the mix, too. So far, Felix has sailed to expectations – on one outing, she sailed 8 knots in 10 knots of wind.