This article is not about changing the world of sail, just another variation on an old theme. Some of my best sailing was on an old 30 footer Ranger class with Egyptian cotton sails that reached 5 knots on the best days. Not fast, but peaceful and relaxing with the little sail at the front and the big one at the back, proped up against the cabin gazing back at where you'd been, and just being out there.

   So what is the link from that to a 16ft aluminium tri with a wing sail? That same feeling of an easy sail and just being out there. How we got there was a long round about route but the short version is a couple of articles about the Walker Wingsailer and others in magazines around 10 years ago and although I liked the idea, something seemed wrong and I thought it could be done better. I still think it can be done better but at least now its simpler and doesn't need a complex computer and hydraulic system to drive it.

  Actually the first boat that I built 10 years ago was a 12ft ply mono with a ply and fabric wing. The initial idea was to design a boat that could be built by nearly anyone with a jigsaw and drill in a few weekends. It worked too, but had limitations and was sensitive to gusts of wind when the wing powered upand either a/ threw you over or b/ tended to rip the mast from the boat.On the plus side the wing worked well and is great in light conditions. The problem was that the wing was balanced closely to the centre of effort and only needed a very small sheet to control it. This was a great asset until those gusts came and as the wing was balanced there was no way to sheet off the extra power and trying to kick it out with 1 hand on the tiller, the rest of you trying to balance the boat and stay in it was not easy. The answer was a tail.

  This of course bought in a heap of new worries such as how big, where to put it and how to control it. Also at this time I remarried, a lovely girl from the Philippines. After travelling over there and watching their simple boats putting along at around 10 kts with just a Briggs and Stratton pump engine, their designs appealed to me greatly , especially when they travelled miles out to sea in these tiny boats usually towing a string of smaller ones as well!! The idea of combining the simple ply planked tri with a wing was born although a twin winged cat seemed a good idea too. The main worry here was that for me ply and epoxy seemed a bit uncertain as an amateur cannot readily see the difference between a good job and a bad one.So, I'm sorry for not writing about another boat in timber or glass and some may think Aluminium is not for the amateur but there is no reason why not.

   Yes the skills are different but they can be learnt. I had never used a MIG welder before this project and even my stick welding skills were at best "bodgy". But desire and patience are great teachers, a MIG is not that expensive (I used a standard Ryobi 150E purchased new for $850) and the metal from a national supplier (Aluminium Specialties) at very good prices.A nylon liner for the Mig wire is essential for good feed and also an auto darkening helmet, which are available for around $180. The first tri tinnie was built at home in the carport. Anyone who has tried to weld Aluminium outside in the wind would know the result is not inspiring. A shed is a must and thanks to Yallaroi Shire Council was later aquired.

  The shed also boasted a level concrete floor and is a great play area for the kids. This is essential to prevent the "you're never home" routine that some readers could empathise with. Learning to use the Mig was trial and error and error and error etc, but it does get there after a while. The wing for this boat was a 32sqft all aluminium, even the skin and it was flexible to achieve max lift on either tack. The first trial was on our farm dam to see if it would float etc, without embarrassing me if it didn't. Well it did float, but trying to tack a multi in a farm dam is an exercise in futility so we decided to pull it out. Problem we had had quite a bit of rain and bogged the trailer to the axle without the boat. Ok let it dry out and then remove it. But then came 4 days of more rain but the forecast of a land gale warning meant something had to be done. Well the winds came and the boat was starting to be lifted as the wing was still up.Holding it created more dramas real fast so the best thing to do was sit on it.This worked, the wing weathervaned, the boat was steady and worry lines on the forhead began to recede. After the storm passed we dragged the boat out with the car and checked for damage. None. Confidence was growing rapidly and worried frowns turned to smiles.

   The first real sail was at Copeton dam shortly after, which meant driving over a few k's of corrugated dirt road. At launch we discovered a few missing rivets on the wing cover but OK. Sailing skills were rusty as I hadn"t got wet feet for a few years , but a few tentative sails and everything worked as planned. There was cat nearby and I tried to match him upwind, unsuccessfully, was it the boat or me? The conditions were very light and flukey, but the wing was moving in and out all the time, so tried sailing to the wing angle. When the wing went out, sailed more upwind, came in we backed of a bit. After about 5 mins looked for the other boat. Gone , no there it is, way below us . Kept watching and yes we were sailing at least 10 degrees higher! He was faster but with 3-4 times the sail area thats not surprising. Question ,were they trying to sail high? The first boat had poly pipes as the first floats. This was maily because the original idea was to build a twin masted cat but as it would be likely that one wing would be hard enough to configure we built 1/2 a cat with floats. It didn't take long to convince us that it was a nice little boat as a tri so proper floats were built. A trip was setup for some limited exposure to Lake Munmorrah at Toukley. A quiet place picked to show some friends and after arriving found that the local sail club had a regatta on. Oh well , in we go expecting some flak over our unusual craft but no, they all shouted words of encouragement and after losing a hat to a gust of wind "lets see how they get that". They probably expected the small tri to have problems turning etc, but we put the wing into reverse and backed up to the hat, retrieved it then sailed on our way again. The comment then was "look at that , the b@#$%%$ Sails in reverse" (chuckle, chuckle). It was obvious though that more power was needed. A 48sqft flexi wing was built but then the boat seemed too narrow as its beam was only 9ft, so the outrigger frames were widened, to a beam of 13 ft. This made them more awkward to assemble so they were changed to swing out types. That was great, apart from being easier, setup time was now around 10 minutes. The extra power was good but reliability after a trailer ride was questionable. Rivets would come out and linkages in the wing would rearrange them selves. Time was spent on the net and there was some conjecture if making the wings flex was worth the extra 2-3% power increase. Lets find out. Work started then on the first "solid" wing. in other words it was symetrical so had the same shape both sides and didn"t flex. If we had scientific instruments, wind tunnels etc, the difference could have been measured but we didn"t. So we just made it bigger and it came out to 84 sqft but just over 1/2 the weight. Also it was much simpler to build and had a nice trailing edge and using ripstop nylon for a cover meant no rivets to break and pretty colours too. Performance, wonderful. Plenty of power, good shape the only problem being difficulity in getting the cover off. Another remake , this time slightly lower in mast height to cut back overhang on the trailer and more triangular which means the cover goes on easy and the rig looks more conventional , wing area now of around 72sqft. The wing control was easier to use now as all it had to do was move the tail a few degrees. This sets the angle of attack to wherever you want and then the wing tracks the approprite apparent wind.

   This seems to be the ingredient that other wingsail developers have overlooked. Computer systems and servos aren't needed at all. Sorry guys. whether the wind changes direction or velocity the tail is in the apparent wind, which is what the sails use. Effective tracking of the apparent wind makes a huge difference in sailing. In testing these designs that has been very clear and luckily that has given us results better than expected. I'm not a genius or a great sailor by any means but after seeing the tail in action many times it still amazes me how well it picks up wind shifts. Wing control at the moment is by a small lever next to the seat but hoping to change this to a "throttle grip" on the next cat. Nothing more, no luffs, leaches, vangs or backstays. Maybe not the fastest but definitely the simplest to use. This makes it easier to concentrate on... being out there. Changes are still being made though mostly minor. Another asset of the wing is boat stability. This was highlighted during recent trips when we were hit by a savage gust that dipped the lee outrigger by an inch. The 14ft mono next to us did a quick 180 and launched its occupants into the water. Another day the wind was up so decided to give it hell and see what breaks. The lee outrigger mount started to fold over so moved out to counter it and managed to sail quite happily at around 20 kts flying the lee, yes lee, hull. The next project, a 16ft cat with twin masts is well under way .The cat will use the same hull as the tri's main hull, which in future will be 4" deeper to allow for a stowage compartment big enough for camping gear etc and to lessen wet bums. To allow for larger trailersailers in later designs we can make the wing fold along its length to keep a narrow trailer width. More info from Kim Prentis 042 7736847 wingsails@yahoo.com