|
|
|
|
The design of the Bucko Mark1 was based on a fourteen foot skiff hull because that just happened to be the mould we had which needed the least modification . Discussions were held with Craig Phillips from Phillips Sails about the rig , the emphasis here was on not having too many controls and those we did have must be instantly adjustable from the wings. Fittings were selected after consultation with Ronstan .A jib was considered too difficult so main only of 11 sq m with a luff length of 6m . The spars were designed and built by Composite Spars and Tube with the mast being of 54mm dia. based on their successful International Canoe section . This was then rigged in the current pre-bent skiff style with the tension controls led out to the wings . This system , besides giving excellent mast control , supports the mast head spinnaker which is some 15 sq. m. and extremely efficient . the only problem is that being mast head it is very narrow and doesn't generate much lift with consequent nose-diving problems which were exacerbated by the very straight hull lines . This problem has been largely overcome by cutting the chines in by 25mm each side for the rear metre of the hull . Bucko Statistics.
Other design decisions taken were to have a fixed , quite small , centreboard and a pivoting rudder . This was to provide maximum efficiency whilst making it possible to launch and retrieve the boat single handed in windy conditions .As you can see from the picture of the Bucko on its trailer it is kept on its own (alloy) beach trolley which makes it very easy for one person to manage . BUCKO MK2 At the end of 2000/01 sailing season I decided that enough had been learnt from the Mk1 to upgrade and incorporate the hard-earned knowledge into a new boat . After racing against a variety of other classes (the main ideas came from being flogged most of the time by the Moths )the following parameters were judged to be necessary .
SOLUTIONS.
Chine beam at transom 760mm Chine beam max 917mm Keel rocker 63mm LOA 4265mm , max hull beam 1350mm Beam to outside racks 2565mm Design weight ready to sail 70kg plus crew nominal 75kg . Other decisions made were to have a 3/4 kite and to have a wing-mast set-up to try and improve windward performance . This last was quite tricky because I also wanted to be able to hoist and lower the sail with a halyard whilst still having a double -surface sail . This led to several months of experimenting with different configurations until we found one that looked as though it could work . Early trials are very promising when there is a bit of breeze , still needs work in light airs though that is more to do with the mast we adapted for the job and which we knew wasn't really what we needed .This first section was simply a carbon aerofoil tube about 90 x 40 mm with two tracks faired onto it with large amounts of filler . This set-up was fast enough to justify making a new purpose built section (see " New Rig ") The new hull shape is of modern skiff type , very flat off the keel , curving up quite sharply to the chines , see pics below .
As you can see we also decided to go for a full carbon shell and frames to try and keep under the 70kg sailing weight . As it turned out this may not have been necessary as the complete boat with sails , fin and rudder etc weighs only 63kg all up ready to go .
The hull finished , ready for fittings , the building jig is in the background .
|
