13 July 2012. 'No, see, it goes to eleven. It's one more.' :)
What it's supposed to look like.... My dad's idea was to have windows like an airplane, aluminum frames having the right shape and then just installed in the cabinsides. John Luhrs later thought it was best to use the same commercially-available portlights all other boatbuilders used; and the design went downhill from there. It was my idea to extend the settee berths under the bulkhead-- I had seen it on some more-obscure boat before. By doing this we got a 5-berth 25-footer that still has a decent cockpit. The wrap-around coaming was my dad's idea but we all (Bob Seidelmann, my brother, Warren Luhrs, my dad and I) contributed to it. It is good-looking, if awkward functionally, except for at the back where it finishes off the cockpit very well. The semi-flush deck (cabinsides tapering into nothing ahead of the mast) made my dad call this initial edition the 'blister-canopy' (as with the Supermarine Spitfire) or the 'bubble-top' (what they called the North American P-51C with Malcolm hood). Once a fighter pilot, always a fighter pilot.... The rig is tall and the boom short for an IOR-influenced boat of this period-- it's technically high-aspect. The narrow stern is an IOR feature as well, meant to get the smallest-possible girth measurements to 'defeat' the rule. Still the boat rates 19.4, not 18.0; and so it is not a quarter-tonner. The narrow stern actually makes the boat appear and behave very much like a double-ender, being responsible for the boat taking a following sea rather well and leaving the water close to the way it found it (if the outboard is not too heavy or kept down). Notice that the mainsheet in this drawing goes straight down to where Diana's bridgedeck-mounted traveler goes. ;) The parallelogram keel is a sign of the times (1972). In 1974 it would have had a vertical trailing edge. The semi-skeg in front of the rudder is as well; in 1976 my dad would eliminate all but a minor dimple there on the Raider and by 1978 he had said he should have done without it entirely. Other than this, the H33 looks like a direct descendant of the H25. Both boats are noted for early heeling, stability once heeled, good pointing ability and the tendency to be driven hard by the jib (throttle) and steadied by the main (shock absorber). I call this a 'hellandback' boat, because that's where it'll take you.
August 2012. Amazing Grace, the 1999 C48 that appeared at Portofino (and thus on the cover of Ferenc Mate's book 'World's Greatest Sailboats') arrives at the shop for a refit. It has been bought by a world-renowned artist and has been renamed Light Reign. We've redone about 80 percent of this boat including all new Awlgrip, new rigging, and replacement of just about everything in the bilge.
13 April 2012. C44 hull no.0, 'Emerald'. This is the original strip-planked boat that was built in 1973-75 by my dad, my brother, me, Frit and Lee. It was supposed to have been my dad's actual boat, for which my little Diana is named. That never happened because we sold too many boats too early and had to hurry into making a plug over it. It was finished in 1981-82 by a know-it-all engineer who apparently never asked a single question about what makes boats reliable, safe and easy to maintain. It has some beautiful woodwork below but also a hollow bowsprit with a galvanized-steel frame, no internal access to the stuffing box, a bilge completely full of twisted hoses, wiring and cable, and various fittings screwed straight into the planking with no bedding compound. Lee and I spent all summer resolving much of the PO's nightmares for the new owner, who sailed it south after October.
13 July 2012. 'No, see, it goes to eleven. It's one more.' :)
14 April 2012. Blockhenge, in the yard.
31 July 2012. The very cool customized Igloo 5-day campers'-spec cooler. There is much more detail about this on the blog; but the plexiglass divider and grille are meant to contain cube ice while still leaving a space in front for tall items like milk and iced tea. The step of the ladder is hinged to allow one to lift the cooler lid.
15 September 2012. Photo taken in the dark of my cute little mast step. Originally the boat's hatch shroud had a rounded front and a flat section moulded into it for the mast to stand on. I hated this for two reasons-- it's a Band-Aid over a bigger problem, which is having the mast stand on cored deck; and it doesn't allow one to ever take the hatch shroud off without unstepping the rig. I am cutting off the old shroud and building an old-fashioned mahogany spray board on the front of it-- and my latest brainchild is to include a Dorade box to each forward corner. The one to starboard will house a 12vdc fan; the one to port will house the 12vdc horn and deck outlet (the same as on C44s and C48s!). This was fabricated out of solid 1/2" G-10 plate and will be filled with epoxy mixed with microfibers and then provided with a healthy fillet all around. On top of it goes the halyard-block organizer and the aluminum mast step I am making.
DianaOfBurlington

13 July 2012. 'No, see, it goes to eleven. It's one more.' :)

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