MacGregorSailors.com

I said I didn't think a powersailor could be sculled.
But wait!
What if someone did this: engineers need apply.
PVC 8 inch section lashed to mast support crosswise, not vertical.
Slide some type of pipe into that that's long enough to reach the water at to too great an angle.
Attach a aluminum propellor to the water end, after sliding a cylindrical fender onto the shaft for bouyancy.
On the upper end, make a comfortable crank and some sort of thrust bearing.

I will leave this to the engineers on this board. The shaft could be in three sections and stored below. Every needs a spare prop. Fenders are ubiquitous on boats. The hand crank could be the winch handle.

So far this is the best engineered rig. I'd love to see it close up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E_SX9gPJbM

The video shows a yuloh, a traditional form of sculling oar used in Asia. A Google search will turns up lots of articles including plans and instructions on how to build one. This was more in line with what I had for the "get to the dock when the engine won't start 100 yards from shore" although it looks like people have crossed oceans with them.

Ixneigh wrote:I said I didn't think a powersailor could be sculled.
But wait!
What if someone did this: engineers need apply.
PVC 8 inch section lashed to mast support crosswise, not vertical.
Slide some type of pipe into that that's long enough to reach the water at to too great an angle.
Attach a aluminum propellor to the water end, after sliding a cylindrical fender onto the shaft for bouyancy.
On the upper end, make a comfortable crank and some sort of thrust bearing.

I will leave this to the engineers on this board. The shaft could be in three sections and stored below. Every needs a spare prop. Fenders are ubiquitous on boats. The hand crank could be the winch handle.

First we need to decide whether a human could usefully move a boat with a prop. With a typical Mac prop, you're moving about 1' foot per rotation, so I'd expect that you'd be making 20' per minute. That's 1200 feet per hour, or 1/5 of a knot.

That's not enough speed to overcome much of anything. Towing with a dinghy would be considerably faster.

There's also the option of having two people rowing with dinghy oars from the gunnels, sitting kayak style, and swapping places to relieve strain. I'll test how well this works with the admiral some time.

Ports out of the side of the aft berth, with crew rowing below. You stand in front of them beating a drum of course...rotate the crew so that they keep even muscle development....

Catigale wrote:Ports out of the side of the aft berth, with crew rowing below. You stand in front of them beating a drum of course...rotate the crew so that they keep even muscle development....

Ha! The admiral would really go for that....

robbarnes1965 wrote:Interesting vids on youtube.

check this one out... :http://youtu.be/AT0h0gY_JEk

At first, it almost looks like they're going so fast there's a motor, but it isn't.
I also went to the website that's posted there and looked around, and there is even a "how to" set of pictures that shows the steps someone took to make one. http://www.gl-labo.com/ click on "english" in the little yellow box

It looks like an airfoil design, apparently a traditional Japanese sculling oar... There's a pretty good explanation of how it works also, essentially it just looks like an airfoil that is held more vertical than a traditional oar (which means it is shorter overall, which is good for us) and the motion creates lift in a smooth fashion, as an airfoil should, without the losses of a flat bladed oar. Kinda makes sense to me...doh!

Bow would a sculling oar be viewed during a sailing race? My understanding is that using motors is a disqualification - but an oar? I have seen tall ship races where the crew manned boats and started pulling the boats.

You can only race with PHRForated oars..

Seriously, no mechanical ads allowed, even paddling with hand taboo

I been watching this thread but I think the Mod needed would destroy your resale value here is a video -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXh1tW16V-8

LOL...the beatings will continue until morale improves!!

That's pretty funny...I think I'll be able to get some mileage out of "Ramming Speed" with the Admiral...

Does anyone use their anchor? I have done it successfully more than once, when my motor died a few dozen yards from dock.

Wouldn't recommend it when my motor died out in the middle of the lake. For that, my solution is to get towed - by another Mac!

WoodenBoat magazine, Nov./Dec. 2012, has an article titled When the Wind Fails. It is a how-to article on making a wooden two-piece sculling oar.

mastreb wrote:There's also the option of having two people rowing with dinghy oars from the gunnels, sitting kayak style, and swapping places to relieve strain. I'll test how well this works with the admiral some time.

So the Admiral and I attempted this, each sitting astride the port and starboard gunnels, and rowing with our dinghy oars.

We got exactly nowhere, except exhausted. Towing with a dinghy appears to be the only effective option here.