I’ve known this guy, Chris Partridge,  for a number of years now. Not in the “let’s go hang out and grab a couple of beers” way of knowing a friend with whom you share a passion. More like a Cyber-Friend who lives in England with whom I’ve shared many interesting discussions over the years on various Yahoo Groups. That kind of friend.

I would just love to have the opportunity and the resources to get over to Europe again and truly spend some time with all of my English boating buddies.

For the time being, I’m content to regularly read Chris’ blog on Rowing for Pleasure.  http://rowingforpleasure.blogspot.com/

If you haven’t already visited this very interesting weblog, there’s no time like the present to get your act together and punch-up that link just above and let yourself go.

The site is filled with very intriguing articles and photos about one of the basic experiences of the boating world. There’s stuff like this one, Expedition Rowing, where a young couple from Canada rowed and rode their way from Scotland to Syria on a personal trip of family heritage discovery.

Aww, come on… how many of you would just love to shove off one of these days on a trip something very much like this? OK, so it is very ambitious what they did and most of us would be much better suited to knocking out a much more modest enterprise, but think of the sites, the sounds and the aromas you’d encounter as you wound your way down the Rhine River, the Danube, the Black Sea and a part of the Mediterranean Sea?

Sometime back, I encountered an ex-pat American, now living in Melbourne, Australia, by the name of Mack Horton. Mack wanted to build a two-person boat for cruising the harbor and waterways of his hometown, Melbourne. He was looking to propel his boat with a twin setup of the wonderfully innovative Hobie Mirage drive designed by Greg Ketterman. I really liked that idea as I had already done a few different boats that were Mirage capable, but they were all solo boats. This design concept opened a new door for me, as it would allow me work out the balance and weight issues for a twin drive and once built, I could also discover how much more speed potential might be available beyond a solo drive.

I was looking to achieve some of the lines of a classic launch with reasonably low windage and yet, enough freeboard to ward off the possible conditions. Surprisingly, the hull form came directly from a previous boat shown here at Duckworks, the A18, canoe/trimaran. The A18 hull had a very strong bias towards higher speed potential with only a nod to being driven at slower speeds, so a slimming process had to take place in the forward and aft sections of the hull. Likewise, the beam of the hull was pulled out some to give the boat a solid degree of form stability so it could ride the wakes of passing freighters in the harbor when taken abeam.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42YYFVYU720  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1xa4ZG-5AM&NR=1

Clearly, Mack’s Strider, Ripple, is showing itself to be a pretty fast boat when being propelled by two average people. This is being done from a semi-reclining position with hands free, while enjoying the sights in the Melbourne harbor and adjacent waterways.

Mack reports that one of the ubiquitous dinner cruise boats, that you see in just about every harbor of the world these days, pulled alongside and challenged both he and his friend, Justine, to a little race. Off they went with Ripple easily leaving the cruise boat in the dust. Later, as shown in the video clip, Mack and Justine took-on a fully crewed Dragon boat. Dragon boats measure 40 feet in length, 4 feet in width, and carry 20 paddlers, 1 drummer, and 1 steersperson. On average, these boats weigh 500 pounds. Understandably, Ripple could not quite match the speed of the Dragon boat with twice the waterline length and 20 paddlers. Perhaps there could be a triple version of the Strider in the future? One that is longer, more slender and much, much faster.The Strider design calls for a very straight forward stitch and glue build method in 4mm marine plywood with glass/epoxy laminates inside and out. The twin Mirage trunks sit cleanly in the hull allowing for a comfortable seating arrangement for two persons and their day pedaling “stuff” such as binoculars, cameras, food, drink, blankets, etc.

These figures run pretty much spot on with my estimations. They also indicate that the hull has gotten to its, “not gonna go there” speed limit and will be pushing uphill on its bow wave from that point on.

Mack has a fun grouping of comments to go with his recent experiences with his new boat.

While underway in Strider #1, “Ripple”, it is not unusual to be hailed from dockside and be asked, “What is it?”, “How does it work?”, “How much does it cost?”, and his favorite… “It looks like it has an engine!”

Response has been very positive from athletes, because it’s fast… from non-water type folks because Strider is stable, comfortable, dry and “not scary”.

One of the reasons that Strider is so stable is due to the recreationally respectful beam of the hull. I’m working on a much faster version of the Strider design concept, which should pretty much take the Mirage drive out to its theoretical top speed limit. If Strider were to be prop driven instead, it could go even faster as props are more efficient than are the flapping blades of the Mirage. Unfortunately, most prop systems are quite a bit more expensive than is the Mirage, so the decision was made to go for a reasonably fast boat that was much more affordable overall.

All in all, Strider is a really fun and stable human powered vessel designed for recreational pursuits by two people. It has the classic look and feel of a traditional launch to it while underway and can easily power-up to get out of the way of oncoming traffic in a crowded harbor, or lake setting.

 Chris Ostlind

Lunada Design

Nagare  (nah-ga-ray) is a Japanese word meaning Flow. The two boats in this group are 17 and 21 feet in length and are known simply as the Nagare 17 and the Nagare 21. Both designs make use of the popular Hobie Mirage drive for principal propulsion with the 21 footer being a double Mirage setup and the 17 relying on a single Mirage. Both of them are configured as trimarans with fairly small and unobtrusive amas designed to give the boats remarkable stability in a wide range of conditions.

 The Nagare sisters also have incredibly narrow waterline beam numbers that, when coupled with their fairly long hulls provide for multihull type easily driven hull forms for very high efficiency per unit of energy applied. 

I expect both boats to operate at the very high end of commercially available paddled boats of the same length, beam and weight. So, yes, they can go pretty quickly, but that’s not the real purpose.

The real benefit of the design motif is in the ease with which they are propelled at any given speed, compared to other boats of their size. This efficiency translates directly to those using the boats.

Because the propulsion is derived from the largest muscles in your body, the leg muscles, rather than the arms and shoulders, there will be less fatigue for each mile traveled. Because leg muscles are so much bigger than arms, they will be able to do more work in a given period of time, making for longer possible trips, as well as the mentioned lower fatigue issue. With a less fatiguing effort, more people will be able to enjoy the experience of being out on the water for daylong adventures.

Nagare 21 Double
Speed and stability for the recreational boater

The Nagare 21 uses a set of amas, mounted on a pair of simple, anodized aluminum tubes with quick release snap buttons holding the sections together for easy disassembly for car-topping. If a trailer is used to transport the boat, the beam of the Nagare 21 falls well below trailer maximums, so nothing special needs to be done to take the boat to and from the water. Two Nagare 21′s can be trailered, or car-topped, by removing one of the amas and placing the main hulls close to one another on the racks, or trailer. The removed amas easily fit inside the hulls and they are ready to go. The whole affair on the rooftop is very much like a pair of sea kayak doubles. Because of the length, I would not mount a boat this big on any compact cars. You would be very likely to rip the rack right off the roof in strong side winds.

Steering is by means of a simple, flip-up style kayak rudder with control lines run through the hull to a convenient steering lever in the cockpit. I suggest the SeaLine SmartTrak rudder system (do a search for supplier), the P-41 Multi-purpose rudder from Onno Paddles http://www.onnopaddles.com/onnocomponents.htmland the Feathercraft rudder system for hardshell boats. http://www.feathercraft.com/accessories/rudders-hardshell.php  These are really great rudder units and will give excellent steering control with minimum drag.

Nagare 21 SOT option

This boat can be built with a full cockpit tub so that it functions as a Sit-On-Top kayak with full drainage through the Mirage drive openings. Auxiliary drain ports are located in the tub for rapid removal of any water that comes in over the side of the hull. I suggest the SOT option for warm water users, with the more traditional kayak style, Sit-Inside hull form for those who will be using the boat in colder water, or more frequent inclement weather.

The SOT version has internal bulkheads for support of the SOT tub, along with the capability of adding a small circular deck plate for an additional watertight compartment in the cockpit that is perfect for small items, such as cameras, wallets, car keys, etc.

The SOT variation is an optional element to the base plans. If you wish to built it as an SOT, drop me an email at my regular email address and I’ll get back to you.

Rough Water Use

This is not really a boat that is meant to go out in rougher conditions, such as those where a full-blown sea kayak might be right at home. It’s meant for quieter waters, such as lakes, bays, harbors and bigger rivers. It can take a session in 1 or 2 foot breaking surf, but I would not expose the boat to bigger waves, especially in a shore break scenario. You may find yourself out from the shore a bit when the wind comes up, producing steep, choppy waves. The basic Nagare 21 will handle this easily because only the cockpit will be exposed to swamping. The amas will keep the boat stable while you pedal to shore, or a quieter place on the water, where you can bail-out the boat and continue.

It is a perfect boat for sightseeing, bird watching, fishing, photography, and just simple, energy efficient cruising with near bomb-proof stability (you can stand up in the boat while out on the water without your partner coming completely unglued, for instance).

The Nagare 21 is a fast, comfortable and unique boat for a couple who like to get out on the water, but do not want to hassle with the business of capsize that is present in other types of boats, such as kayaks and even canoes.

Nagare 17 Single
A new style of boat for fishermen

The solo version of the Nagare series has some very different twists, compared to its bigger sister. It has the same, highly efficient and easily driven, slender hull technology, the same set of trimaran style amas well aft for big time stability, the same generous cockpit opening and the same convenient utility for car-topping or lightweight trailering.

The design elements that set this particular boat apart from its sister craft is that the Nagare 17 has a very special capability when it comes to fishing.

Aft Facing Trolling

Anybody who builds the Nagare 17 and intends to use it for fishing will probably be knocked-out by the potential for facing aft while trolling. Imagine using your legs to quietly drive the boat forward while you casually set trolling rigs, eat a sandwich and keep an eye on the fish finder… all while keeping an eye on the rigs you have set, with them easily at hand?

This is the signature utility development with the Nagare 17, designed specifically, for fishermen. It works like this…

The fisherman loads his boat, drops into the forward facing seat, hits the iPod for his favorite tunes and jams out across the lake at a remarkable speed for a human powered boat. He zips across the lake in virtual silence because he’s driving a very skinny and efficient hull with no engine sounds. Once he arrives, he’s going to make a few sneaky trolling passes with his Mirage drive pushing him along over that monster crew of Pike that are hanging around on their favorite piece of structure. Wham! Fish On! and the day starts with smile on his face.

If you’ve ever fished from a typical Sit-On-Top, you know that you have to face forward while trying to look over your shoulder while trolling. Hook-up and then you have to swivel around, grab the rod and go after the fish. All the time you are doing this, you have to balance the boat carefully, because the whole tamale could go over and end your day right then and there.

Well, that’s how you used to do it, anyway.

With the Nagare 17, you can take it to a whole new level of fishing pleasure. The Nagare 17 is equipped with twin Mirage drive trunks. When driving the boat forward and facing forward, the Mirage drive is dropped into the forward trunk and a tractor-style seat is dropped into the aft trunk with the seat bottom resting on the top of the trunk.

To convert the boat to aft facing trolling and fishing, you simply stand up in the boat and swap the Mirage drive for the aft mounted seat plug and the seat then goes to the front trunk… facing aft. With the Mirage drive still set to drive the boat forward, you simply sit down and start pedaling, slowly, up to your desired trolling speed.

Now, you can watch your fish finder, GPS and your trolling rigs while you continue to tool along at your favorite speed for nabbing the fish. Get one on and simply work that rod while continuing to face aft. No twisting around in your seat, no ”just about dumped it” scenarios, just simple, fun fishing in a very stable boat. What could be cooler than that?

With the fore/aft balance point of the boat set right between the two drive trunks, there is but a very minimal change to boat pitch when you change the direction you face.

The Nagare 17 is further designed to accept an insulated and watertight tank between the two aka tubes where they run through the aft deck. You can use this for all kinds of stuff like: your catch, fresh bait storage, cold beverages if you catch and release… whatever suits your needs. There is plenty of room between the two drive trunks for a pretty good sized tackle box and lots of room up forward of the trunks for any of that “other stuff” that fishermen seem to sneak aboard their boats.

A moveable electronics unit can be fastened at the forward end of the cockpit, or unhooked and moved around aft if you’d rather have it facing that way.

Maybe you want to cast lures or flies instead of troll. The boat is so stable with the two, wide set amas, that you can stand up and cast all day without ever feeling like you are getting the least bit tippy. All in all, the Nagare 17 is quite a boat for fishing, as well as just plain fun, recreational pursuits.

The Nagare sisters represent a unique design family for human powered vessels. They are quick, stable and with their unique styling, represent a distinct departure from the looks of traditional boats one typically sees on any given shore or launch ramp. Both boats are designed to be built in marine ply Stitch and Glue methods for the hull sections, with cedar stripped decks to take advantage of the really beautiful, smooth curves capable from that style of building. You can paint the lower sections of the hull and leave the cedar decks natural with a deep varnished finshed, for a real knock-out boat that will really gather a crowd.If you really want to have a plywood deck build instead of the cedar strip build, write and twist my arm gently. I can design that change for those who really like to build that way

Plans are not yet complete, so if you would like to build one of these two boats, please send me an email and I’ll put your name on the mailing list for information, or watch the plans section of Duckworks for the notice.

Chris Ostlind
Lunada Design
Chris@Wedgesail.com