Road Trip to Sail the Didi 29 Retro "Arabella"

It was my 70th birthday 2 weeks ago and I was surprised by my family with a totally unexpected visit by my sister Dorothy and her daughter Robynne from across the Atlantic, come to participate in the festivities and to help make it a very special occasion. Winding down Dorothy's trip, she and I made a brief road trip to North Carolina. We started off down the Outer banks, where I hoped to find some decent surf. The weather stymied that one with strong onshore winds, so we wasted little time feeling sand between our toes, visited the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum in Hatteras and arrived at the ferry dock to board for Ocracoke to find rows and rows of cars waiting ahead of us.

Innocent us, we did not expect a flood of people to be visiting this tiny barrier island. I expected to arrive at the ferry dock and be boarded 15-30 minutes later, then a short crossing, time to get lunch on the tiny island before boarding our reserved ferry to Cedar Island. Wrong. After sitting in the queue for a long time, the very accommodating NC Ferry staff let us jump the line to catch the next ferry, or we were not going to make out 4pm ferry. That short crossing to Ocracoke is actually about 4 or 5 times the straight-line distance because the ferry has to wind back-and-forth through the channels.

Satellite view of Ocracoke Inlet, Courtesy Google Earth. The Hatteras ferry dock at extreme right, Ocracoke ferry dock at extreme left. The sand banks and channels move around and the ferries have to zig-zag through them. 

So, we had a drive-through tour that really didn't do justice to the very cute little town of Ocracoke, arriving in time to check in for our next ferry, without lunch. The ferry route to Cedar Island was more direct and parallel to the barrier islands, in deep water.The main entertainment was a variety of seabirds soaring behind us and looking for food to be churned up by the propellers or tossed in the air by passengers.

Once on land we saw the results of the coastal areas that were devastated by Hurricanes Florence and Michael last year. Homes destroyed, most that survived now being jacked up 6-8ft to get them above future flooding.Trees still on top of some homes, no longer habitable. And our hotel still undergoing reconstruction, with water service disrupted at times and cold water coming out of the hot taps. But the beds were new and very comfortable, so we got a good night's sleep. In the morning, a short ferry ride and drive to a marina in Oriental.

"Arabella" is very pretty. She was built by professional boatbuilder Bruce Mierke as his personal sailboat, to our Didi 29 Retro design. He customised his build to suit his own needs, so she has a shorter cabin and some different detailing.

"Arabella" in her dock, retractable bowsprit withdrawn

Lifting keel in raised position, hauled up by a tackle system led to the cabintop winch.

Lifting rudder in a casette. Bruce modified this from my original design, to give some steering when the rudder is partially raised. There is an outboard motor well but Bruce has an electric pod drive installed.

With the short cabin, Bruce has kept his halliards at the mast .

The bowsprit retracts and pivots on an inboard traveller on the foredeck, with control lines led aft to the cockpit.

"Arabella" hard on the wind.

Very neat high-peaked gaff rig with nicely-shaped mainsail. All spars are carbon.

So, how did she sail? Wind was very light, around 4-5 knots most of the time. On the flat water that we had, she sailed close to the wind at 3.5-4 knots, with little wake and an easy helm. She cut through the occasional powerboat wakes of the ICW with little fuss or loss of speed. Once cracked off, we pushed out the bowsprit, set the top-down roller-furled asymmetrical off the end and rolled away the jib to allow the spinnaker to breathe.

She powered up and reached at just a touch under the apparent wind speed, topping out at more than 8 knots boat speed in 9 knots of apparent wind. That put her boat speed at well above the true wind speed in which we were sailing. She did this with no fuss and very easy control. The speed gave the feeling that the wind had picked up but with the bag stowed and back on the wind under main and jib, we still had the same light breeze as before. She just gets up and goes. She will reel off the miles if used as a small cruiser.

"Arabella" has the smaller of the two gaff rigs that I drew. This one is suitable for most small crews, for racing or cruising. The other gaff rig is larger and will need a larger and more experienced crew. We also have a Marconi rig with square-top mainsail.

See our full range of designs on our main website or our mobile website.

First Didi 29 Retro Sailing Photos

Bruce Mierke has had his Didi 29 Retro "Arabella" in Florida the past few weeks and has been pretty busy sailing her. Now he and his boat are back home and Bruce has sent me some sailing photos. She looks very pretty under sail and shows the clean wake of a slippery hull.

About his sailing, Bruce said "I have been sailing her as a cutter in light winds under 10. With Yankee, staysail,and full main that gets me 544sf of sail up. And she handles very good. And with that much sail up moves in very light winds. Just a lot of lines to handle when tacking. Had her out yesterday in 20 to 25 with double reef main and staysail still getting her to point 35-40 degs and doing 8.25 with two friends. But rail was in the water a lot. Still can't imagine having the bigger rig."

Nice-looking sails, Bruce single-handing in about 10 knots.

Nice flat wake of an easily-driven hull.

A small classically-styled yacht that can cover miles at a good clip.

Bruce built a shorter and narrower cabin than our design, which is proportioned to give comfortable accommodation down below for weekending.

A pretty boat from all angles.

The bigger rig that Bruce referred to is the one for Mike Kopman, who commissioned this design. But that is exactly what Mike wanted, a fast and easily driven hull with a big rig for classic racing, crewed by a select bunch of well-experienced heavies on the rail. It will be interesting to watch them taking their boat around the race course.

To see more of this and our other designs, go to our main website or our mobile website. 

Didi 29 Retro and DH550, Two Boats with a Connection

This week two owners have sent me rather nice "at rest" photos of their boats.

First was "Arabella", the Didi 29 Retro of Bruce Mierke. This radius chine plywood monohull has retro styling and a gaff rig and has surprised some with her nimble performance and handling. She was exhibited on the Georgetown Wooden Boat Show in October then launched in North Carolina. She sailed for a week or two before going to her inland South Carolina winter home. Now she is afloat again, this time in the warmer waters of Florida.

Didi 29 Retro "Arabella" now in the warmer Florida water.
Click on the photos to enlarge.

Bruce has some sailing photos, taken this week. He will send them to me when he is back home.

The other boat is the DH550 prototype "Wild Vanilla". She is a radius chine plywood cruising catamaran of very modern styling. Built by Phil Harvey in Trinidad, she is now owned by Roy Wirthlin and lives in southern Florida. Roy is very proud of his boat, particularly the interest that she attracts. In his email today he passed on these comments.

"We have the boat located just north of West Palm Beach FL and I can’t tell you the number of comments that we get: “that is the most beautiful cat I have ever seen.”  One older gentleman made a point of chasing us down to find out what make it was, he said: “I have been sailing for over 40 years and that is the best looking cat I have ever seen … makes me think I might go over to the ‘dark side’ :).”

Even the bridge operators have given us compliments.  

“Speed of a Catana, with the space of a Lagoon and so easy on the eyes” is how I describe her."

Thanks Roy, for your comments.

DH550 prototype "Wild Vanilla".

Roy has also given me some videos of "Wild Vanilla" sailing, both from inside the boat and from a drone. I will post some of those here in a day or two.

So, what is the connection between a 29ft classic monohull and a 55ft modern catamaran, aside from construction material and method? The are close to opposites in concept but are both derived from the same earlier design, the very popular Didi 26. The Didi 29 Retro hull is the same as the Didi 26 but extended aft into a counter stern. The DH550 has Didi 26 hulls that are reproportioned to the needs of a big cat.

Didi 26 "Panic Knot". Her design is the basis for both of the other boats mentioned.

For more info on these and our other designs, go to our main website or our mobile website.

Sailing Report on Didi 29 Retro

"Arabella", the Didi 29 Retro built by Bruce Mierke was launched in Oriental, NC, last week. Bruce has sailed her a few times and will now take her inland to Lake Lanier, GA. Early next year she will move to Clearwater, FL, before returning to Oriental in the spring.

Bruce has reported some impressive sailing, some of it by himself and some with two crew. He doesn't have an asymmetrical yet, so the top speeds are still to be experienced.

The first sail was in light winds, strengthening a bit during the sail. In 4 knots of breeze he recorded 3.1 knots of boat speed. In 9 knots she was doing 5.6 knots on a tight beat of 30 degrees. Falling off to 45 degrees "she screamed" (no speed reported).

The next sail was with two friends in winds from 10-15 knots. To windward in 13 knots they were doing 6.75 knots under Yankee and jib on a beat and 9.25 knots on a beam reach. "I can see me putting the 1st reef in main around 16 kts wind. But no matter what point of sail or combination of sail the helm is almost neutral, great sailer."

"Arabella" on the Georgetown Wooden Boat Show recently.

The next sail was by himself again, in 15 knots. He sailed next to a J boat of about the same size for 5 miles, matching it for speed and heading. Eventually the skipper of the other boat yelled across, asking what the hell kind of gaff rig boat she is.

Bruce has the cruising gaff rig and commented that the racing rig will be a bit of a handful. That is exactly what was requested by the man who commissioned the design. He wants her for Caribbean classic racing, expecting to have a full crew to ballast the rail. In that configuration or the 3rd option, a Marconi rig with squaretop mainsail, she will be very quick.

Marconi rig of the Didi 29 Retro

No sailing photos yet, I will post those when I have.

To see our other designs, go to http://dixdesign.com/ or http://dixdesign.com/mobile.

Didi 29 Retro at Georgetown Show

Bruce Mierke has built his custom Didi 29 Retro to a gorgeous standard. He is exhibiting her on the Wooden Boat Show in Georgetown SC this weekend. If you are in the area and want to ogle some beautiful craftsmanship, Bruce is there to chat about her.

Didi 29 Retro "Arabella" hits the road for Georgetown

"Arabella" on display in Georgetown.

After the show Bruce will trail "Arabella" to Oriental NC for launch and sail tests.

Congratulations to Bruce for a beautiful build.

Didi 29 Retro Project Nearly Done

Bruce Mierke is building his Didi 29 Retro "Arabella" in North Carolina. I have shown his project before, showing his beautiful craftsmanship. Bruce built her from a CNC plywood kit that we supplied.

Bruce's boat is nearing completion and looks really good in the newest photos. These show her pulled out of the workshop, with her rig standing for the first time. The mast stands in a tabernacle and Bruce pulled it upright with a spinnaker pole and tackle system.

Didi 29 Retro "Arabella", beautifully built by Bruce Mierke.

Bruce is a professional boatbuilder and is building this boat for himself. He has many of his own ideas that have gone into the build, so there are some differences from our stock design. These include the cabin configuration and much of the interior. The final result is a good-looking boat with hull lines that promise exciting sailing.

Gaff rig with carbon spars. Clean lines of a radius chine plywood hull.

"Arabella" has an articulating carbon bowsprit that retracts to stow along the side deck. The inboard end of the sprit runs on a track with control lines led to the cockpit.

Articulated and retracting carbon bowsprit.

Carbon bowsprit slides through forestay chainplate fitting.

"Arabella" will be launched in a few months. Next update when she is afloat.

To see our full range of designs visit our main website or our mobile website.

Didi 29 Retro Project Update

 

Another project that hasn't seen an update on this blog for awhile is the Didi 29 Retro being built by Bruce Mierke in Murphy, North Carolina. Bruce was away cruising for awhile but is now back hard at work on his boat. He is building her mostly as a day-sailer, with minimalist accommodation in a shortened cabin. He is setting her up for easy single-handing.

The standard of Bruce's work is clear in these photos that he sent me, showing the current state of his project. He is building from a CNC kit that we supplied.

Hull-turning with two gantries.

Deck stringers over bulkheads.

Deck panels ready for fitting.

Minimalist interior.

The very neat work of professional boatbuilder Bruce Mierke.

Cabin structure begins, considerably reduced from the design.

Bruce is doing sweet work on this build, I look forward to seeing the final result.

To see our full range of designs visit http://dixdesign.com/ or http://dixdesign.com/mobile.

Didi 29 Retro Progress

Bruce Mierke is building a Didi 29 Retro in Murphy, North Carolina. Bruce is a professional boatbuilder, building her for himself and progressing nicely. He has now completed the hull and it will be turned over in a few weeks.

This design is based on the Didi 26, modified to create a more classic image. Carrying a choice of rigs, the squaretop Marconi rig below and two gaff rigs further down the page. It is a radius chine plywood design, round bilge from plywood and can be built from plans or a CNC kit. Although Bruce is a professional builder, I developed this construction method primarily for amateurs and they have built many boats to this range of designs.

Marconi rig of Didi 29 Retro

Here are the latest photos from Bruce, showing the beautiful standard of finish that he has achieved.

Beautiful hull finish.

Two gaff rigs, racing at left and cruising at right.

For more info on this and our other designs, visit http://dixdesign.com/

Wickedly Accurate Didi 29 Retro Project in North Carolina

I designed the Didi 29 Retro for Mike Kopman, a professional charter skipper who lives in my hometown of Hout Bay, South Africa. Mike's concept was to adapt the Didi 26 cruiser/racer design to a more traditional concept, with counter stern, bulwarks, boxy trunk cabin and a big gaff rig, for participation in the Caribbean classic racing circuit. Mike received the first CNC kit to this design, supplied by CKD Boats in South Africa. The second kit went to Bruce Mierke of Murphy, North Carolina, which he ordered from our list of plywood kits.

Mike Kopman has been building his workshop ahead of the boatbuilding project, so that hasn't started yet. Bruce Mierke started his boat a few months ago and is moving along very well. These photos are of Bruce's build. He began with some smaller items ahead of starting the hull, so I am showing those first.

Rudder

Foil of lifting keel

Beaver-tail ballast bulb

Carbon spars for gaff rig.

Bulkheads and framework set up on building stocks.

This design has a spade rudder that is installed in a cassette so that it can be lifted out through the cockpit for trailing or shallow moorings. Bruce has added a motor well also, in which he will run a Torqueedo electric outboard. The casings that contain the outboard well and rudder cassette can be seen on the photo above and others in this series.

Bottom panels installed, rudder cassette and Torqueedo test-fitted

Radiused section of skin completed.

Aft view, with hardwood-veneered transom

Plug of engine well and rudder cassette in place.

Bruce has modified my rudder cassette design to allow some steerage with the rudder partially raised to assist when approaching shallow moorings with the keel raised.

He is very happy with the quality and accuracy of the kit that we supplied, describing it as "wicked accurate".

For info on our full range of designs, please visit http://dixdesign.com/