2012 Sail Oklahoma Messabout

This'll be a little heavy on the photos and not very cohesive, sorry. Not much by way of action pics, my camera died a few weeks ago and I didn't want to risk the iPhone in gusty conditions.

2012 Sail Oklahoma Messabout - my Wa'apa outrigger canoe

Friday morning, October 5, I got up bright and early, packed my gear for the road, kissed the wife and kiddo goodbye and headed out for Oklahoma and the 2012 Sail Oklahoma Messabout. SailOK has been held the past three years on Lake Eufaula and hosted by Mike and Jackie Monies at their home, boathouse and the lake a couple hundred yards down the road. I made it to the first event, but had too much going on in 2011 to make it. I was very excited to be there this year.

I got there about 1pm, the weather had completely gone to crap. Cold, heavy winds and rain. Miserable for a sailing event. Luckily, with boat designers Jim Michalak, Dave Gentry, Richard Woods and Michael Storer, all scheduled to make presentations, there was no shortage of interesting things going on, in spite of the bitter weather.

2012 Sail Oklahoma Messabout - designers forum, from left, Jim Michalak, Dave Gentry, Richard Woods and Michael Storer

In this photo: A cat-ketch trimaran of unknown design, a Welsford Sherpa, a Crawford Melonseed, a Michalak Family Skiff, a Welsford SCAMP and a kayak by Tom Yost, maybe?

2012 Sail Oklahoma Messabout - cat ketch trimaran, Welsford Sherpa, Crawford Melonseed, Michalak Family Skiff, Welsford SCAMP and a kayak by Tom Yost, CB15, maybe?

Gene Berry's junk rigged PDGoose

2012 Sail Oklahoma Messabout - Gene's junk rigged PDGoose

Paul Helbert's skin-on-frame sailing dinghy, designed by Dave Gentry.

2012 Sail Oklahoma Messabout - Pauls Helbert's SoF dinghy

Dave Gentry's skin-on-frame Ruth Wherry and his prototype skin-on-frame outrigger canoe. Luckily, before I left, I got to help test paddle it. Dave is also the guy that designed the Chuckanut 12 kayaks that my buddy Brian and I built last winter.

2012 Sail Oklahoma Messabout - Dave's SoF Ruth Wherry

2012 Sail Oklahoma Messabout - a prototype SoF outrigger by Dave Gentry

Here, Dave builds a Boardyak, his version of a skin-on-frame sit-on-top kayak/stand-up-paddle board. I'd really like to build one of these. It might happen the next time I want to make a mess of my garage. Provided my wife is OK with that.

2012 Sail Oklahoma Messabout - Dave Gentry builds a Boardyak SoF paddleboard/sit-on-top kayak

2012 Sail Oklahoma Messabout - Dave Gentry builds a Boardyak SoF paddleboard/sit-on-top kayak

2012 Sail Oklahoma Messabout - Dave Gentry builds a Boardyak SoF paddleboard/sit-on-top kayak

2012 Sail Oklahoma Messabout - Dave Gentry builds a Boardyak SoF paddleboard/sit-on-top kayak

It was really cool that Howard Rice, the first person to solo around Cape Horn, also gave several presentations. Here, he talks with Dave Gentry about sailboat racing. He later gave a presentation on his Cape Horn rounding in a Klepper folding sailing kayak and canoe voyaging in Micronesia, where he currently works and resides. This guy was really impressive. I'd read a few articles in Small Craft Advisor by him and about him. Never thought I'd actually meet the man.

2012 Sail Oklahoma Messabout - Howard Rice talks about sailboat racing

2012 Sail Oklahoma Messabout - Howard Rice gives a talk on his rounding of Cape Horn, solo and canoe voyaging in Micronesia

Back to the boats, here's Frank Baedke's 24' Wa'apa outrigger. It's eight feet longer than mine, shown below.

2012 Sail Oklahoma Messabout - Frank Baedke's 24 Wa'apa outrigger

2012 Sail Oklahoma Messabout - my Wa'apa outrigger canoe

A Storer Goat Island Skiff

2012 Sail Oklahoma Messabout - a Michael Storer Goat Island Skiff A Michalak Hap's Cut

2012 Sail Oklahoma Messabout - a Jim Michalak Hap's Cut

A very cool cat-ketch trimaran of unknown design and a Welsford SCAMP in the background.

2012 Sail Oklahoma Messabout - cat ketch trimaran and a Welsford SCAMP

The Welsford SCAMP about to be taken out. The SCAMP is an incredibly capable boat for it's size and looks. It's getting a lot of good press these days. It was faster than my outrigger, even though it has a shorter waterline. Of course, it was much better built, had a professionally made sail onboard and Howard Rice at the helm. So, I really stood no chance of keeping up. :)

2012 Sail Oklahoma Messabout - a John Welsford SCAMP, the red one that sailed the Everglades Challenge, owned by Mike Monies

A nice looking sailing canoe trimaran, possibly a Storer Eureka Canoe with a drop-in outrigger sailing setup.

2012 Sail Oklahoma Messabout - canoe trimaran

A Crawford Melonseed

2012 Sail Oklahoma Messabout - Crawford Melonseed

Misc. boats

2012 Sail Oklahoma Messabout - Paul Helbert's SoF sailing dinghy, designed by Dave Gentry

2012 Sail Oklahoma Messabout - a Michalak mayfly 14,  Storer Goat Island Skiff, PDRacer and others

2012 Sail Oklahoma Messabout - my Wa'apa, a PDRacer, Kenny Giles' Michalak Mayfly 16 and others

Richard Woods does a capsize and recovery test of a Michalak Family Skiff. It looked miserably cold.

2012 Sail Oklahoma Messabout - Richard Woods of Woods Designs Sailing Catamarans does a capsize recovery drill in a Michalak Family Skiff

2012 Sail Oklahoma Messabout - Richard Woods of Woods Designs Sailing Catamarans does a capsize recovery drill in a Michalak Family Skiff

Michael Storer gives a talk on lug sails. Jim Michalak on leeboards and Richard Woods on sail efficiency.

2012 Sail Oklahoma Messabout - Michael Storer gives a lecture on lug sails.

2012 Sail Oklahoma Messabout - Jim Michalak gives a lecture on leeboards

2012 Sail Oklahoma Messabout - Richard Woods talks about correct placement of wind indicators on a sail

I met a lot of great people on this trip. Learned a lot and will probably forget just as much. There was a lot to take in, between general conversation and scheduled presentations and seminars over three days. I wish I hadn't missed David Nichols' presentation on sail making, but that happened shortly before I got there. I've got his book on traditional small boat sails and it's very informative.

Looking forward to next year, already. Again, sorry this is a very rambling post. Still trying to mentally sort it all out. Thanks again to Mike and Jackie Monies, if either of you happen to see this.

If you've read this far, here's some links that might interest you:

Dave Gentry

Jim Michalak

Michael Storer

Richard Woods

David Nichols

Howard Rice

UPDATE: The unknown trimaran is a CLC John's Sharpie with amas added for stability. And see HERE for sailing pics.

Comments

Cemseller said…
Jumped on your blog because I found your thread from 2009 asking about a sailing rig on a 12' Canoe. I am currently considering builidng the Atkin Cinderella and wanted to do a Sail and outrigger set up.

I see you chose to go with the Pundt instead, can you tell me why?
Trevor said…
It's not a punt, really. But a Hawaiian-style outrigger sailing canoe. The Wa'apa design by Gary Dierking. I still plan to build a small sailing canoe at some point, I've converted Gavin Atkin's Imp design into a skin-on-frame version and I have the frames already cutout and sanded, but that's as far as I've gotten with the build.

The Wa'apa is a completely different animal than the Cinderella setup for sail. It was designed for sailing from the beginning and can't function without the outrigger ama (float). It's fast, stable and breaks down easily for transport and storage. It was the most sailboat I could build and still fit on my car roof.

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