Western Australia

General Sailing Talk
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Ozzie
Posts: 1621
Joined: Wed May 27, 2009 1:07 pm
Investigator Boat Name: Spritzig II
Location: Lake Macquarie
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Western Australia

Post by Ozzie »

Sitting out the front of the Cruising Yacht Club of WA in Rockingham yesterday being cooled by the Freo Doctor and some Swan Lager. At least the weather here is predictable. As I understand it today you have snow on Mt Hotham while half of NSW is on fire.

Anyway, not the point. Just thinking how lucky we are in the east to have so many enclosed cruising grounds . The island in the background, Garden Island is connected to the coast by a looong breakwall and high level bridge which must make for a slightly protected cruising area for TS’s and smaller sailing craft. But outside that it’s serious sailing territory for serious sailing. No wonder boats built in WA like my mate’s Court 750 have an iron mine for a swing keel.
CAB21EF6-1C12-4E24-87C5-8F19A1126004.jpeg
The more I come over here I can understand why Investigators built here may have had an extra hunk of lead ballast and no swing cb. Staying upright may have been more important than a bit of leeway.

Have not seen a 563 but quite a few Red Jacket or at least that style in front yards. Gimme lead or gimme life jacket.
Ozzie
Investigator #143 "SPRITZIG II"

The Mariner - “It’s too strange here. It doesn’t move right." ...
Enola - “Helen said that it’s only land sickness."
Waterworld (1995)
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Raya
Posts: 314
Joined: Sat May 05, 2012 4:25 pm
Investigator Boat Name: Tme Out
Location: Gold Coast

Re: Western Australia

Post by Raya »

As well as the lack of a centreboard, the WA Investigators also had a shorter mast and therefore less sail area and more stability. I hadn't heard about the extra lead, but you could be right.

Good observation (and keep your eyes peeled for another Investigator).
Ray
Investigator #39
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Ozzie
Posts: 1621
Joined: Wed May 27, 2009 1:07 pm
Investigator Boat Name: Spritzig II
Location: Lake Macquarie
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Re: Western Australia

Post by Ozzie »

You might be right Ray, I can remember reading about the lack of cb in one of your posts but I thought I remember asking someone who had a cb-less boat if there was extra lead where the cb would have been . Maybe I dreamed the answer as I can’t find the question now with the search function. Could have been over on tsp my memory is fairly creaky these days.

One would think if there was no cb it would be an ideal place to bung an extra ingot and surely the cost would be offset by not having to install a swing cb and associated materials and labour. There is I think smaller lead ingots either side of the cb case to compliment the big ones forward and aft.

As I think I’ve said once before it would be interesting to put the two different setups to the test in various conditions to see how they compare. I’m not a racer in any shape or form , but it would still be interesting.

Lots of serious money in boats over here. Lots of money everywhere over here actually. First pic shows some serious money boats in the marina in the background with some serious fishing boats in foreground. Pic below, taken from Fremantle’s bathers beach this arvo shows the Freo Doctor in normal mode, probably with Keith and Nicole’s super yacht punching through in the background . Would be an interesting ride in an Investigator.
Bad weather fishing boats
Bad weather fishing boats
A48363AA-B70D-4F38-A9D8-25921BE12AFB.jpeg (33 KiB) Viewed 1746 times
Freo Doctor
Freo Doctor
657764C6-2D46-41FA-B715-E920BB5AC357.jpeg (33.97 KiB) Viewed 1746 times
Last edited by Ozzie on Wed Jun 28, 2023 10:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Outdated reference. I’m
Ozzie
Investigator #143 "SPRITZIG II"

The Mariner - “It’s too strange here. It doesn’t move right." ...
Enola - “Helen said that it’s only land sickness."
Waterworld (1995)
User avatar
Raya
Posts: 314
Joined: Sat May 05, 2012 4:25 pm
Investigator Boat Name: Tme Out
Location: Gold Coast

Re: Western Australia

Post by Raya »

I can understand why a shorter rig would be helpful in stronger wind conditions, but I can't see the point in not having the centre board. Being able to point higher is advantageous, no matter what the wind conditions. My guess is that the lack of a centre board was more to do with simplifying the manufacturing process of the WA boats. The molding and fibreglassing of the centre plate cavity would have been fiddly and time comsuming. Maybe the boatbuilder saved some dollars here in order to stay competitive. In any case, only a few of the WA boats were ever built, so the tatic didn't work. The only other alternative to my theory, would be some kind of WA regulation against the design of the swing keel.

Below is a picture of the area below the front hatch of "Spirit of Christie". Note the lack of fibreglass work for the lowering cable. The picture is not that clear, so for comparison, I've included a pic of the same area from my boat.
West Coast boat.jpg
East Coast Boat.jpg
Ray
Investigator #39
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