Storm Petrel has been designed as a small family boat for
those looking for something a little different. Inspired by the ferociously
seaworthy Norwegian faerings, she is a more modern lightweight interpretation
of this classic design. Light enough for easy single handed launch and
recovery, her easily driven hull form gives sparkling performance with a modest
sail area, and generations of Scandinavians can attest to the ease with which
such a hull can be rowed. She has an unstayed mast and a simple efficient sail
plan that is always easy to control, and very quick to rig. This ease of
rigging together with her light weight gets you on the water with minimum
hassle, making "impulse sailing" almost a reality.
Her cockpit has generous side benches providing comfortable seating for two adults, and her stable flared hull form gives speed, dryness, and relaxed sailing. Decked ends provide dry stowage space for clothes, picnics, or cooking equipment that are essential to the proper enjoyment of such a boat. Like all our boats, she has reasonable windward performance with the board up, and this together with her snag free rudder enables her to explore less frequented waterways and creeks.
She has a movable central rowing thwart that can be tucked
away when two people are sailing her in light airs when they can sit on
opposite sides. Being a double ended boat, she doesn't suffer from the
excessive helm imbalance when heeled hard and due to her flared topsides, she
actually sails "on her ear" rather well. Jibing and running are all
easily controllable due to her sprit boomed rig, popular with families since
the boom is well above all heads. This simple, effective rig works well on this
boat since the sail has been cut to ensure the boom can be rigged almost
horizontal. This minimises the disruption to the airflow and we would challenge
anyone to notice the difference from one tack to the next. The position of the
boom also holds the sail flat enough for both windward and off-wind sailing in
control and safety. The optional jib is set on a balanced boom which has the
advantages of being self-tacking, staying flat (the clew cannot rise), and
eliminating the large sheeting loads which act to pull the luff out line on
conventionally rigged headsails. The boom holds the lateral tension in the sail
so enabling us to tension the luff sufficiently without the need of backstays
or shrouds. The disadvantage of this arrangement on bigger boats is that it
precludes the use of a forestay - not a problem here. On a good day she will tack
through 80 degrees. If the wind increases, this becomes more like 90 degrees,
though this is partly due to sea state change.
We couldn't resist having an asymmetric cut for her either.
This sail is flat enough to maintain tacking angles of 180 degrees so one can
speed back and forth without loosing ground. What a fantastic sail! When we
sail her, we use the push pull tiller almost without exception, though she does
come with both tiller types in the kit. Most people make up the conventional
tiller first and then try the better one later. A perfect boat does not exist,
but for her purpose, she is as close to one as we can create.
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