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Microtransat

Impending Launch.

By Dermot Tynan • November 1, 2016

Hull #002 is coming along, slowly. The stations are mounted on the strongback and I've been double-checking the alignment. I have time to do this because 1/32nd inch balsa wood is hard to come by, and because I haven't cut the keelson yet. Well, I have, but I need to re-cut it. The original was cut to the wrong profile.

While the work on hull 2 continues, I've been using Hull #001 to test out aspects of the boat design and control systems. In fact, I am very close to launching the hull…

Vessel Technology

Hull 002

By Dermot Tynan • September 24, 2016

I have discussed the hull construction process in earlier posts, which you can find via the above search bar. To recap, you take the hull design and "loft" the shape of each section or bulkhead, from the drawing. You then cut this out of 6mm marine ply (or equivalent), mount each of the stations onto a strongback, and now you have something which forms the shape.

I also need to add a keelson to the picture. A keelson is a long, keel-like piece of wood which runs from stem to stern, connecting the bulkheads. I cut one already but it turned out to be too short due to a miscalculation on my part. Generally I cut a thin (about 2cm wide) outline of the keel of the boat, from a sheet of ply.

Company News

The Reboot

By Dermot Tynan • August 28, 2016

According to the calendar, it is now 963 days since my last blog posting on here. A lot has happened in that thirty month period, but not a lot in terms of the robotic boat.

I’ve worked on a variety of designs of winged sail and I think I have a design which will work really well. More about that, anon.

You may also notice I redesigned the blog, and switched from Wordpress to Jekyll. I had originally planned to code a Ruby on Rails site, and this is mostly why there haven’t been any blog updates for the last couple of years. I wanted to incorporate automatic blog updates from the boat when she’s at sea, but trying to decide on a layout for the new blog was like trying to choose the paint colour for the bike shed. Eventually I just went with Jekyll as it allows me to have boat updates, and doesn’t involve spending months tweaking HTML and CSS.

The big news though is a decision I made last year, to switch away from my own hull design, which you can find here: [[56]. Chatting with Professor Paul Miller of the US Naval Academy, I came to the conclusion that the design he and his students had perfected, which they call the MaxiMOOP.

Vessel Technology

The New Winged Sail

By Dermot Tynan • January 8, 2014

My original plan was to use a traditional mast and mainsail, with Yannick Lemonnier of West Sails volunteering to produce the sail. Yannick is no stranger to mad schemes himself, having competed in far too many Figaro races. These days, he spends his time sailing his Moth winged-beast, or racing his International 14. That is, when he's not making sails for everyone from Beoga Beag to the Volvo Open 70s.

Microtransat

The rubber hits the road. Sort of.

By Dermot Tynan • January 6, 2014

Due to other, exciting distractions (which I will mention in a later post), I haven't had a chance to keep the blog up to date. Still, work progresses on the boat, and that's the important part. Last month, with the keel now in its new position about 30mm further back along the hull, and sealed into place, it was time to add the electronics board.