Njord Commander Hull 105

[Robert Lemasters]

Bill, during Isebel the docks came apart in the wind and tidal surge a 35 ft. sailboat that had broke loose road up the backstay and crushed the pushpit, also it bent over the old chainplate. I had this one made of thicker 1/4" stainless with a few extra bolt holes, ugly but stronger. The mast did not distort,though I lost one spreader and spreader base, if it had I don't think that I would have kept the boat. I replaced the toe rail in places, one of the staunchens punched through the deck and the stainless rubrail rolled up on the starboard side among many other damages that has be repaired. My boat, my neglect to find a safe place to ride it out, it will not happen again. I'm looking into putting out a mooring this spring for storms and tidal surges.

[Robert Lemasters]

mbd, I will post some photographs of the interior soon, I need to paint some things and finish some wood work that I started. The interior will be simple, I don't have a sink or galley. I have started some wood working projects that need to be finished. It dosn't appear that this boat ever had a water tank. The v birth and side bunks/seats are new, they were custom made from heavy foam and materials that were left over from some Navy admiral's yacht that a friend of my wife's had in her shop.

[CapnK]

Robert - she does look nice! Very shippy.

[Robert Lemasters]

mbd.Here is a photo of one of the portholes from the inside and the porthole on the portside rear of the cabintrunk from the outside. It is real nice to have cross cabin ventilation. I can now do some of the work that I had planned on doing to the interior, ventilation helps when painting. Went out by myself for the first time, used only the main sail, good strong winds from the west, checked and tuned the rigging, what fun, except for tying up... out going tide, chop and wind. Hope the next time I step a mast it is many years from now.

[Robert Lemasters]

Last summer I single handed my ol" Commander most of the time (which wasn't very often) as I will this comming summer. I want to make sail handling as simple as possible and sail a lot more.I think that the Hoyt Jib Boom could make sailing single handed for me more easy and in our light summer winds more efficient. I have a working jib that is in good shape and shouldn't need much if any adjustment. I don't plan on changing to a furler at this time. I will be pulling my boat to clean and repaint the bottom in the next month or so and that would be a good time to install the jib boom. Any thoughts from you old salts would be helpful as I have been very much taken in by the Hoyt Jib Boom vids on the Alerion web site. By the way the Alerion 38 is very impressive and so is the price... for only $315,000 you can sail one home today. I believe that the lines of our Commanders are just as beautiful as the Alerions.

[Al Lorman]

Robert:

I have a Freedom 30, which has a self-tacking jib but not the Hoyt jib boom which had not been invented when my boat was built. The Hoyt jib boom is a lovely piece of equipment, but is not inexpensive, even if you install it yourself. The self-tacking system on my boat involves a few blocks, a much lower cost option. However, the biggest problem with either my system or the Hoyt jib boom is that it limits you to a fairly small jib. There aren't too many times a year on the Chespaeake when I don't wish that I had a somewhat larger jib.

Al Lorman
Former Commander owner

[RichardPearson]

Al:

do you have a drawing or a picture of your self tacking system?

Richard Pearson

[Robert Lemasters]

Al, I know what you mean about our Chespeake summers, hot, humid and hazy with less moving air than doing boot camp in the summer and the only breeze you got was when a company marched past you... and you were thankful for that. I will be keeping my clinched on sails for now. I have a very good Genoa and an almost new spinnaker with a pole. My boat is rigged for a spinnaker. I believe that with the jib boom in place I should be able to set the genoa (130%) or the spinnaker. If the jib boom works as well as Mr. Hoyt says and everything that I have read; I will then install a jib furler with the smaller working jib. I can buy the Hoyt jib boom for my Commander for about $900 plus shipping. Placement is 10% of the "j" length from the bow stem. My idea is one day to be able to handle all of the sails single handed from the cock pit. I would really like to sail the Alerion 38 (sail drive)...but $315,000 base price for a day sailer when I am very happy with my ol' Commander dosn't make sense.

[Al Lorman]

Richard:

I've never posted photos on this forum, so I'm not at all sure how to do it. In any event, the description is fairly simple. Please note, though, that the Freedom 30 has a CamberSpar inserted into a sleeve in the jib which helps maintain sail shape. The self-tacking part, though, could be replicated without the CamberSpar.

Instead of jib sheets attached to the clew of the jib, a single jib sheet deadends at a padeye on the port side of the cabin top. It then goes up through a block attached to the clew of the jib and down to a turning block on the starboard side of the cabin top, and then back to the cockpit. When you tack, the jib moves to the appropriate side of the mast on the block attached to the jib sheet. Tighten the sheet and the jib is close hauled; let it out and you are reaching. As noted, it probably won't work as well without the CamberSpar to maintain sail shape, but it would still work. If I were doing it from scratch, I would use the Hoyt jib boom as well.

Al

[Robert Lemasters]

I just got back from Lowe's hardware store. Looking around the plumming section, this may seem crazy, I belive that one could fabricate their own jib boom from stock (large) pvc pipe without much trouble. I don't think that there would be a weight or strength problem. The other hardware needed would be off the shelf marine. Except for the right angle of the boom to the base , it would not look all that bad.

[commanderpete]

That's the spirit we like around here.

I have bent 1" PVC pipe with a heat gun, but had trouble forming a nice curve. It wanted to bend at a right angle.

I think the real advantage of a jib boom would be having the jib poled out when you're running downwind. Not sure if its really worth the effort though.

You would also have to remove the bow pulpit.

[Robert Lemasters]

Commanderpete: Yes the bow pulpit would have to go, but I have wanted to clean up the deck...remove the lifelines. The pushpit has already been removed because of damage...Mike Goodwin has it somewhere.I was looking at the 2" pvc pipe and fittings...it seems that everything that would be needed to put together a jib boom is stock items and cheap. When no one was looking I tried to bend a 6ft section with an elbow..should be more then strong enough and the elbow would be the right angle. There is even some stock fitting (other sizes)that with little modification could be attached to the deck as a base with a below deck secured section. The boom itself would be cut to a custom length for the Commander and it's jib instead of the Hoyt stock lenth. From info on the Hoyt-Alerion web site there should be a gain in power on most points of sailing comparable to sailing with the genoa. The Commander should sail something like the Alerion 28 and be self tacking. A little slower. Except for our long deep keel instead of the Alerion's fin keel our hull shape is excellent... should work. I don't plan on crossing the Atlantic anytime soon or racing, so I may give it a shot.

[commanderpete]

Gonna be pretty scary up there on the foredeck hoisting and dousing the sail. Once you get the foot attached that pipe will be bouncing around.

I'm sure somebody has tried to make their own. Have you googled around?

You know how sailors are. Somebody will post a question:

"I need a new mast"

Somebody else will respond:

"Aw, just go out in the forest and find a straight tree. That's what I did. It was EASY"

[Rico]

Ok...
I am in the process of re-assembling my mast. The next step is to intall the main halyard sheave and the plates that go with it.

I took the uppermost bolt out. This bolt goes through the plates and also acts as the shaft for the main halyard sheave. Upon taking the bolt out, the sheave fell out right away.

The plates stayed in, and were later removed by one of the guys helping me...

Here is the glitch; - Now I can't recall how these went together...
Below are some pictures that prompt these questions...
The first is of the PORT side of my mast BEFORE disasembly and shows the jib halyard (Blue) on its block, attached to the jib bracket. NOTE the holes below (to the right of the picture) just below the slot for the plates/sheave.

The third picture is of the STARBOARD side of my mast prior to disasembly, and it shows ONE lonely screw... I have no idea what this was there for... I suspect it served no purpose, but I am not sure...

The second picture shows all the holes in this area as they are today.

Do any of you guys recall if they are only held in place by the bolt and the bracket for the jib halyard block?, or are they also supported by something else related to the screw in question?
Thanks!

[commanderpete]

On the mystery holes---somebody might have installed a halyard restrainer up there at one point, for use with a roller furler.

Just the big bolt holds the sheave/plates.

Did you re-paint the mast? (middle pic) Looks spiffy