My first boat was an old Albacore made by Skene, sail number 4805. It came with a mint set of sails, and a really good rudder. The condition of all of the running rigging left something to be desired. Basically anything that moved had to be replaced. Luckily, the Albacore has a pretty simple rig, and it didn't cost much to get it rocking.

Rigging

I did not make many changes in the rigging from the "stock" setup. One thing that I did change however, was the mainsheet. The mainsheet was originally a center type with an athwartships traveller that is always in the way when tacking and gybing. It also had sharp edges, which lead to a lot of bashed shins. To top it off, my particular hull had it's thwart about 1/3 of the way from the leading edge of the centreboard, instead of the usual 2/3 back, which made for a lot of things to step around when maneuvering about. It's the only Albacore I've ever seen that has the thwart in that location. Weird.

My first attempt at improving the mainsheet was to make it a hoop-type center mainsheet. I attached a vertical 2x2 onto either side of the centreboard trunk using fibreglass cloth, and bolted two tall aluminum bars to them. I then attached another aluminum bar to the tops of the other two, which formed a rectangular "hoop", where a block was attached. This system actually worked very well, until the wood tore out from the sides of the centreboard trunk on a not-very-windy day. I guess my surface preparation on the centreboard trunk wasn't good enough, but then again, I was only 12 and seriously lacked the skills needed.

The hoop-style mainsheet is a very good design, but it can get in the crew's way, and sometimes 4:1 is not enough mechanical advantage.

My second and final design was the common aft mainsheet with rear bridle (no traveller involved; I've never seen the point) and a centre sheeting block on the top of the centreboard trunk. It worked perfectly, right away. This type of mainsheet system has always been my favourite; its simple to rig, and gives a considerable mechanical advantage without using more than a 2:1 purchase. This keeps the friction down, which gives far faster control over the sail. It's kind of no wonder that all high performance dinghies such as the I14, 18 footer, and just about everything else uses this system.

The rear bridle with a 2:1 purchase at the rear of the boom has low friction and a good mechanical advantage. The only downsides are that the mainsheet can hook on the transom if it's slackened too much during gybing (avoidable with technique) and the horizontal section can sag. Two plastic or rope hoops hanging from the boom can help hold it up.

On the Water

The Albacore was a lot of fun to sail, even if it was one of the older boats which are considerably heavier than the new boats made by Ontario Yachts. It was a good boat to learn on, as it was unforgiving enough to punish me for not paying attention, and fast enough to keep me interested. In fact, the Albacore is rated as being a faster boat than a Laser, and many other boats that I would never have thought it could beat. It's also a good boat for people that are tall. The boom is high, and the dimensions of the boat make it comfortable for hiking, especially the skipper. The rudder was light, but not so light that it had no feel to it.

However, it's positive aspects were also liabilities. It is not comfortable to sail if you are short, like I was when I first sailed one. Also, it has the same sail area as a Laser II (approx 125 sqft), but has no trapeze to fight it with. In heavy winds, it gets to be a handful when sailing upwind, as there is not much to do besides let the main way out to keep it flat. Also, the slight instability of the boat makes it tough to take inexperienced people for a quick sail, even on mild days. The buoyancy tanks were not really big enough to hold the boat up high out of the water, which made for easier righting and getting back in, but it also left it full of water, which then had to be bailed out real fast. In fact, on the newer boats where the centreboard trunk slopes down at the front, the water can sometimes fill back in just as quickly as it's being bailed out.

Overall though, it was an awesome boat, and I sure do miss it. In fact, If I ever run into the exact one I owned ever again, I would try to buy it back. We sold it to someone who lived somewhere in BC, on the mainland, but that is all I know.

Images

The Albacore was shy of cameras. I also didn't own a camera at the time, at least not a digital one. Below are the only few pictures of the boat that I have.

The Albacore on the trailer. You can almost see the hoop for the center mainsheet touching the mast near the spreader.

These pictures are from the Nautical Days Regatta in Comox, BC in August 1998. We placed 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 3rd in the four races, for an overall ranking of 3rd. We were beating Lasers and Laser IIs which should have been a lot faster in those wind conditions. A lot of people were very surprised to see us doing that well in an old Albacore.

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Page last modified on December 29, 2009 22:55:36. (ID=79)