DN NA Class

Well, it's June, and that means it's time to build. 

I know, I know... It's been horribly quiet in the icesailing world.  Many of us are sailing on water right now.  I'm learning to race in a new smaller boat myself.  My large sailboat is getting neglected for the faster smaller, and yet harder to sail one.

First off, I broke down and decided to buy the full sized plans from Paul.  Paul Goodwin... If you're reading... Check your email.  I never heard back from you after purchasing the plans a few days ago.  I'm not in a rush, but I suppose if worse comes to worse, I'll just start without them.

I've decided to go with Poplar as the wood of choice.  I can get my hands on Sitka, but for the price and the fact that I'm most likely to screw this up a bit, let me start with something less expensive.  That way I can have a bunch of boards to work with and potentially screw up.  ;)

Any cheat codes or suggestions I should have before I go into this undertaking?  Aside from lots and lots of clamps?  Any suggestions on building a jig table? 

I'm going to build more than one.  Figured I might as well while I'm making a mess for one, just make two or more...  I figure one will come out just right, and the others I can give away to friends.


Going to pick up the wood this weekend, and hopefully build some sort of jig table and get going!  I'm going to take tons of photos and will post my progress here and on icesailing.net


Thanks in advance for all the wisdom!  Oh, and if someone wants to know WHY I'm doing this (because I already have a very fast racing DN), it's because there's something about saying you're sailing in something you actually built.  That, and I'll know for sure how everything works, was angled, and put together...



Carter
DN #5499

There are a lot of hours involved in building a DN.  In the grand scheme of things, the wood is cheap.  Use Sitka.

Cheers,
Eric US 5193

Check out the photos from Mark Isabell and the Pewakee Ice Sailing Squadron:
   https://ice.idniyra.org/image/tid/28

Also some video:
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cnUwQR-ZXU

If you're going to use Poplar, make sure to carefully select light boards. My experience is that there is a very wide range of density.
Basswood is another popular choice for DN construction, as is Douglas Fir.

Cheers,

Geoff S.

Thanks Geoff...

I'm going to look into the Douglas Fir too.  From what I was told over the phone, there isn't much poplar in the lengths I need.  I'll have a look at it (the poplar) and get a feel for the weight, but we'll see what they have tomorrow.

I'll check out the Sitka while I'm there.  The Sitka is 8.95 a board foot... versus 3.99 a linear board foot for the Douglas at the size I need... 

Maybe I'll just get both and duke it out in the end with which one I perfer....

Thanks folks!

Mark Isabell:

Nice slide show!