Sailing a Mill Creek 16.5

I am close to finishing my Mill Creek 16.5 Hybrid.  I am thinking about adding the sailing kit.  I would like to hear from some people that have sailed one.  How well does it sail?

 

Thanks

 

Nate


6 replies:

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RE: Sailing a Mill Creek 16.5

Just tagging along...I'm interested in the same thing.  I'm going to also buy a rowing unit and have been seriously thinking about the CLC Sailrig (trimaran) attachment.

RE: Sailing a Mill Creek 16.5

I'm planning to use mine (Chese 17LT) for fly fishing.  As such, I was thinking about making/installing an out-rigger on one side for stability.  Still thinking about a design that would both mount and fold up easily for transport purposes.  Any ideas would be welcome.

Oh, and I think sailing one of these would be nothing short of a blast!!!

Larry

RE: Sailing a Mill Creek 16.5

Here are a couple of links:

http://smalltrimarans.com/blog/?p=1921

http://bills-log.blogspot.com/2010/01/clc-mill-creek-65-trimaran.html

http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/02/articles/curious/index.htm

RE: Sailing a Mill Creek 16.5

Thanks for the replies.  I have no doubt that the trimaran kit would work well, but I was hoping to find out if anyone has used the CLC kit with the leeboard. It's about half the price and looks like it would be much easier/faster to setup and transport. 

Thanks again

 

Nate

 

RE: Sailing a Mill Creek 16.5

I am considering heading in this direction with my project.

 http://www.floutiercanoes.co.uk/index.htm

The center board arrangement is quite cleaver.  But it is also permenant and disrupts the two paddler arrangement. The twin mast setup is classic.

RE: Sailing a Mill Creek 16.5

Hi Nate,

  I posted some on this subject the end of last summer after finishing the sail kit for mine. It's no speed demon obviously but the only quirk I've got is it has some trouble completeing a tack.  It tends to head up then loose momentum and try to stick in irons. Mostly in winds less then 10 mph. I used the rudder and center board shown in the plans and manual which are most likely what's in the kit. I'm planning on making a new rudder this spring  or altering the stop on the current one to rake the rudder aft. With it verticle there's very little feed back on the tiller setup I'm using and it seemed to tack easier when I locked some rake into it last fall. Didn't do it any good trying to beach it with the kick up feature disabled though.

  As for stability, don't worry about it. I've been out in 25 - 30 mph winds without problem. I hadn't sailed in nearly 25 years and haven't had any scares with this boat. I'd compare it to the Butterflys I learned to sail on years ago. You could flip it but you'd have to tangle the sheet on something or something of that nature. Feel free to look me up in the builders club and email with any questions.

        Chris

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