History and Hull

HISTORY

We have been the proud owners of a KERRY (C10) since 1973 (purchased from the designers and builders, JACK and NORMA PAYTON) and have been involved in sailboat racing at the WILDWOOD SAILING CLUB since then.

There were 14 KERRY DANCERS built by Jack and Norma.


Jack and Norma also designed and built the FLYING CANUCK.



There have been numerous modifications made to our KERRY DANCER and these are outlined below. These changes may appear to be formidable at first glance but when you consider they were done over a period of 30 years, the task might not appear so daunting.

Many of the original components were made from wood but over the years aluminum or stainless steel components have replaced the wooden parts. The only wooden part left on our KERRY DANCER is the support for the mast step.This course of action is not because we dislike wood (finely finished wood is a thing of beauty but wood needs to be protected and constantly maintained or it deteriorates rapidly in a marine environment) but due to the fact that once something is made in stainless steel, you can usually forget about it.

These changes are not all unique to KERRY DANCER class sailboats but encompass many changes that would benefit other classes of sailboats.

HULL

GROOVES

One of the most distinctive features of the K-D, aside from its long, lean profile is the grooves in the front sides of the hull. During a conversation with Jack Payton, the designer and builder of the KERRY DANCER, the subject of the grooves came up and he expressed the opinion that the grooves channeled air bubbles under the hull. These air bubbles acted like ball bearings between the hull and the water. I do not give too much significance to this observation, but Jack was a great innovator. I do know that the grooves definitely strengthen the hull in this very critical area.





MAST TRANSPORT & STORAGE SUPPORTS


One of the challenges facing sailboat owners is how to tranport the mast securely and safely when it is longer that the boat being tranported.


Front support attaches to forestay anchor with two clevis pins.

Middle mast support uses mast pivot pin.

















Rear mast support attached to top gudgeon












MAST STEP SUPPORT

My preference is for a mast rake of 2-3” (usually anything over that indicates a problem e.g. a club member's KERRY DANCER had a problem with his wooden support under the mast deteriorating and that caused his mast to have excessive rake). This lack of proper support can cause weird bends in the very limber fiberglass mast when the mast step is not square to the mast and mast foot. He had a problem with the wooden support under the mast step deteriorating because of dry rot. He had a stainless steel enclosure made up for the support. He eventually came up with an adjustable support which allowed him to restore the camber of the deck around the mast step to its original profile. He also had numerous cracks around the mast step. When the mast step support deteriorates, it allows the mast to sit lower in the boat which gives you excessive rake, which is not desirable as it makes the KERRY DANCER more tender. In my opinion, mast rake should be used to balance the helm of a boat.


CONDITION OF HULL BOTTOM

Another point of significance is the impact a dirty bottom has on a boat’s performance. Every year, we would turn over our KERRY DANCER, using our MF tractor and our apple picker and clean the bottom with muriatic acid (this was the only method I found that was capable of removing crud, etc. from the hull, without harming the gelcoat) to remove the mineral deposits from Wildwood Lake water. A coat of paste wax, Carnauba, would then be applied and lightly polished (as I assumed the motion of the boat would finish the polishing job). This treatment was also applied to the rudder and centerboard. As the season progressed, one could notice the difference in hull speed as it took about 2 weeks for the hull to be really polished and then as the season was winding down, the performance would deteriorate.



CENTERBOARD TRUNK GASKET

Our centerboard trunk well gasket had deteriorated and needed to be replaced. I elected to use 5 oz. Yarn tempered sail cloth doubled over to form a lip, rather than make a new rubber gasket. The new gasket has stood up well for many years (much better than any rubber gasket).

CENTERBOARD TRUNK CAP

The wooden cap on our centerboard trunk had deteriorated (split) over the years and we elected to replace it with a cap made out of 1/4" aluminum. It is much easier to fasten attachments, etc. to the aluminum cap as compared to the wooden cap.








CENTERBOARD

Our centerboard is a properly profiled fiberglass foil with lead inserted in the lower portion. When going to windward, we always have the centerboard fully down (as that keys the boat to the water) and would only retract it when on a broad reach or run. The pullup for the centerboard was mounted so that the helmsperson could easily pull the centerboard up when changing from a beat to a broad reach for planing. Another innovation of Jack Payton’s was to install a raised portion on the upper part of the centerboard that caused the centerboard to tilt to windward, when fully lowered, which further increased the windward ability of the KERRY DANCER.


BUOYANCY TANK

The compartment under the deck, at the bow, is actually a buoyancy tank. One time our buoyancy tank filled with water when the plug came out when we capsized. The boat did point better as a result, but I much prefer the tank to be full of air rather than water, as compared to having extra weight in the bow. You should check, at the earliest possible opportunity, if your buoyancy tank is full of water. If it is, you might have a problem with the water freezing (expanding by 11%) in cold weather which could cause structural damage.


CAPSIZING

Having capsized our KERRY DANCER on numerous occasions, the capsizes always seemed to happen when we were beating to windward, in strong winds and one side of the boat would be under water. The wind would get under the hull of the boat and even if the mainsail was completely released, the wind acting on the hull would cause us to remain sailing along at quite a steep angle of heel. In this state of equilibrium, you are completely at the mercy of the wind. If the wind increased in strength, you went swimming. If the wind abated, you came down from this precarious angle and carried on sailing, knowing you had tweaked the tail of a dragon. This state of Nirvanna (bliss to some- impending disaster to others) is seldom attained if you have at least two crew members but then you are more likely to break the rigging. Also this level of heeling is almost impossible to achieve with the judicious use of the traveller.

Towing a KERRY DANCER full of water can be a challenge as it wants to capsize readily when full of water. We found the best approach was to paddle the boat to shore and bail out the water,(even though it seemed like there was a thousand gallons of water and bailing would lose its novelty).


STORAGE SHELF

A storage rack located under the rear lazarette is ideal for storing items that you need immediate access to e.g. life jacket bag, rigid life preserver, etc. It is firmly attached to the hull with stainless straps and bolts at the front and rear.

TRANSOM DRAIN PLUG


Outlined below is our solution to the transom drain plug. Originally, the plug was an over the center snap plug, similar to what is used on a thermos bottle. It had deteriorated and we wanted a suitable replacement. One of the challenges was to come up with a fitting that would be suitable for the rudder blade to rest against when the rudder is fully down and because of the limited access to the inside of the transom (see STORAGE SHELF), the drain plug had to be fully accessible from the outside of the transom.

Construction details

Outside cap is a 3/4" stainless steel hex with a 3/8" shank and a 1/4"-20T.P.I. thread up the center.

Next is a stainless steel spacer -1/2" O.D. x 3/8" I.D. x 1/8" wide.

Three o-rings -1/2" O.D. x 3/8" I.D.

The stainless steel body is 1/2" O.D. x 7/8" in length, with a 3/8" I.D. recess in the end. The body is tapped 1/4"-20 T.P.I. for a 1/4" x20 T.P.I. stainless steel set screw, 3/4" in length. The set screw is inserted in the body with red loctite.

The o-rings and thread are coated liberally with white grease and inserted, from the outside and tightened securely with a 3/4" wrench and a 1/8" allen key.

This plug has performed well for several years and never gives any indication of leaking or becoming loose in the drain hole and always has been easy to remove when necessary.

TRAILER GOAL POSTS

Guides mounted on the trailer greatly assist launching and retrieving the KERRY DANCER, which is easily accomplished by one person but two people make it easier. One really appreciates the goal posts when it is windy as it is so easy to get blown off your course, when preparing to retrieve the boat. The actual posts are aluminum covered with Ultra High Density Polyethylene that can rotate on the posts.