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Travis Barton: Hello, left my CLC catalog out at work a few weeks ago and a good number of people have jumped on the boat building wagon! My CLC plans arrived Monday. Are there rules against using cable instead of rope for the steering system?
Are there cleaner steering installs and I just haven’t found pictures yet?
The CLC plans call for plywood for everything can I substitute hardwood for some of the coaming and steering area pieces?
I need to study the rules again but don’t remember mention of details other than the boat weight. Thanks for any guidance. TravisStephen Brendlinger: Travis, there seems to be a slightly different steering system on every Cocktail Class Racer that I see. I have built 2 CLC kits and used a self made version of their steering design on both of them. I have found that it works pretty well and is well described in the building manual. I recently decided to improve the steering arrangement on one of my boats using pulleys purchased from Brown Tool and Machine (www.btmco.com), and switching to cable instead of rope. I am pleased with the results so far, and will give it a good workout at Nationals. The new arrangement feels more firm and precise. It is also important that you keep sufficient tension on the cables or ropes using either bungie cord or springs. I found that I needed to double up my bungie cord on each side when running the 8 horsepower motor. With only single bungies, I would get a rather unpleasant “warbling” effect that really got your attention when running near full speed. There is some information abut steering safety requirements in the CCWBRA Racing Handbook. Good luck with your boat building project!
Lee Edmonds: Hi Travis,Welcome aboard. Stephen has your steering questions answered. You can use hardwood around the cockpit coaming as long as it is similar in size and shape of the CLC version or the CCWBRA version (i.e., sticks up about an inch and is 1/4″ to 3/4″ thick). Otherwise, the outside shape and dimensions need to be close to the one-design Cocktail Class Racer measurements to be legal to race in CCWBRA sanctioned races. If you build to the CLC CCR dimensions, you’ll be okay.
Our rules are in our Racing Handbook that you can find under the Documents tab at the top of the page. Good Luck, LeeIs there any issue to having the steering cables/ropes all going along one side instead of having a rope on each side of the cockpit? I’ve seen pictures of boats with both setups. I’m just wondering if there’s any difference or issues with either setup. Thanks for any input or thoughts anyone has.
Hi Ben,
I am not using the steering setup that CLC provided or what is described in the building manual. I am using plastic coated steel cables that are run through Brown Manufacturing coaming pulleys and directly to the motor, with no pulleys being used to provide leverage. Jack Pettigrew had this on his boat and I liked what I saw so I mimicked his setup. The steering is very quick, but can be unforgiving.
Hi Ben,
Here are some additional steering tips for you and the Texas Racers:
Like Jeff, I used plastic-coated wire cable that I actually got from a marine shop still carrying traditional “wire steering rope” for runabouts. I think it’s 3/16” s.s. cable. It’s nice because there’s no stretch. The steering rope supplied with the CLC kit is highly stretch resistant, as is starter rope that is also used.
Regarding routing of steering rope (or “wire rope”) running along both sides of cockpit vs. one side:
Most boats have the steering rope routed along both sides, with rope running on top of the side deck, using fairlead pulleys through the coamings, as in the CLC kit instructions.
If you were to rout both ropes to one side you would probably need to use (tandem or multiple) pulleys on your cockpit side bulkheads, instead of using the fairleads through the coaming. Tom Kerr’s “Rajic” 46 is a plans-built boat with steering rope routed to 1- side. I’m sure Tom wouldn’t mind sending pics of his arrangement for reference. I’ll give him a head’s up about this Forum discussion. Even though the setup in your CLC boat would differ a bit, it might be helpful to see pics of his 1-sided arrangement. I think at least one CLC boat has a 1-sided arrangement also, but offhand I don’t remember which.
I’m not sure if there is any strong reason for using one routing arrangement vs. the other, but one advantage to the 1-sided setup is it’s easy to remove the steering wheel to access the fuel tank is it’s under the foredeck.
The advantages of sticking with the standard CLC 2-sided rope setup? The rope is tucked neatly against the coaming and out of the way. And, the rope is kept closer to the plane of the steering rope / motor attachments (as opposed to the rear pulleys being a bit lower as in the 1-sided arrangement) …. maybe a mechanical advantage for the 2-sided rope system? Who knows!
Looking forward to hearing more about your construction progress.
Fred Allerton, Safety Committee Chairperson, email: safety@ccwbra.com
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