A Wonderful Paradox Story pt2.

In part one, I wrote about SMALL FRY from Western Australia & how, based on two separate articles, she may have been rolled, dismasted & her skipper lifted off by helicopter & the some years later both were found cruising 400 miles further north. 

I am happy to report that this indeed is what happened. The skipper did abandon SMALL FRY, she was recovered & continues to achieve some creditable sea miles cruising the WA  including a rounding of Cape Leeuwin on the SW tip of Australian continent. 

I posted these findings on the Paradox Builders group site & it's brought up some further discussion & input from a friend of SMALL FRY who provided some of the above information. He also suggested, based on discussions with the skipper, that the rudder may have given away before the capsize & dismasting. Some of the discussion follows:-

> Geoff Davis recently sent me a link to this article.  (See my previous post about Paradox Design) It explains why the Paradox is a very good sea boat.  The Paradox is not overly beamy, is heavy displacement for its size, has a favourable prismatic coefficient which means that it does not hobby horse excessively, the ballast ratio is not excessive and the ballast is not too low down, the rig is relatively heavy which slows down the roll motion. The A/B ratio which is the ratio of boat above and below the water is also good.  Not covered in this article is the fact that the mast will float when submersed, adding more to the ultimate stability.  I have previously built a free standing mast and have used the same calculations to check the design of the Paradox mast.  I think it is strong.  If anyone is concerned about the strength of the mast it might be worth considering a mast tabernacle which will help to support the mast.  I considered this but decided to stick with the plan, mostly because it is so neat. When I questioned Geoff about the capsize he thought the rudder had given way first.  I think it is worth having a good look at how you build your rudder.  Make sure it is strong - there is a lot of force going through it.

> ... the rudder. It also looks to me the most vulnerable part of the boat.... the weakest link. But, to be fair, Matt designed the boat as a coastal cruiser which only ventures out onto the wide open ocean during during reasonable weather.( Posted by: "james hall" flexwing462)

> What are the weak areas of the Paradox rudder? . (Posted by: wyliewesty)

> The rudder is cantilevered from the rudder stock and unsupported for most of the underwater part. Which is not a problem when used as designed. Many other boats have unsupported rudders and they aren't having a problem. But the Paradox rudder carries more load than most other types and when conditions become extreme that load increases, so it and its fixings need to be stronger than most others.( Posted by: "james hall" flexwing462)

> I'm looking forward to reading Geoff's account so that we can understand what went wrong, and why, and the info will help us when evaluating what are suitable weather conditions. ( Jim c/-Jims Times blog)

I recall that Sven Yrvind did a major redesign for his ocean crossing design based on Paradox. 

This is Sven Yrvind's "modified Paradox" rudder assembly under construction minus it's mass blade shown below. Very complex, he later wrote that "YRVIND.COM" "became too heavy". 

 

A Wonderful Paradox Story from Western Australia

Yesterday, while trawling the net for information about sailing the Paradox, I came across ASHIKI's blog. In a post from Shark Bay WA ASHIKI's skipper expressed surprise that Paradox named SMALL FRY had sailed from Fremantle, some 370 nautical miles to the south in 5 days. ASHIKI's skipper described SMALL FRY as tiny (he initially thought she'd been launched nearby), but fast through the water ... "no need of an engine" and well stocked with food ("mostly muesli and baked beans). To add to the reputation of her seaworthiness, the skipper reported having sailed SMALL FRY around Cape Leeuwin (that's one of the five great capes BTW). 

So ... I couldn't rest without knowing more. I revisited the blog for any detail, and discovered a photo credited to Geoff Davis, I knew the skipper's first name was Geoff. So I Googled Paradox, SMALL FRY, Freemantle and Geoff Davis in all combinations without winning any direct hits until I read about an incident involving the rescue of a 4.2m sail boat which had rolled and been dismantled off Freemantle. The skipper was a "Geoff Davis". I wondered if this could be the same fellow and whether SMALL FRY had been wrecked.

Scanning for more detail, the news article claimed that Mr Davis built the wooden and fibreglass boat over a period of three years. Davis described the design as "unusual" how she was sailed from below decks, lucky for him, he had the hatch close when the large wave rolled the boat over and dismantled her. Davis said he owed his life to the boat's design saying that if he'd been out on deck on any other yacht, he would have been washed overboard. I'm thinking, surely this must be a Paradox?

So what's good about a Paradox capsizing and dismasting, even of the solo sailor survived? Well the authorities that winched Mr Davis to safety, described the weather as "terrible", not a day to be offshore, with winds to 125 kilometres per hours, or 60 knots. They went off at Davis saying:"his decision to leave port was foolish. Broadcast warnings of heavy weather and winds had been made for over 24 hours". Meanwhile Davis said he was heading off for a few days cruise along the South Coast, before the weather closed in and he attempted to return to the port of Freemantle,  in hindsight reckoned he should have "stayed on the river". 

So the Paradox negotiates hurricane force winds, and even when dismantled and capsized by a rogue wave as it closes shore, the occupant emerges claiming how safe he felt. 

Then much to my delight, when I checked the dates of the sighting at Shark Bay and capsize off Freemantle I learn that the capsize happened first, in fact many years beforehand.  The wreckage of what we can assume is a Paradox off Freemantle sailed by Geoff Davis occurred in 2009, the sighting of Geoff Davis on the Paradox SMALL FRY was last year, in 2014! 

We can't know whether the original paradox survives or another one was built, but for a fellow to be caught offshore in extreme weather and face disaster, to take to sea so bravely in the same design over many subsequent years, says much about Paradox ... or that Mr Davis is more nutty than the rest of us :) I'd love to meet him on the water one day. 

Now, about a jury rig?