Welcome Aboard Kavenga 41LN25

My husband (James Downar) and I (Heather Brignull) bought Kavenga in October of 2012. We moved onboard on day one and have been loving living aboard ever since.  It would be great to meet some other LN owners, so sign us up!

Kavenga at anchor

Jim at the helm

Heather underway

Design of the LN 35 and 41 Stanchion Mounts

Behind the chainplate (pictured at left) is a typical stanchion support used on both the Lord Nelson 35 and 41.  Tommy Chen invented this mount to eliminate deck leaks.  The stainless stanchion mount is backed by a stainless steel plate inside the bulwark.  Just below the deck, three layers of fiberglass (mat and roving) span the space between the deck and hull.  This encloses the bulwark area.  Before the caprail was put on, the entire bulwark was filled with a sand impregnated resin.

The sand was dried before it was used by (1) leaving it out in the sun and then (2) heating it in a 3' to 4' wide, cast iron wok. 

Why the engine won't start--Aurora 41LN17

One of the areas I haven't been into yet--the injector pumps. One of them is bound up. Fortunately (or not) it seized up in the "Don't Run" position. As long as one pump needs service, I pulled the other two, for inspection and the injectors for inspection and cleaning. The pumps have about 5000 hrs on them, the injectors about 3000. 

Ted Boodry
S/V Aurora

Pictures from Aurora 41LN17

Just hanging around in Prickly Bay, Grenada.

Ted Boodry
S/V Aurora

Things I Learned from Tommy Chen--Aria 41LN18

 

 My wife, Terri, and I had the distinct privilege recently of meeting and talking with Tommy Chen, the designer and builder of our Lord Nelson 41. Tommy was a guest of LNVT's Victory Tug's Midwest Rendezvous on September 12, 13, and 14, 2014 at the St. Croix Marina in Hudson, Wisconsin.

We learned three unique factors about our boat in talking with Tommy. First, the Stays'l is positioned in the sail plan in such a way that one can fly that sail alone in very high winds and sail the boat properly. The helm is balanced on all points of sail and the boat speed is quite respectable. Second, the forward base of the lower keel on the 41 is a maximum of 22 inches wide. That is fairly significant. It doesn't affect the boat's performance. The whole keel is fashioned like an airplane wing to achieve the same lateral lift principles. That wide and heavy section of the keel enables the vessel to carry substantial weigh below without having to extend the keel even deeper. Third, Tommy used a continuous "unbuckled" cable to power the rudder quadrant from the helm so as to not risk cable separation under heavy load.

To other Lord Nelson sailboat owners out there I highly recommend connecting with the Lord Nelson Owner's Association. While I was the only sail boater in an otherwise Victory Tub gathering, I was treated royally. This association seeks to advance our understanding and appreciation of the boats we have and to join in fellowship over our chosen water sport. It is important that we get ample representation of us sailors wherever we might be.

Chuck Jakway
S/V "Aria" LN 41 (Hull #18) Apostle Islands, Lake Superior

Skene's Elements of Yacht Design

While asking Tommy Chen how he designed the 41LN and 35LN his response included many heuristics.  Heuristics like a rudder should be 5% of a hull's underwater surface area.  He said he learned them from Skene's Elements of Yacht Design.  Tommy doesn't read English and it speaks volumes that he made his way through this technical book.  When I asked him how he did it, he said, and I'm paraphrasing here: "Numbers are numbers.  You don't need to read english to understand them." 

Dave Howell, Nellie D. 37VT63