SE
Yacht surveyor and designer Andrew Simpson cruises
with his wife Chele in his own-design 11.9m (39ft) yacht
Monthly musings Shindig. Read his blog at http://www.offshore-sailor.comAndrew Simpson
Build yourself a fl opper
stopper to keep the
winter gloom at bayStop the fl op
over winter
DIY boat projects, such as building a fl opper
stopper, make the dull grey season bearable
F
or boat owners the winter
months can be notably drear.
The days are short, the
weather often unsavoury. The
boat is usually out of
commission, either ashore or hunkered
down by a mesh of mooring lines in a
marina. Shindig is almost 4,000 miles
away in the Caribbean, lashed to a
mighty cradle as a defence against
hurricanes. It’s a time of dreams and
reminiscences – a refl ection of voyages
completed and those yet to be made.
I recently found myself in conversation
with a fellow sailor; a retired gent also
partially numbed by such seasonal
withdrawal symptoms. Staring bleakly out
of the quayside pub’s window he confi ded
that he was trying to devise a project to
bring light into these dark days. I recall we
had just ventured a little way into our
second pints when Inspiration hit.
“Do you have a fl opper stopper?” Iasked. On account of his puzzled
expression I found it necessary to explain
that this was not an item of manly apparel
but indeed an essential bit of kit for a
single-hulled boat.
I hazard that most
sailors would concur
that one of boating’s
more uncomfortable
experiences is to be in
a windless anchorage
with a swell surging in from a
meteorological disturbance from below
the horizon. Given some wind, a boat will
tend to lie head into it. In calm conditions
most boats prefer to align themselves
beam-on to any wave action, rolling
hideously as they do so. Fortunately, a
remedy is fairly easy to contrive. You need
a fl opper stopper, a somewhat
exaggerated description for what should
more correctly be termed a ‘roll reducer’.
There are various proprietary products onthe market but here’s one you can make
yourself. It’s not an original idea but, from
my experience, works well. It is effective
and has the virtue of mechanical
simplicity, being for the most part fl at and
a conveniently stowable shape.
It should be a triangular plate, weighted
in one corner, suspended underwater as
far outboard as possible, typically from the
end of the swung-out boom or a
spinnaker pole. When the boat rolls
towards the fl opper stopper the weighted
corner drops and the plate dives. Then, as
the boat begins to roll upright again, the
three-legged harness snaps the plate
horizontal again and the increased drag
dampens the roll. Couldn’t be simpler!Deep thinking
The construction details are plain, and
modifi able, but there are a few points
worth noting: although I have heard of
people using plywood, ideally the plate
should be non-buoyant. I used a sheet of
glassfi bre (about 8mm thick, which I laid
up on a sheet of melamine-faced
chipboard) but equally practicable would
be aluminium or steel. The fl opper stopper
should be sized to match the boat – a bit
of a guess really. The plate shown here
had sides about 800mm in length before
the corners were rounded off to help
minimise damage to the topsides as it’s
lifted out. It works but I think it could have
been a bit bigger. When suffi ciently bored,
I may set about making a larger
replacement. Any kind of weight will do
but it needs to be quite heavy if the plate
is to sink quickly. Shindig’s has a 5lb dive
belt weight.
If possible, the plate should be
suspended below any surface wave
action, and the deeper the better. Also, it
helps to lead the attachment line back to
the cockpit for depth adjustments.
If using a spinnaker
pole, the topping lift
should be rigged to
the pole’s end, not the
usual mid-length point.
This is because the
vertical snatch loads can be great, and
poles are designed to take compression
not lateral loads.
My pal was intrigued. Off he trotted with
a spring in his step and a little more than a
week later I was invited round to see the
result. Very creditable it was too. I was
about to leave for home when his wife
drew me aside. Could I suggest any other
projects to keep her husband occupied?
“How about a windvane gear?” I heard
myself say.I found it necessary to
explain this was not an
item of manly apparel