Category: Life

Last summer/fall some Laurie, Jess and I started a project to build 4 sets of nested 1/2 weight corn hole boards.  We were inspired by a cornhole board set we had seen recently and came up with a design that would take up less space and not weigh as much as a standard set built with 3/4″ plywood and 2x4s.

Using 1/2″ plywood and some 1×3 pieces of wood we built a set that contained 1 inner and 1 outer board that would nest together with a handle to carry them.  The cornhole bags could then be stored in between the boards.  The playing surface of the boards is the standard 24″x48″

The ‘outer’ board has the 1×3 border going all the way around the outside.  On one side, a wide hole is cut in the middle of the 1×3 to pass a rope handle through.  This hole weakens the board a bit, so we added another strip of 1×3 just inside the bag hole to provide some more strength seen below in the middle and  right boards.

The inner board has the 1×3 offset inside the edge so that it can fit inside of the outer board.  The top and bottom of the board have the 1×3 offset by just 3/4″.  The sides of the board have the 1×3 offset with enough space for the legs of the boards to fit in between.  When the boards are nested the holes & legs should be at opposite ends.  That way there is just enough space for 1 width of legs between the inner and outer boards when nested.

Corn Hole Board Nested diagram

Beyond the actual construction of the boards we had a lot of fun painting them with our own designs.

On top of the paint – we use a clear glossy polyurethane to give it a nice finish and protect it.

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J/70 Engine in place
Engine in place

While I had the J/70 back in Richmond a few improvements were made including mid-boat storage cradle for the engine.  This puts the engine low next to the keel underneath the cockpit and not taking up valuable space up front nor adding weight to the front of the boat.

J/70 engine bracket in place.
Without engine

Using a piece of teak from a retired trophy – I build a bracket that mounts to a bulkhead under the companionway.  It has a notch cut for the engine to hold it just below the power head.  And the way it is set up and angled it’s easy to slide the engine towards the center of the boat to get it into place.

Wood above the stringer proping up the top of the engine
Wood above the stringer proping up the top of the engine

Beneath the power head of the engine is another block of wood mounted to a stringer with some foam padding added to it.  This tips the head of the engine upright and keeps oil from getting into the parts of the engine that it shouldn’t.

Having used it a few times now seems to work well and I like the space we got back in the bow for storing

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Completed Dock Box ventilation

I had seen this idea when I sailed the J/70 Winter Series last year and finally had a chance to add it.  In short I cut a hole in the aft end of both dock boxes on the trailer and added a screen with a vent cover over it.  This allows a little more air flow into the dock box in case any wetness ends up in there.  The vents are on the back of the trailer so no rainwater gets in when trailering in wet conditions.

Parts:

Tools

  • 2″ hole cutter

Photos:

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Sunday was the Fishing Bay Yacht Club J/70 Spring Regatta with 6 boats racing in 14-16 gusting to 20 out of the West. With Andrew, Evan and Mark on board we had a great crew and were really able to get the boat around the course well in the higher winds.  We even kicked it up a gear planning downwind when we could.

We sailed 5 races with some pretty tight finishes with the other boats.  In 3 of the races we finished a boat length or less behind someone.  The shifty and puffy conditions made it both challenging to stay in phase and hard to keep changing modes to keep the boat going fast.

We finished a consistent 1-3-3-2-2 including having to restart on the final racing having been OCS.  Another great day.

The series concludes next Sunday at Spring Series #4.

RESULTS | PICTURES

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It took a while to get out on the J/70 for the first time this year and it was a great day for it at the Fishing Bay Yacht Club Offshore Spring Series #3.  Onboard today were Andrew, Evan and Nathan and there were 3 other J/70s in the fleet among the 20 other boats out racing.

No Quarter Aaron Sutten Photo

Saturday started light WNW around 6-8 and built to the 10-13 by the end of the 3rd race.  We had good boat speed up wind, played most of the shifts well and went 2-1-2.  On most of the downwinds Ron Thompson sailing Nostalgia put on a clinic and either pulled ahead if he was ahead or caught up if he was behind.  The next day we realized we had the spinnaker rigged wrong and wasn’t getting it to full hoist.

All in all a great first day back in the boat and excited to continue the season this spring.

Following racing we were hanging around the club as it rained and cleared and we were treated to a beautiful rainbow.

PICTURES | RESULTS

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The genesis for the trip to Lake Norman was the wedding of my college buddy Tom to his fiance Jaime.  Being the reception was on Lake Norman so close to the yacht club I was able to sail Saturday, attend the reception and sail again on Sunday.

It was a beautiful venue at a home on the lake and it was great catching up with old friends and celebrating with Tom, Jamie and their family and friends.  Congrats Tom & Jamie!

PICTURES

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Day 2 at the Lake Norman Yacht Club Spring Lightning Invitational was to see lighter winds – but we were pleasantly surprised with 5-8 knots for our first race.  Steve, Jeff and I had another good start and stayed in the top 5 all the way around the course making gains near the top of the final upwind and finished with a 2nd.  That gave us a few point lead over 2nd place Greg Fisher going into the final race.

As the 2nd race started the wind began to die.  We took a conservative approach up the middle and boats on both sides found more wind and rounded ahead.  We were around 8th at the top mark – picked up a couple boats downwind and then found the wind even lighter and more fickle on the 2nd upwind.  We picked some shifts and caught some boats and even crossed ahead of Greg.  But he found wind on the other side of the course and wound up finishing 3 boats ahead of us and we fell back to 6th as we reached the top mark for a shortened finish.

It wouldn’t be until we were arriving at the awards that we found out that we had tied Greg Fisher for 1st and we won the tiebreaker on account of having won 2 of the races.  A great result for a pick up team in a borrowed boat against some good sailors.  Thanks again Steve and Jeff Hayden for having me along and Bill for all of the hospitality at Lake Norman Yacht Club!

REGATTA WEBSITE | PHOTOS | RESULTS

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