Orion Edge

History

The end of 2015 found a new trend between the users of the german RG65 forum. Many sailors turned again to the build and construction of wooden boats.

My contribution to this topic was the draft of the Orion Edge  (thread in the RG65 forum).  A freely available wooden boat plan should be drawn to promote self-building in the RG65 class. It was important to me that it was not a “scalemodel” but a fully raceproofed design. Built in wood but equal to the laminated glass and carbon hulls.

Development

To achieve this the successful hull of the Orion 65 was slightly redesigned to facilitate the construction with balsa planks. The result is a mix of edged construction in the upper part of the hull, which was combined with classic plank construction in the underwater hull. That way, the good properties of the Orion 65 could be maintained despite its simplified design.

Prototype and finished boats

The first prototype of the Orion Edge was built by Reto from Switzerland, a real gem that also proofed the good sailing abylities.


The published plans were then very well received, and without any claim to completeness, boats have meanwhile sprung up in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, Hungary, France, Spain, the USA, Brazil and Chile. With many builders I have ongoing friendly contact, an exemplary overview of what was built can be found in the blog articles about the Orion Edge.

Plan and instructions

The plan of the Orion Edge has been continuously developed:

  • Version 1.0: The first Plan, built by Reto as a prototype
  • Version 2.0+2.1: After Retos first experience with the prototype the Hull was slightly changed so that the planks fit better. In 2.1 Some little mistakes in the plan where eliminated
  • Version 2.2: added Deckdesign, Planks/Deck with 0.7mm outline, new Framedesign with multiple possibilities for plank thickness and markings for planks
  • Frames reddrawn because of some errors in v.2.2, added a simpler, more clear frameversion for 2 mm balsa, added lines for better fitting of the deck.

Additionally, I wrote an illustrated manual to make construction easier, especially for beginners. 

Sources of supply

The Orion Edge is designed as a DIY project, a producer of hulls is therefore not intended.

The current version of plan and instructions can be found in the download area.

RG65 Radiosailing Blog