Sailing aboard Kadimah, a Kahuna built in Australia by Jeff Ingham

I'm just back from an oversea trip that included a stop in Gosford, Australia (about an hour north of Sydney), where I sailed for two days with Jeff Ingham, builder and owner of Kadimah, the first Kahuna to be launched.






Kadimah


















Kadimah at her mooring












Jeff at the helm

As you can see from the photos, Jeff did a superb job in building the boat, which is all the more remarkable because his vision is seriously impaired, due to an accident early in the building (** please remember to always wear your safety glasses**). My thanks to Jeff and his friends for their very warm hospitality.

Performance and handling
Kadimah handled very well -- stiff, weatherly, with impressive speed in light airs. After motoring out the winding channels leading south from Gosford to Broken Bay, we headed offshore some 10 miles or so. The swell was 1.5 to 2 meters. Winds were generally 8-10 knots, rising to 12 or so on occasion.



















In these conditions Kadimah sailed at 5 knots to windward, 6 on a close reach, and 6-7 knots on the return, broad reaching with the swell.















We were carrying main, staysail, and jib, with the topsail up for a portion of the sail (it needed some adjustment to set properly, which we couldn't do underway).








































Kadimah from the dinghy











































Laminated gaff jaws









Kadimah happily maintained her course (within a 10 degree range) with the tiller lashed to windward.

Jeff has sailed inshore in 25 knots under full main and staysail, and said she performed very well.














Deck layout
Jeff varied the cockpit arrangement slightly, with the seats below the deck so that they will be level when cushions are used. The result is very comfortable. He also enlarged the main cabin trunk (2 m wide in place of 6') and forward trunk (to 1 m by 2 m, instead of 3' x 6'). These changes result in somewhat more room below; there remains ample room on deck.





























Cabin layout
Jeff has opted to place the head forward, followed by a double berth to stb and storage and desk to port, and main cabin with aft galley. Some interior details still need to be finished, but the layout is very comfortable, with ample space. Jeff is very pleased with the integral water tanks below the cabin sole; the bilge channel had some water in it, from a dripping shaft seal, but contained this very effectively.






Spacious forward head






















Desk in forward cabin (taken during construction)
















Galley