problems with the stem

[Biofish]

Recently i have attached the chines and sheers On my glen-L Zip 15 foot runabout. I was doing some checking and measuring when i noticed a previous problem i had before has returned to a greater degree.
The keel is straight. the aft part of the stem is set into the keel, but the forward part of the stem is 3/4 inch off the centerline. I think that with some creative fairing i can correct the problem a little, but not much. Does anyone think this is a huge problem? I realize that if i continue then the boat might pull to one side before i hit plane. after i plane out i would think that the stem would be out of the water and will not cause any problem. 3/4 inch is a lot.. i think after fairing i might get 1/4 corrected so that would only leave the stem pulling 1/2 to port.. am i missing anything that would create a larger problem?

advice?

Rob

[Art Read]

"Might" not be a huge problem, from the way you describe it. Sounds like the "wetted" area must be a lot closer to "true" than the higher freeboard areas. But it'll probably bug the hell out of you knowing it's there and worrying about it. And your deck layout might seem a little "off" because of it. How hard would it be to "adjust" the stem by dissassemling the sheer/chine to stem joints on the "long" side and triming 'em back a bit? That would obviously alter the rake of the stem slightly, and you might have to "tweek" the joint between it and the keel to account for it, but I doubt it would be as noticeable on the finished boat as an asymetrical bow might be. (DAMHIKT... Damn stem rabbet!)

I bet that backbone is still pretty "flexible", especially if you can get those longitudinals off again. You should still be able to manhandle it into the proper alignment at this early stage. Easier to fix now than it ever will be again... Then again, you're probably the only one who'll ever notice.

[On Vacation]

Are you able to show us the setup by picture? Is this boat on a strong back? I am not sure how the front part of the keel area can be the only area that is offline. It sounds like to me that a frame in the foward area is not true on both sides of the keel. You may wish to measure in the foward area to see if you have the same witdh on both sides. It sound to me like the foward end is pulled offline.

[JimD]

Rob, like Art Read said, the wetted area is probably not out by much, so it probably won't affect the performance noticably. Assuming the hull is built upside down on a stongback the error most likely occurred when you were attaching the sheer clamps. If you did this singlehandedly its quite likely you pulled the breasthook off center when attaching the first sheer, especially if the strongback wasn't built extremely rigidly. I had a bit of trouble with that on my Glen-L Minuet, and a little creative fairing solved the problem, being careful to make sure I didn't fair anything too thin. I added a block of wood here and there, and a little extra epoxy and fiberglass to keep it all strong. Worked out fine.

jimd