Gypsy Moth IV repair in Auckland

[John B]

She only arrived in a couple of days ago but as you can see a team of boatbuilders are right into the repair
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid206/pce053d291843b13c01a75952ba331b92/eed4b5a6.jpg
Thats the section of hull thats been cut out ... about 10 ft x 3 ft thereabouts.
Steve h and I visited her at the TNZ base today and found some very competent people making fast progress.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid206/p1b9c260f179719500d4f382654c66938/eed4b5a4.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid206/p5735af5e3b7e895ee9fa606c1c51bdb8/eed4b5a5.jpg
That 1/2 bulkhead shows some signs of compressionand sheer forces at work but really she's got off pretty lightly.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid206/pa6f62b3edda4f939f28ef6262ff958b5/eed4b553.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid206/p799374ff9cf5571a52a912bbc5d8b1c1/eed4b52b.jpg

[John B]

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid206/pabad2eb3060d9adb3b839a9af4ead258/eed4b502.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid206/p043116ede4731610037edb6b7ec27146/eed4b4d4.jpg
A comment for those with an emotional interest in this heritage boat..
The man overseeing this project is Bob Wilson from Brin Wilson boats and I have to say that that yard have a remarkable historical record for outstanding quality. They became reknowned for their cold moulded kauri boats of the 70's and 80's in particular and they built the kind of boats you want to own. My father has one.
This endorsement has been made to me by some really quite knowledgable boating people and if he is running it then it will be a good job done well..

[John B]

6 laminations
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid206/p09eb6bc48e26dd9e3f694885bc17df6b/eed4b4ae.jpg

[Jase]

oh typical, you post this pic after I email you.... :(

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

Glad to see its happening - Here is an engagingly different point of view. (http://spiritburner.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3803)

[John B]

if only I'd known !

[shamus]

My life has become richer in the last five minutes. "Engaging" hardly does it justice! John- she's a great looking boat in photos- how did you feel looking at her in the flesh? I think I read Chichester's book about 1968- I might try to find it and read it again. What was the title "Around the World in Gypsy Moth V" or something like that?

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Far from feeling any attachment to this truly dreadful boat, I was in favour of a gallon of paraffin and a match, rather than restoration, and I reckon I still am.

Silly stunt, putting the unwashed in charge of the incompetent, in the pious hope that it will build their little characters for them.

[John B]

LOL.
Its actually pretty neat now but yes, it was pretty bad when launched as I recall.Balance wrong wasn't it?

But I think a few people are a bit attached to it.

[John B]

Pretty much a fun thing to do Shamus. Like any special boat there's always lots to look at. Too much for thirty minutes or so especially when you're there as a welcome but tolerated guest.These guys are all busy and working hard so its like walking into a busy factory or workshop and taking people away from their work ,so we were concious of that. Very grateful for the time taken to speak to us by the skipper and the project manager.and of course, the access .
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid206/p4dbc1ff79a70ce88abf38f0a03550b2b/eed4b53f.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid206/pda761f1b0c52b74a7eb8c928e74b05b7/eed4b503.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid206/p5adea620064b5633e79239ae993c0969/eed4b540.jpg

[Paul Pless]

Far from feeling any attachment to this truly dreadful boat, I was in favour of a gallon of paraffin and a match, rather than restoration, and I reckon I still am.

Silly stunt, putting the unwashed in charge of the incompetent, in the pious hope that it will build their little characters for them.


Come now Andrew, don't hold back, tell us how you really feel.

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

Paul, read Sir Francis Chichester's book - he was scathing about the boat.

However - it has a place in hearts of the nation - I can remember following the story in primary school - with a large map and the track marked out in coloured pins.

What the boat did was ordinary - what the man did - early flying, navigation instruction, and the genesis of singlehanded ocean racing - that was awe inspiring.

[John B]

My recollection was that it was tender and unbalanced , although I can't remember which way ,weather or lee. Its been years since I read about it.
That was corrected after surgery in Australia was it not ?

[Stiletto]

The TV pics showed the navigation station with the original radio and instruments, they then showed that the historically correct stuff was only a facade on a panel that lifted up to expose the modern stuff underneath.:eek:

[Paul Denison]

If I recall correctly, the boat hobby horsed terribly.

[TR]

With all due respect to Chichester.

I really doubt there was or is anything seriously "wrong" with the design of Gipsy Moth IV. Her design was a massive leap into unknown territory, that of large single-handed ocean racers. There was little in the way of precedents. She was/is a product of the times, narrow, deep, and fine ended was seen as fast. John Illingworth (GM IV designed by Illingworth & Primrose) explains the compromises involved (to great credit) very clearly and sensibly in his book, Further Offshore. Unfortunately Chichester's very public complaints about the design ended Illingworth's career.

When she was launched Chichester had been sailing off-and-on, for about ten years. True he had won a series of RORC races, the single-handed transatlantic, and made two other transatlantic crossings. All done in much smaller boats, 34' and 39' respectively. But he did not have a lifetime of sailing lots of different boats behind him.

There was much unhappiness during construction between owner, designers, and builder. I am sure this carried over, for Chichester, into the performance and handling of the boat. But he is really the only person (to my knowledge) to have sailed the boat before the current voyage.

Originally there was a small "bite" out of the bottom of the keel aft, just forward of the attached rudder. Chichester claimed the boat did not track well and was too tender. In Sidney Australia the bite was partially filled in, supposedly improving tracking. The difference would have been very slight.

During the rebuild prior to the current voyage, Nigel Irens revised the aft end of the keel/rudder, he could have made major changes if there was really a problem. He did not, but rebuilt her very close to original configuration.

Tad

[Alan D. Hyde]

"Silly stunt, putting the unwashed in charge of the incompetent, in the pious hope that it will build their little characters for them."

:D :D :D

Alan

[John B]

relaunched:
http://tinyurl.com/rfp5p

[shamus]

Obviously it can't be quite as hard to fix these glued up boats as is sometimes said. It would be interesting to know exactly how they filled that hole, and maintained the structural integrity. I still think she looks great- not much information on their website about how she handles. A pity you can't seem to read the log except for today.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

If I owned the repair yard, I would not let her move one inch off my premises (ship repairers have a possory, not a martime, lien, in New Zealand and the UK, unlike the USA where all liens are maritime) until I had been paid.:(

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

Possory? Possessory?

[Dan McCosh]

Chichester complained that the boat developed a severe lee helm after a certain heel angle had been exceeded. This made the self-steering gear pretty flakey. I've sailed on a boat that had a similar problem, apparently not as extreme. Still, it's no fun on a passage.

[Dan McCosh]

If I owned the repair yard, I would not let her move one inch off my premises (ship repairers have a possory, not a martime, lien, in New Zealand and the UK, unlike the USA where all liens are maritime) until I had been paid.:(


There was a sign in a marina where I used to store in the winter that said: "No cash, no splash."

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

That's right. Considering that fund raising "to pay for the repairs", which have cost more than the insured value, according to the Yachting Monthy website, is still going on, I'd be loath to let her go without either the cash or a guarantee from IPC Magazines.

[TR]

If the yard is professional, they knew the payment schedule going into the job. My guess is they did it because it needed doing and they had space and manpower to do it.

The international PR is worth far more than the cost of the job. Three weeks for that repair is impressive. In NA we would still be humming and hawing about how to do it!

All the best, Tad

[John B]

Its not a yard per se. Its a gang put together to do the job in the timeframe allowed. As I understand it they were a bunch of individual boatbuilders working on it under a project manager.

[Hwyl]

Laminated boats are not to bad to fix, especially with lots of laminations like Gypsy Moth. Just the same as fixing FG boats. But you feather back the laminations in steps to laminate the new peice in. I usually make the repair one or two lams thicker on the inside. I was taught by my physics teacher, Jack Lowe, who learned the technique fixing mosquitoes in WWII. We were fixing Fireflies and Albacores, essentially the same construction.

Francis Chichester was a strange old bird, and that was another era. It's interesting to remember that he was berated for always wearing a cap with "the wool knot" which was his sponsors symbol. It was considered "ungentlemanly".

I share ACB's incredulity at the gall of UKSA, as one of the earliest holders of a "Yachtmaster" I think they are devaluing my certificate, by running a qualification mill. They are simultaneously charging people and asking for donations for the GM trip.

The school is (or was) owned by Noel (Lister?) who ran his private yachts (Whirlwind "N") as a registered charities, wilst he owned a big furniture chain (MFI) and never used his yachts for any charitable purpose (to my knowledge).


I agree with Tad that GM is probably an O.K. boat and that Chichester was not such a hot sailor. With the rig he had, it should have been easy to correct any weather/ lee tendencies. I thought it ungentlemanly of him to be so disparaging in his book. I'm certain the design cost was discounted job, if not a freebie.