The Ellipticat Turns Over (photos and video)

[Norm Bernstein]

Finally, after 5 months of occasional and sporadic woodbutchery, I turned over the hull.

http://www.marisystems.com/ellipticat/boatphotos/Dsc01330_websize.jpg

The website also has a short video clip of the turnover, for your viewing pleasure.

As you can see, I'm a better website builder than I am a boatbuilder... but the point of boatbuilding is enjoyment, right?

The full website can be found at:
www.marisystems.com/ellipticat (http://www.marisystems.com/ellipticat)

[L.W. Baxter]

Good progress, Norm. I've enjoyed your website, again. I'll be keenly interested to see how your experiment pans out.

[John B]

Same here Norm. Very interesting. looks like easy lines and a quick hull to me. It'll be interesting to see how she goes.

[Buddy]

We're all impressed what you've accomplished in just five months. By some accounts, when the hull is done, you're 40 percent through. Are you planning on launching this year then? Congratulations again.

[Norm Bernstein]

Thanks very much, Buddy... and thanks to the other kind comments.

I really don't know WHEN I'll be ready to launch. I was frankly hoping to finish it by June, so I could be sailing this summer, but I doubt that will happen. I don't want to rush the project and compromise on quality. I've lost some building time due to a variety of reasons, including a couple of winter colds, a spell of weather far too cold to work in (despite the kerosene heater), and a few other distractions.

At this point, I suspect I might get it done by the end of the summer, in time to launch for some fall sailing... but I'm having fun with it, which is the important point. I'm not sure I'm getting any better as a boatbuilder... but I'm doing much better at web site development! smile.gif

[David Thompson]

Hey Norm,
She's a beauty! Of course this is no help to me... I showed my wife your progress recently and she asked why I can't complete our catboat in the same amount of time. I'm still working on excuses.

Keep up the good work!
Dave

[Buddy]

Dave, what catboat are you building?

[davef]

Nicely done Norm! Any idea what she weighs??? She went over pretty easy.

Keep up the good work.

[Norm Bernstein]

I'm guessing that she weighs less than 200 lbs right now, but this is without interior fiberglass, centerboard case, floorboards, inwales, gunwales, deckbeams, deck, etc... the design from which I took the overall dimensions was specified as 875 lbs, fully fitted out. I think mine will be a bit less when I'm all done.

[John Bell]

Originally posted by Norm Bernstein:
the design from which I took the overall dimensions was specified as 875 lbs, fully fitted out. I think mine will be a bit less when I'm all done.Are you sure that's not fully laden displacement including the weight of the hull, the rig, the crew and all their gear? 875 lbs seems a pretty heavy dry weight for a 15' centerboard boat, that's all.

[Concordia..41]

Great web site. The video had me holding my breath as she started turning over and then saying "Oh my aching back" as you did the group cling-and-jerk and picked it right up!

Congratulations and keep us posted!

- Margo