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The Twister Windrose was given to me last year by a local shipwright who had been given the boat several years ago when its owner of many years became too ill to sail or maintain it. The Twister was built in the late 1960s in Sydney by Johanssen, the same builder who built the folkboat that I completed restoring about two years ago.
The Twister was designed by Kim Holman in the mid-60s. Regarded as a 28' boat, Holman actually called it the Holman 27 in the original drawings. It's been a very successful design, winning many races in its day and there have been plenty of circumnavigations and other feats of sailing completed in these boats.
This one is built with mahogany planks and superstructure, with a ply deck and cast iron ballast. It has no engine now but should have something of about 10-15 hp. There's rot in the planking and frames in the starboard aft quarter and the top quarter of the transom, the keel bolts seem to have been overtightened so there's probably some problem with keel timber, I'm concerned about the sternpost where the propellor shaft runs through it and, due to a really bad job of fastening teak decking, the deck and cockpit are basically stuffed. Otherwise, just about everything needs to be rejuventated with elbow grease and paint. I'll put all new engine, engine fittings, wiring, electrics, plumbing etc., replace the deck and build a new cockpit, repair all planking and fastenings, replace frames where they're rotten or cracked (several are cracked at the turn of the bilge aft), build or rejuvenate all interior furniture and rigging, and, probably, extend the wings of the floors where these appear to be a little too small around the area just forward of the mid-section. The hull is splined so I'll also replace any suspect splining. I may sheath the hull (full wrap with ballast removed) but I haven't decided yet. that will depend on the state of the planking once I take all the paint off. The mahogany used for this boat seems light and soft so either replacement or sheathing may be an appropriate solution - TBD!
So far, the boat's been set up in our front yard and I've built a steel frame with a brattice cover over it for protection. I've removed most fittings (all high quality on this boat except the skin fittings which are all rubbish!), removed the starboard bulwark and rubbing strip (teak) and bashed out some of the rotten planking to see what it looks like. The next step will be to remove the deck, strip all paint off the hull then remove all planking that seems suspect and any other rot. I'm hoping that the rest of the hull is okay but, well, we'll see. Once the deck is off and all bad timber is removed and it's all shored up, the ballast will come off. I'll probably have to remove the garboards but I'll see how it all looks without paint and ballast. In any case I'll have to spring a lot of planking to repair damage that I think has been done to the sternpost.
I intend to keep this thread going through the process and to post pictures at each main step. I'm very keen to hear thoughts and ideas about any aspect of this, with the exception of anyone advising that the project is not worthwhile. My time is my own, I want this boat to be practical and beautiful, and I don't care too much how long it will take. I currently work in Vietnam but have months back in Oz at a time and will soon be working back in Oz. It'll cost a lot of money and time to repair this boat but it will be a small fraction of the cost of a new build or purchase of another boat that I'd really be happy with.
All questions about the boat or anything to do with my attempts at restoration are welcome as are any ideas as it all evolves. Rick
The Twister was designed by Kim Holman in the mid-60s. Regarded as a 28' boat, Holman actually called it the Holman 27 in the original drawings. It's been a very successful design, winning many races in its day and there have been plenty of circumnavigations and other feats of sailing completed in these boats.
This one is built with mahogany planks and superstructure, with a ply deck and cast iron ballast. It has no engine now but should have something of about 10-15 hp. There's rot in the planking and frames in the starboard aft quarter and the top quarter of the transom, the keel bolts seem to have been overtightened so there's probably some problem with keel timber, I'm concerned about the sternpost where the propellor shaft runs through it and, due to a really bad job of fastening teak decking, the deck and cockpit are basically stuffed. Otherwise, just about everything needs to be rejuventated with elbow grease and paint. I'll put all new engine, engine fittings, wiring, electrics, plumbing etc., replace the deck and build a new cockpit, repair all planking and fastenings, replace frames where they're rotten or cracked (several are cracked at the turn of the bilge aft), build or rejuvenate all interior furniture and rigging, and, probably, extend the wings of the floors where these appear to be a little too small around the area just forward of the mid-section. The hull is splined so I'll also replace any suspect splining. I may sheath the hull (full wrap with ballast removed) but I haven't decided yet. that will depend on the state of the planking once I take all the paint off. The mahogany used for this boat seems light and soft so either replacement or sheathing may be an appropriate solution - TBD!
So far, the boat's been set up in our front yard and I've built a steel frame with a brattice cover over it for protection. I've removed most fittings (all high quality on this boat except the skin fittings which are all rubbish!), removed the starboard bulwark and rubbing strip (teak) and bashed out some of the rotten planking to see what it looks like. The next step will be to remove the deck, strip all paint off the hull then remove all planking that seems suspect and any other rot. I'm hoping that the rest of the hull is okay but, well, we'll see. Once the deck is off and all bad timber is removed and it's all shored up, the ballast will come off. I'll probably have to remove the garboards but I'll see how it all looks without paint and ballast. In any case I'll have to spring a lot of planking to repair damage that I think has been done to the sternpost.
I intend to keep this thread going through the process and to post pictures at each main step. I'm very keen to hear thoughts and ideas about any aspect of this, with the exception of anyone advising that the project is not worthwhile. My time is my own, I want this boat to be practical and beautiful, and I don't care too much how long it will take. I currently work in Vietnam but have months back in Oz at a time and will soon be working back in Oz. It'll cost a lot of money and time to repair this boat but it will be a small fraction of the cost of a new build or purchase of another boat that I'd really be happy with.
All questions about the boat or anything to do with my attempts at restoration are welcome as are any ideas as it all evolves. Rick
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