This one could be fun

[AndanteEd]

Re: This one could be fun

On a happier note I purchased a nice new 80% jib, Norths 3di raw carbon at 1/2 price as it was built incorrectly for another customer. It fits perfectly and we won the race first time out with it, Woop!

Nice one! Here's hoping North also stuff up making a 3di raw carbon mainsail for someone that coincidentally just happens to fit...

The boat looks great under sail.

Good luck with the winter series. My season's just winding down here so please keep the racing updates coming.

[Larks]

Re: This one could be fun

Dunno how I missed this one Slacko but nice buy mate!! She looks like a bucket load of fun at a good price.

And congratulations on the win, sweet!!

[Slacko]

Re: This one could be fun

We did a 3 day regatta over the Matariki long weekend a few weeks ago.
We had good upwind performance, pointing high and fast enough to stay with the fleet.
Previously, we were struggling for pointing ability, but I got a bit more forestay tension on and some new jib cars that run across the boat not fore and aft.
Setting them a bit wider lit the boat up, so happy days.
We were struggling with performance off the wind which was surprising looking at the hull form.
Asymmetric kites are fast, but we sail a lot further than boats with symmetrical kites if we are trying to go dead downwind.
I've purchased a second hand Young 88 no2 symmetrical kite which seems to be the right size, so this will give us more options.
Last weekend we had a winter series race, which started well with a kite run that ended up too square for the boats running Spinnakers. It was nice to make big gains with the gennaker up!

It was a bit puffy at times!

Confusingly, our windward performance was rubbish which we tried all sorts to get back without success.
It was only when I was getting the outboard set up to get back into the marina, I noticed that the rudder control line had slipped.
This meant that the rudder wasn't straight up and down, causing the loss of pointing ability.
We had a great time anyway, and looking forward to this coming weekends race.

[Slacko]

Re: This one could be fun

I managed to get caught by Covid since racing, so am stuck at home for a week isolating.
Fortuitously, I had brought the cabin hatch home for repair.
I've been working on that once I got over the first couple of day feeling meh.
As found

[Slacko]

Re: This one could be fun

I thought it was just the sides that were rotten, but the corner of one of the 2 sections had rot in it.
I cut it back to the inside support and found a slightly rough piece of 6mm ply to replace it with.


I sanded the fibreglass of the old lid back so I could blend the new glass into it.


Curing in front of the fire with new surround pieces clamped in place. Luxury!

[Slacko]

Re: This one could be fun

I trimmed the ply and used a 6mm router round over bit to put curves on the edges.
I wanted the glass to wrap around the routered edges, but I am not set up to vacuum bag and don't want to use Xylenol cloth as I wouldn't be able to feather it onto the old cloth on the lid.
I decided to try peel ply taped down to wrap it tight to the piece.







It worked from the top to the sides and partially worked wrapping around the bottom edge, which was the best I was hoping for.
The cloth was a bit dry, but this is 12 hours after application so I filled the weave with resin and 417 filler powder.
The cloth is for abrasion so not too worried.

[Slacko]

Re: This one could be fun

After curing in front of the fire I sanded it all back and surveyed the outcome.
It came up pretty well with some air bubbles in the filler causing pimples on the surface.


I filled these, sanded it again and then put a coat of epoxy primer on it.
The flaws really popped at this point!

I filled again with 410 fairing powder and it is now drying in the daughter's Wendy house with a fan heater.
The paint is still pretty pungent, so no drying by the fire.
The Wendy house is insulated, so not too decadent!


This is where I'm up to now.
There were 2 parts of the hatch as shown, but the second part has been a similar process except that the top wasn't rotten and I put a piece of Cedar across the front of it that will get varnished to drag casual observers eye away from the paintwork. (not looking flash at this point, but may get to acceptable by the time I'm finished).
I must go outside and turn off the heater.

[Slacko]

Re: This one could be fun

Today I sanded the filler, and got a coat of epoxy undercoat on.
There are still a few blemishes, but it should meet the "5 metre finish" standard.
A couple of hours in the drying shed and I flipped them over and got a coat on the inside.



I found online some waterproof plastic hinge material to replace the metal hinge with grotty rubber over the top.
$28/ metre, hopefully it will be soft enough to sit flat when open.

[Slacko]

Re: This one could be fun

So, I've got the second top coat on and sanded the cedar front panel.
The photo shows the first coat of varnish.


Both halves sitting side by side.


I think the hinge material will work.


I'll drill it for screws and bed it in the dreaded white goop for sealing.
2nd coat of varnish went on tonight as well.

[Slacko]

Re: This one could be fun

So, I've got 4 coats of varnish on the trim.
Today I cut, and planed down the plastic hinge as it was too wide for the location.



I then drilled it to match the holes from the previous hinge.
Cup washers and a line of goop under the hinge to try to stop it leaking underneath finished the task.



I need to take it to the boat to measure and cut some gaps in the back of the back half for the cabin top track.
Then home for a few more coats of varnish.

[Slacko]

Re: This one could be fun

The hatch is back on the boat and just needs some aluminium angle screwed to the back half to retain in in the track.
I finally got a space in the yard for maintenance, so got lifted out on Saturday.
There was some discussion about how to put it in the cradle, but the safest option was to lower the boat over the centreboard and support either end rather than rely on the single 24mm stud of unknown installation and reliability to support the boat with the keel extended.
Much easier to get on and off too.




The racing grew getting into stripping the antifoul back to the really fair surface under the layers. Someone took some time getting this right.



My Festool sander bit the dust after 10 years on this job, so I'm a little sad about that.
I'd like to get the topsides repainted, but it won't make the list before the opening day race on the 1st of October.
Getting the mast off was a bit more exciting that we were hoping for.
Luckily there was 3 of us, with one stationed on the roof of the shed to catch it.
When it got part way down the wooden base that the hinge was screwed to split and the base flew off.
I caught it in the middle, and the roof catcher got the top, so no damage other than the base.


Boom and mast awaiting the jobs they need done.

[Slacko]

Re: This one could be fun

The other reason the mast needed to come down was that I needed to chase some rot in the bilge under the mast support post step.

This stringer was mostly for sporting the floor sole, but should add the the stiffness between the centre case and the mast step once replaced. The "floor" was beside it was also removed to get to some soft stuff underneath it.
Luckily one of my crew trained as a boatbuilder before changing to house building, so it is awesome to get a knowledgeable opinion on this job. As we discussed, this is all in the high stress area on the old girl.
The bad wood extended under the step, so I had to remove it. It was a laminated piece with no gaps under that top plate, and in good condition, so felt kinda wrong demolishing it.
The other side of the bulkhead was sealed so I had to cut an inspection hatch to see how far the soft wood extended.
When opened it was pristine, with the smell of fresh epoxy sealed in for all those years. Lucky me!



First the post needed to come out, so the multitool got to work getting it out in a reusable state.


I'm trying to not cut the bottom out of the boat at this stage, so stick with me.

[Slacko]

Re: This one could be fun

So there was a bit of moisture getting under one end of the step, so better to get it out of there anyway.
Looking ugly at this stage.



The step is gone, and starting to scrape out the layers of ply looking for solid wood.


The badness ends before it gets under the bulkhead, so I have a wobbly scarf of 3 layers of ply about 50 mm long. The new mast step will go over the top.
The centreline lamination is about 50mm thick made up of multiple layers of plywood. I'm going to keep removing layers until I hit solid wood and then laminate back in.
It looks like I'll need 6mm ply to bring it back to how it was.

[Slacko]

Re: This one could be fun

I like to know what is the cause of the damage.
Water had been sitting in the bilge for awhile, so was the major player.
The hull ply going away from the centreline has patches of rot that I'm going the same treatment.
One of them had the whitish hole in the centre of the patch as shown.



There is a matching smaller blemish that I also ground out on the other side of the hull.
I think these are screw holes from holding the ply onto temporary moulds. There are a couple of other bits that look similar, so there you go.



The centreline stringer was held down to the ply with 3 rows of skewed screws, I guess while the epoxy was setting. These were the starting points of the centreline timber rot that I'm digging out.
This is the only part of the boat that has this centreline stringer thank goodness!

[Slacko]

Re: This one could be fun

I got rid of all the soft wood in the centreline ply which was at either end, and was contemplating how to rebuild it.
The best solution I think was to remove the "good" wood between them and scarf one piece into the spot.
An electric planer made short work of it and a final cleanup of the area left it as per the attached image.



It turns out there was a layer of 9mm ply sitting on top of a Kauri plank, which is in pristine condition.
The builder may have not had a wide enough piece to make it all solid and added the ply to make it up.
I'm now in construction mode, so need some 45 x 90 mm stock to make up the floors and the stringer.
I have enough Kauri for the stringer only, so will have to visit the timberyard.
My back is feeling it now after being hunched in the bilge for a few hours today and yesterday.
I'm going to build up the hull ply with epoxy and 400 triaxial cloth layers, then run some 200 cloth over the whole lot.