by PegLeg » Tue Jun 22, 2004 12:11 am
Woody
I have built 7 boats in the last three years and no two are exactly alike. Each time you build there is a little different idea for an improvement that gets incorporated. Don't be afraid to innovate as long as you keep to the class measurements.
I use both the EC site and the books as references, taking one idea from the book and another from the site depending on which is more comfortable with my "building style". The site probably has the best sequencing process while the books have more dimensional detail.
What ever way you go, have fun and take pride in showing off the results of your hard work and skills. Hopefully you will be able to use your boat to lure some more interested souls. Sell your first one and then use your newly acquired skills to build a better one the second time ..... etc.
However; for general guidelines keep the following in mind.
Be carefull to make the hull fair and smooth. Depending on your hull source the weave may show through the gell coat and if left alone will slow you down.
Keep the weight out of the ends as much as possible, Hobby horsing is for the carousell.
Most are now using the RMG winch (Australian) with "bow block". I prefer to mount my "bow block" on the end of a carbon rod for ease of maintainence. You would be surprised how many boats have funny looking patches on the foredeck where they had to cut it out to get to the permanent fixed one shown in the books.
Keep the deck and deck beam weights as low as possible to allow more weight in the keel. I use a jig saw to lighten to the beams and use a bridge truss look alike. Others use round holes. Either will reduce the weight.
Balsa and FG decks seem to be the prefered method. The better looking ones use 3 planks in width so that there is not a visible seam athwartships. The center plank is split to allow for the hatch and the hatch is cutout from light weight plastic report covers that have some color choices.
I use 1/64 or 1/32 aircraft plywood with at least one layer of ply removed by sanding (reduce weight). In either event you should glass the bottom side with .56 oz glass and the top side with 1 to 2 oz material depending on the final finish desired.
If you really want to get fancy you can vacum bag cell foam with the deck beams being integral to the structure.
Most of the top guys hereabouts are using "pour in place" keels. You can approximate the same results with either a Carr (long) or Hickman, IFG, Brawner, etc (short). The long keels are favored on the west coast while the short ones are favored on the East coast. Both weigh about the same but the heights vary. Long is good for straight line stability while short lets you turn quicker. (Inertia diferences) In either case you should plan to cut some slab(s) from the aft end of them to allow you to trim out the boat when finished.
I think most of the faster boats use keel mounted equipment of one form or another. Most are home design or Houck type. The classic "radio board" gives too many opportunities for hull deformation at the attachment points.
Hope that is enough to get you started. Feel free to contact me with any specific questions you may have along the way. I may even have pictures of some of the stuff. (but not all and not as good as those on the site)
Pete