Thursday, December 31, 2009

Happy new year!

I hope you all had a great Christmas and that Santa treated you all well, and I wish you all a happy 2010.  It has been slow on my boat building also the last month, but I have got a few small things done.  Most of my available time have been spent making blanks for the foil moulds.  It might not seem very impressive, and it is not, but it sure takes a lot of time to cut and glue these large size and heavy weight MDF pieces. Here are the rudder mould blanks.  These I am able to move.



The daggerboard blanks, however, are too heavy for me to move about and I will have to recruit some muscle to get them on the trailer and to the CNC machine.  They are both made up of three layers where I was just able to manoeuvre each of them to the lamination table.  Funny, I guess the main hull is lighter than each of these pieces.



I have been asked to publish a couple of pictures of the complete main hull, and I tried to take a picture like that today but I did not have the space nor the wide angle optics to make that happen.  My camera hit the concrete from +2m height and left this world in the process of trying though.  I have a few pictures from different angles, you will have to make up an image based on those. First the front showing the front beam bulkhead external reinforcement lamination being bagged.



The next picture is showing the cabin area, and underneath my form frame 5 and 8 position supports with towel paddings.  Made from 19mm MDF based on the full size patterns.  Turned out a bit wide in the upper area, leaving room for final adjustment when the hull is levelled for beam mount installation.  The front support is temporarily moved forward to give room for the reinforcement lamination.



Then the cockpit area.  The panels are ready, except for a few under seat dividers, and will be installed after beam mounts.



Aft end of the boat. The safety compartment hatch recess barely visible. Anchor well mould used as aft support. In the foreground the ply for the trailer bunk board.  To be epoxy glued 5 layers to the shape of the boat.



I am still very uncertain regarding the further progress, a bit frustrating as I have tons of motivation but no time, but my goal now is to sail the first regatta in August 2011.