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Virginia Beach Project Update

After letting the last coat of epoxy on the hull dry for several days I did minimal touch up sanding of high spots. As I look back I should have done a lot more from an appearance standpoint but it certainly has a passable appearance. I again wiped the hull down well after having vacuumed the garage so that I was in as dust free as possible. I then used masking tape around the gunwale line feeling that the glue would probably adhere better to the epoxy directly than to a coat of paint. I used Rustoleum Marine primer, one coat applying it with a foam roller. It was difficult paint to stir and get well mixed but it went on very well and the roller gave it a good smooth even appearance. I again let it dry well for a couple of days and then used Rusteolem Marine Topsides paint for a finish coat. It too was rolled on and was easy to use. It will take a second coat to achieve a really nice look. It should be noted that this is Topsides paint not designed as “bottom” paint so if you plan on leaving a boat in the water for any long periods of time this is not the paint to use.

One final comment on the paint. Compared to the usual marine paints Rustoleum is much cheaper but also offers a more limited choice of colors and it would appear that it is not designed to be used as a mixing base to make your own color.

I let her get good and dry and then flipped her over onto a nice soft cloth pad to protect the paint. The frames were still attached and were the way I supported the boat while painting. Now for the first time I got a good look at the inside of the boat. WOW! I had a lot of finishing to do. This included filling screw holes but mainly if was filling in and making filets were the chines, keelson etc. did not seal as tightly as I would have liked. From a functional standpoint the boat was sealed. From and esthetic one I had a lot of work ahead of me. Since the epoxy is pricey I mixed up just enough so I knew that there would be no waste. This was your peanut butter consistency and applied with a tongue depressor went on easily and gave a nice effect. I would give a piece of advice when doing this. Wipe off the excess with a vinegar soaked cloth as soon as you are finished with an area. It is a heck of a lot easier than sanding this rock hard stuff once it dries. 

I still had the frame “legs” uncut. The center ones in particular were a real nuisance to work around so I cut them off almost to where they will be finally but since I still have work to do on the sheer as far as trimming off the plywood I left a few inches that will come off later. Now I at least wasn’t catching myself on this stick that was serving no purpose. The bow and stern legs weren’t nearly the problem and I still haven’t touched them. I went off the CABBS plans for the mast step and thwart. I saw in someone’s plans that they had enclosed this part and made a buoyancy box out of it. I used ¼” maranti for the top which I fitted up tight to the underside of the inwales. Put a few cleats along the sides and fore piece to hold it tight. I then scribed a pattern on cheap plywood for the vertical piece. For this I used ½” maranti figuring that this would be extra cross bracing since I am using ½” plywood instead of the ¾” per plans. I will cut a 2 3/8” hole at the point 11” back from the bow and into this will go a piece of 2” PVC. When finished it will be sealed with epoxy.

What I haven’t got straight (so to speak) yet is the rake of the mast and exactly how the step will be angled. The mast will be reinforced 1 ½” PVC. From what I can tell, and Kyle Leonard has said, the mast should be perpendicular to the sheer line That is what I finally did. I took a piece of 1x4 sprude, used a 2 3/8’ hole saw an cut completely though it and attached it to the keelson in just the right position so that the 2” pPVC would be perpendicular to the sheer line. Not as difficult as it may sound. Used epoxy to fasten it. I put in a 4” water tight inspection port in the vertical piece a little off center so that the area may be used to store a towel etc. I will have pictures of all this. The port cover is frm West Marine and cost less than $10. Really happy with it. As looked at the inside of the bow transom it just looked unfinished so I took a piece of 1x4 spruce, as clear as I could find, and scribed a piece to fit on the inside of the bow on top of the mast thwart. I think it looks pretty good. I am doing the same on the stern with the exception that there will be a perpendicular piece running down to the keelson. Since the gugeons will attach here the added strength makes sense. BUT all this trim work adds weight to the boat so for those wanting the lightest craft possible all this is not for you.

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Seen at the 2014 Sailboat Show Part 3 the Zim 15

One of the hidden casualties in the ongoing clash between Laser Performance Europes business strategy and the rest of the small boat sailing world has been the virtual stoppage of production of the Vanguard 15, a two-hander racing and recreational dinghy that, since the late 1990s, has sold well in the United States and still has a national presence. As with any vacuum in the market someone will step in and in this case Steve Clark, one of the original team that developed the Vanguard 15, has linked up with Zim boatbuilders to produce his higher-end version of a hiking doublehander, the Zim 15.

Zim Sailing freely admits they are targeting the post-collegiate market with the Zim 15 and it comes with a bunch of modern performance features, albeit at a higher selling price compared to the Vanguard 15. What modern features do you get?

• A hull designed for higher speeds.
• Carbon spars.
• High aspect ratio blades.
• Roachy Mylar sails.
• Gnav vang to clear up the forward end of the cockpit.
• A multi-purchase rig-tensioning system run through the forestay.
• A bow stem made of high-impact plastic.
• A dangly whisker pole.
• A flow-through double bottom cockpit with open transom.
• Enough cleats in the right positions to make adjustments easier.

Some photos.

Here is the bow bumper which is cleverly molded in during construction so as to be an integral part of the hull.

The Zim 15 has a centerboard for easier launching but the centerboard trunk has grooves in each side so the board can be pulled up and "reefed" in a breeze, just as you would with a daggerboard.

The dangly whisker pole is not seen in the U.S much but is very popular in the U.K. non-spinnaker classes. It resides on the front of the mast when going upwind. To deploy, pull the dangly pole down with its control line. To retract. uncleat the control line and a shock cord returns it to the front of the mast. There is also the multi-purchase forestay tensioner sitting on the foredeck in front of the mast.

The flow-thru double-bottom cockpit with the nifty tilt-up rudder. The hull sports soft-chines as it was also designed for team racing.

The business end of the cockpit. We can see the Gnav vang on top of the boom, the dangly pole, recessed cleats in the wide thwart and plenty of adjustments at the base of the mast.

A computer-rendered sideview of the Zim 15 (lifted from Zim Sailings website).

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R2AK The Marathon Begins

"In the name of uncomfortable fun!"

R2AK, the Race to Alaska, a 750 mile jumbo version of the Everglades Challenge, started the 2nd and final leg yesterday. The first leg, raced last Thursday, was a 40 mile sprint from Port Townshend, Washington to Victoria. The rules are simple; no engines, no outside assistance.

Unlike the Everglades Challenge, the R2AK racetrack is open water, very cold and some of the entries are sensible, full out cruising craft. I expect once the dust has settled, the racier catamarans and trimarans will fill the top spots. I dont envy those hardy kayakers in their kayak-trimaran hybrids who will spend the entire race ensconced in their dry suits.

For those who like to get their online jollies by watching the R2AK unfold, the organizers have got that covered - just click here for the race tracker.

There is at least one large open dinghy racing (editors correction: There are two - a Mirror 16 is also competing). Team Barefoot is the product of Barefoot Wooden Boats and is a Tad Roberts design, a 5.8 meter (19 foot) plywood dinghy playing in the same design space for long distance small boats as the i550 mini-sportboat. In looking at the video, the Barefoot dinghy appears to be more in the realm of a high freeboard Classic International 14 from the 1980s. Team Barefoot put this interesting video up on their dinghy and the thoughts behind designing for this race.



Team Barefoot Wooden Boats | Race to Alaska 2015 from Vancouver Maritime Museum on Vimeo.

Designer Tad Roberts has the sideview and sailplan of the Barefoot Dinghy over here.

Some photos of the Barefoot Dinghy I pulled from the InterWebs.

It turns out that Classic Mothist, Jeff Linton, is pursuing the same direction for the next Everglades Challenge. He has scrapped his modified Flying Scot (which won the monohull class in 2014) and is home-building a new 6.7 meter, O.H. Rogers designed, large dinghy for next years Challenge. Boatbuilding details with lots of photos are over at Amy Lintons blog.

1. Part 1 here
2. Part 2 here
3. Part 3 here
4. Part 4 here
5. Part 5 here

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Classic Moths in the Mist

At this years Classic Moth Nationals we had a marine layer settle in Saturday night, giving us fog on Sunday morning, a rare event for Elizabeth City, North Carolina. The fog started to creep out towards Pamilco Sound around 9 a.m. and racing commenced, on time, in sunshine.

I took a couple of photos.

The fog didnt stop the sailors kibitzing about Mothboats.

Two transoms in the mist. The Laser transom of the Maser and the wide Europe Dinghy style transom of the Mousetrap Mistral.

The view from the Pughs pier.

The original post of the 2015 Classic Moth Nationals can be found here.

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Maiden Voyage of Optimist 1

Published on Feb 8, 2014 This is the first of three Optimist dinghies we are making from CABBS (Cleveland Amateur Boatbuilding and Boating Society) plans. The plans have been redrawn from Clark Mills original drawings for the Optimist in 1947. Check out www.woodenoptimist.blogspot.com to see more about building this sailboat

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HYC Cruise Day 1 July 25 City island to Port Jefferson on Long Island 39 Miles

Every cruise  has some boats that try as they might, just cant make it for mechanical or personal reasons. This year, so far, it has been Paul and Mary on "Little Jumps", a victim of the press of business. I use to be a slave to the law so I know. We will miss you.

The day was warm and sunny; well you know, pretty much the same as back in Eastchester Bay.

Mark and Marsha of "Leeds the Way",  spent Friday night in Oyster Bay to make a shorter sail today. They got to the mooring field of the Seatauket YC in the 2 to 2:30 time frame. As did "True North" who motored from the Harlem.

ILENE, left the HYC mooring field at 7:30 in a dead calm and put up the main for almost the whole way and one or the other or parts of both headsails for most of the way -- after a bit of wind stirred the surface of the water. So we motor sailed almost the whole way. The problem was that the wind was from the east, where all the boats were heading. Motor sailing took us from Huntington, Long Island to Norwalk, CT and back across the Sound again to Port Jeff, arriving a bit after three.

And thats why Leeds the Way and ILENE were the only ones able to enjoy the wonderful cocktail party that True North hosted, starting at 5 pm.

PC Mark, Marcia, Lene, Diane and PC Bruce. Im the photographer and I kinda like the diagonal of the heads though this was purely accidental.

But we three were not the only Harlem boats here in Port Jeff. The rest just arrived too late for the party: PC Ernie and Camille and their guests, pc Marty and Ghenie, on "Blast", Dan and Mary Jane on " Tively II" and CJ and Jenny on "Shanghai" (who sailed with us and the Hermione on the Fourth of July).

Shanghai wins todays award for most intrepid sailing, not motor sailing but sailing. They had a long day.

Tomorrow, Leeds the Way and Tively IIs schedules require them to turn back but the armada is headed for a two night stay in Mattituck, LI. Unfortunately, ILENE will be there with them for only the second night. A funeral for a dear friends son means we will spend Sunday in a rental car, catching up with the fleet on Monday.

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