Sorry, but I'm discontinuing the blog. I've tried over a dozen times to post something new that is more than a few paragraphs and that has pictures, but "Blogger" has created so many problems, and lost so many of my posts, that it is just not worth my time anymore.

The boat work continues and is nearing completion. If anyone would like to see my updated work or hear news, please email me.

One big contribution for the project came from John Papadopoulos of Double Wave. He supplied a killer rudder design that allowed me to make a carbon rudder from a female mold. Thanks John!

Hope to see you soon on the water!

South to North

Key West race week





Big White Canada






Back to Dubai next week. Have to work on boat in the mean time.

Centerboard trunk stiffeners

I've finally installed these very necessary supports. Although classic lidos don't often fail catastrophically the general lack of stiffness is a concern to someone like me coming from other one-design classes.
Without supports, the centerboard trunk seems dangerously mobile.





I will be attaching the supports permanently with glue not fasteners.






I've heard that some people attempt to solve the misalignment of the centerboard trunk by forcing it to the side before attaching the supports. I found that doing so on my boat would have distorted the hull underneath. So I'm just gluing it in place as is.
Because I am building my own centerboard, I can shim the head so that it hangs straight down dispite the natural tilt of the trunk.






I basically took some tubing, cut a flat spot by sawing down the center, and attached flat c-plate to adhere to the front of the seats.
Actually holding the supports in place while the epoxy set was very difficult, but we got it done as a team effort.
























Not pretty, not easy, but it'll turn out well. We're not finished yet, and won't be able to for about three weeks. Now, I've got to fly off to Key West race week.

Sneak Peek

Here are some images from my current projects. I won't say what they are unless someone asks. I'll just say it will be a guess for now.

Little parts

This is probably the most enjoyable part of my rebuild. Construction is wrapping up on a couple of parts. I've made jib-cleat stands. I'm also ready to glue on some supports for the centerboard trunk.

Two carbon plates, glued at just under 90 degrees.
Then I sanded it all up, laid two layers of +-45degree pre-preg cloth. Then I made a bleed stack, vacuum bagged it and cooked it for 8 hours.

Unwraped it, cut the edges off with a band saw, and routed the corners

Then I traced some cleats

More cutting, grinding, and sanding, then about 3 coats of some really cool clear stuff.

Ok, that's all for this post. I'll make another one in a sec. Lots of work getting done, all will be presentable soon. I'm very satisfied with the progress. I'm also thinking that I am ready to shape my own Centerboard...hmm

Secondary Bonding on Deck Supports

I've laid out my cloth here, prepped the parts, masked off the areas on the boat that might be fallout zones for guck and stuff, cleaned everything after sanding thoroughly, and prepped tools, brushes, sticks and other supplies.


I measured out my dimensions and marked them on masking tape



This makes cutting the pieces easy and accurate. It saves valuable time because once the epoxy is mixed, there begins a race against time.

All the surfaces are primed by painting on thickened epoxy. If there are any holes, they get filled. Also the front face with exposed nomex got extra goo. This is so the honeycomb, with its air bubbles and limited bonding surface adheres well to the laminate.
Here is a piece cleaned and ready to prime

Here it is after receiving three strips of laminate, one in each corner, and one over the edge.
On a Lido, as I'm sure others have discovered as well, it is very difficult to glue, sand, or laminate up in the corner and under the deck. However, take time to make sure that area is sweet and well bonded to the deck. This whole fix will not seem stiff if the deck is not actually connected and there is a gap between it and the top of the support.


All finished and under heat.

Soon I get to sand it up and this fix is done. I've not decided whether to paint it white, or use clear coat. Any suggestions???

Almost finished with deck supports

Number one hull modification, paint. Number two Hull modification, deck stiffeners. The second step is relatively complete. Its all cosmetic from here. We only need to add some laminate for weatherproofing and secondary bonding purposes, but the strength is all there, and what a difference!!! This is important for me, a relatively large human, to be able to roll tack aggressively with confidence in my boat. Mission accomplished.

After bonding the two layers of carbon to the hull and deck, we noticed a definite uniform increase in strength and decrease in flex. Next we shaped our cross-supports with a small saw and by hand-sanding.

Next, we glued them in place, using a generous bead across the contact edge. This could be thickened epoxy, or a specialty glue like spabond, epibond, plexus, etc.

Problems:
I can see already that swinging the whisker pole around on a windy race day could damage these frames. Also, the materials are of no matter. Fiberglass, carbon, or wood, polyester or epoxy should make little difference in weight or result for this application. Wood and epoxy could be all you need to get this done. I saw a successful result made from g-10 plastic bonded with some fiberglass. I think our materials may be hard to come by and fragile. However, take some time in building no matter the material. Our focus was not on exact measurement, but attention to quality in the preparation, gluing and laminating processes. Strength and durability over look.

Measurement: I'll forward the measurements to anybody who asks, but it was simply a matter of even spacing, and seating position. We used three supports. One in front but near the jib cleat for the crew. Another positioned at the aft end of the centerboard trunk, and one in between.



Rudder update:

Construction method is pre-preg from a female mold. construction has begun, more to follow...