651 replies to this topic

[Tokyo Trash Baby]

Anyone have some thoughts on the 6.5m design? could be competition for the shaw 650? similar weights and sail areas??

Dan Leech Boats

got to admit it looks the part!

[GybeSet®]

vapourware ?

until it proves faster ... well it would be an expensive exercise to find out you were not?

[Steam Flyer]

Anyone have some thoughts on the 6.5m design? could be competition for the shaw 650? similar weights and sail areas??

Dan Leech Boats

got to admit it looks the part!

Looks kool- a gybing T-bulb keel, how's that gonna work out? Is there a central fixed spar & the foil rotates around it? Interesting anyway.

FB- Doug

[trenace]

Maybe there is more than can be found on his webpage. But from his webpage, looks like:

1) He's done some great work in 12 foot skiff and R class.

2) If he's designed anything else that's been built, it's not mentioned.

3) He has 6 new designs, of which this is one, that apparently have not seen water.

That said, one has to have strong talent to have accomplished what he has in those two classes, and his designs look interesting and I hope the best for them!

[Doug Lord]

Dan Leech pioneered the R Class foiler-the first class legal two person, spinnaker equipped, monofoiler in history.

[trenace]

Not quite sure this means we should be sending Rob Shaw to the old folks home yet though

(and not that the OP was saying we should.)

With no sport boats or even anything but skiffs apparently to his credit it would seem less than a 50% bet that the first sport boat will be beating all else. It's not even built yet. It's a virtual boat still.

[Turkey Slapper]

No match for one of these!

Attached Files

•  Rlar foiler.jpg   14.71K   392 downloads

[oregami]

Looks good. The next 6.50 "missile "

Same sail area as Shaw 650 (point 2sqm dif)
Deeper keel
13 kilos heavier all up sailing weight including crew.
Bit narrower.

I'm sure Mr Leech will have some good kiwi skiff mates to sail it.
Only takes one boat to be built and be competitive against existing designs and interest will build ....

Hopefully someone with enough NZ pesos will give it a go.

[crossa]

seen the 8m dan leech being built heres an old piccie of it being built taken easter this year,in a secret location , going to be a fast machine by the looks of the lines, the builder built my young 780rocket many moons ago

Attached Files

•  sams camera#1 233.jpg   547.39K   270 downloads

[GybeSet®]

good find

one of the designs is underway

whens launch (& pics)

[Tokyo Trash Baby]

just got these from the designer. 6.5m underway aswell.

Attached Files

•  mold1.jpg   117.26K   161 downloads
•  mold2.jpg   81.25K   136 downloads

[Turkey Slapper]

Hope he puts more than 3 planks on it!

My opinion, it wont float like that!

[Steam Flyer]

Hope he puts more than 3 planks on it!

My opinion, it wont float like that!

But just think how FAST it will be with such minimum wetted surface area!


FB- Doug

[skiffboy]

Hey Tokyo, I did quite a lot of work with Dan on commercial projects (ie power boats) back when I was in your neck of the woods. He definately has had a lot of experience in production and I'd say that the stated 150+ boats he's worked on would probably be an understatement if anything. Can't comment on his sail boats as it wasn't until right at the end when we realised we both sailed. And I know F-all about designing sail boats.

I remember there was a really detailed photo library of the L3 build on the unzud 12 website. Would give a good idea of how he goes about things I think?

[itkiwi]

It was a surprise to find this! Kevin Farrar pointed me toward the thread. The first of these is sitting in my garage in Dunedin, NZ. I will put some pictures up tomorrow.

I have spend about 6 weeks on it so far - working in the evenings. As you can see from the picture above the mold is done - tomorrow's pictures will show the strips and foam are all on and I have spent a couple of evenings fairing.

If I had to give a rational reason as to why I ended up with this design I would struggle. I'm certainly pleased with it though and find Dan Leech great to work with. I have a 30' keelboat that I've raced and enjoyed for the past 10 years. in the last couple of years I have been using it for day sailing/racing rather than trips away during the holidays etc. I have begun to resent the time and money spent maintaining it too so started looking for a sport boat. There are plenty to choose from and being a kiwi the obvious place to start was a Shaw 650. I rejected this because I thought a bit extreme (light, fast, athletic crew work etc) given I'm 55. Further searching occurred - the GT6 in the UK, T-Boats, the Donovan 6m first seen on SA. The Donovan seemed like the way to go as it met lots of my criteria, sporty, a sprit, a bit more ballast than was typical. Unfortunately plans would not be available for a while and I wanted to get started. Dan Leech's name came up in a couple of conversations. He came up with design that you see now. Now it seems like I've gone round in a circle as many of the parameters of this boat match the Shaw - a design that I had rejected. So, I make no apology for my selection process save to say I'm please where I ended up.

The boat is progressing much as designed however we have decided to drop the adjustable keel - it will be fixed fore and aft. This doesn't mean I can't change my mind some time in the future or that another builder couldn't use this feature.

I'll document progress here rather than start a new thread but don't expect knowledgeable posts - I will be asking rather than answer questions.

Attached Files

•  L_650_SB_Render_2.jpg   157.46K   235 downloads

[itkiwi]

This where I'm at today - fairing. Lots of mess on the floor of the garage. Rather than having to fair the hull it seems like I have to make it smooth without stuffing up the already fair hull. The cnc cut molds have made for a really fair hull already. The biggest problem seems to be the occasional plank that is 1 - 2 mm thin. The planks were sawn but not put through a thicknesser.


The molds came with slots precut and 500mm spacers also cnc cut. This meant I could erect the whole hull mold in the 2 hours my wife was away dog walking with her mates. It took about 12 hours to get it trued and the stringers on as in the pic above.


Rob

Attached Files

•  L650Fairing1.jpg   135.49K   458 downloads
•  L650Fairing2.jpg   165.15K   420 downloads

[Tokyo Trash Baby]

This where I'm at today - fairing. Lots of mess on the floor of the garage. Rather than having to fair the hull it seems like I have to make it smooth without stuffing up the already fair hull. The cnc cut molds have made for a really fair hull already. The biggest problem seems to be the occasional plank that is 1 - 2 mm thin. The planks were sawn but not put through a thicknesser.


The molds came with slots precut and 500mm spacers also cnc cut. This meant I could erect the whole hull mold in the 2 hours my wife was away dog walking with her mates. It took about 12 hours to get it trued and the stringers on as in the pic above.


Rob

interesting planking style. is it too hard to run the planks the whole length of the hull or is this how it was specified to do it?? looks good though!!

[itkiwi]

The first plank was a mission - I tried lots of variations for the run of this one. In the end I ran 2 1/2 planks along the center line with the forward end tapered followed by two more 1/2 planks edge set around the chine. Running two more planks beside the center line was going to be difficult due to the large amount of twist at the bow so I put the diagonal planks on as they didn't need to be twisted or side set. After that I ran either diagonal or center-line planks dependent on which needed the least twist until I got to the point where center-line planks were good all the way down to the chine. The designer said he'd "never seen it done that way" - but seemed fine with it when he visited recently. The layout has caused no issued with the fairing.

[Scottyk]

Is it cedar in lower hull and foam on the upper? or is that just the foam colour?
Looks good though, nice work

[itkiwi]

That's correct - cedar on the curved bits and 80kg foam for the hull above the chine.

Fairing continues - please feel free to chip in with some bright ideas about fairing cedar strip. So far I have;

• Use a plane to knock any obvious glue or other lumps and begin to round over the flat strips
• Sanded diagonally with 40grit and a board about 800mm long and 100mm wide - this is a continuation of step one
• filled any low spots with epoxy filler
• Sanded fore and aft with the 40 grit and board

Biggest problem seems to be where I have used bits of surplus glue to fill defects as I was stripping - the glue is really hard and sands much slower than the surrounding cedar. I have been using a relatively small and flat block to remove these high bits and will put surlus glue in the bin next time! Second problem is the epoxy filler is softer that cedar and again the sanding rate is different.

After about 10hrs I have one side getting close with worst defects no more than 1mm and generally less. Do I keep going with 40 grit or should I have something smoother pre the expoxy carbon lamination?

Thanks

[Duffy]

Leech 7 in build,

 110221-0903(001).jpg   53.31K   258 downloads

[fwoark]

Very interesting. What's the eta for the first one (6.5, 7, 8, or even the mini) getting wet?

[Mojounwin]

Yeah, it's a bit tricky trying to sand parts of different hardnesses. You'll only make the mistake of using glue as filler once. It's like sanding a rock.

I got a plastic spatula about 200mm wide and cut little 5mm x 5mm notches out of the edge every 30mm. Apply the filler with this so instead of the whole lot being covered in filler there are just these ridges. You are now sanding alot less filler material so it is quicker. Once you've got that fair get a new spatula with a straight edge and fill between the ridges with filler. Saves alot of dust and alot of sanding.

Cheers
Mojo

[juniordave nz]

Leech 7 in build,

Looking good Andrew. Should be a weapon on the harbour

[fng]

[quote name='itkiwi' timestamp='1322185936' post='3484314']

Biggest problem seems to be where I have used bits of surplus glue to fill defects as I was stripping - the glue is really hard and sands much slower than the surrounding cedar. I have been using a relatively small and flat block to remove these high bits and will put surlus glue in the bin next time!

I've found a 50/50 mix of 403 and 411 ( aerosol and microspheres ) works best for the glue up. then if fairing prior to glassing with spheres or micro balloons, sharpen up your hand plane and get it true pror to a lick with sand paper

[itkiwi]

Finally - the end of the fairing. All up I guess it took 30 hours or so. Biggest problem was where I had the occasional plank that was not the full 9mm. If there is a next time I will cut the planks oversize and run them through the thicknesser. Home made longboard was made from a couple of sanding pads from the hardware screwed to an 8mm hardwood board. The abrasive was a sanding belt cut open and attached via the clips on the sanding pads.

Next job is to rebate the hull where the carbon overlaps and then start cutting the carbon. Have some mates lined up next week to put the 300gm carbon on the outside of the hull. I have done some testing of the layup on some of the small internal foam panels. I'm a little concerned about the amount of resin that gets sucked up by the foam. I have been spreading the resin on the foam with a scrapper, laying down the carbon, spreading more resin and then peel ply. The worry is that the foam seems so porous that the foam/carbon connection might be too dry. Does anyone have any ideas about this?

 bowfaired2.jpg   115.05K   149 downloads  bowfaired.jpg   245.18K   153 downloads  longboard.jpg   122.81K   128 downloads

[sea bogan]

try bogging the foam first with a runny mix and thinly screed it over the foam as just to fill the holes and the lay up on it straight away seamed to work for us on our shaw

[fng]

add glue powder to the resin on the foam. you can squeegee it prior to laying on the cloth, then wet the cloth out as per normal.

[itkiwi]

Thanks for the tips - in the end I put a thin coat of resin on the foam, left it for 2 hours to tack off a bit and then recoated both the foam and cedar before placing the carbon. The hull is now skinned with the 300gm bi-axial carbon. I will put up some pictures later today when I can find my camera cable.

[itkiwi]

Here's some hull lamination pictures. We used ampreg resin with slow hardener - which was fine for a NZ summer. I will need something a bit faster for the winter though.

Steps were to first wet out the foam, wait 2 hours and then redo the foam and coat the cedar. After laying on the carbon we added more resin before using a squeegee then the peel ply and squeegee again. The second time allowed us to move the resin around if there was an excess. Mostly the excess was scrapped to the bottom and discarded. Once is was sure it was down flat the peep ply was held in place with pins. Two small areas bubbled but were easy to grind off and redo. We did the laminate over several days - I wasn't game to cut all the rebates for the carbon overlaps in one go.

Attached Files

•  deckedge.jpg   166.77K   155 downloads
•  bow pins.jpg   209.09K   185 downloads
•  finished.jpg   110.78K   197 downloads
•  stern.jpg   124.39K   158 downloads

[fdsailor]

Very nice work. Look forwards to seeing the next stage. Keep em coming.

[Mojounwin]

Looking sexy mate. If you've never had the pleasure of sanding carbon you are in for a treat. Makes you itchy as fuck and is toxic shit to breath. My advice is rub talcum powder in to your skin head to toe, wear those disposable overalls and a respirator.

Cheers
Mojo

[crossa]

seen the 8m leech today, they're just about to paint, didnt have my camera, very, very cool , huge cockpit, gona give the south island boats a fright!!, has a monster prod!!
cheers crossa

[Scottyk]

Looking very nice. There shouldn't be much need to sand the carbon if it is nice and fair. Obviously sanding into it is sanding away some of of its strength as well.
Keep the pics coming

[itkiwi]

Thanks for the comments about carbon sanding - definitely keen to avoid that. I have sanded of the odd lump where an overlap didn't fit in its rebate but that's about all the carbon sanding I plan to do.

Transom went on yesterday. Transom is a carbon/foam/carbon lamination. I made 2 transoms - the first on I decided to put in the glasshouse (greenhouse in the US) to hurry it up a bit in the 30+ degree heat. I went back after an hour or so and it had turned into a banana. Not a good move. One side of the laminate was 3 days old and I thought this would be enough to keep it stable. Transom 2 was glued and held in with screws - second day screws out and 300gm carbon lapped 50mm onto each face. I was surprised how willing the carbon was to conform to the 15mm radius curve between the transom and hull. Peel ply is great.

Attached Files

•  glued in.jpg   115.61K   189 downloads
•  temp screws.jpg   406.13K   222 downloads
•  peelply off.jpg   121.19K   168 downloads

[Scottyk]

Did the designer want to have the hull built on a male mould or was that your idea? Not that there is anything wrong with doing it this way it is just that a lot of similar builds are done in female moulds lately.

[itkiwi]

@Scotty

I think we both wanted a male mold. All of Dan's boats are done this way but I haven't asked him why.

I though it was a good idea because when building I wouldn't have to get inside the boat and therefor the frames could be further apart. 500mm in this boat.

Total mold set, including a simple 3 station female mold, used 11 sheets of downgrade mdf ($350) plus joinery charges to cut them ($600)

[itkiwi]

Well, now it looks like a boat. The turn over was very low key. I could easily lift it by myself - I would guess it weighs about 40kg at this point. The sides were very flexible so we clamped a batten down each side to give some strength for the flip.

I have almost finished sanding the inside. The goal here is to get a smooth surface for the carbon - and not to worry about fairing. It is noticeable the mold side (inside) of the hull is less fair than the outside. As the outside is seen and the mold side is not this is great - less fairing and bogging. Maybe this is a reason for a male mold particularly in this case where none of the inside face will be visible.

Attached Files

•  1free.jpg   52.15K   210 downloads
•  2moldaway.jpg   75.02K   239 downloads
•  3boatonhead.jpg   42.9K   313 downloads
•  4finished.JPG   70.18K   324 downloads

[Joust]

Looks cool and progressing quickly. Am following with interest on the build, looking great

[Scottyk]

Looking really good. You guys don't muck around! 40kg's sounds good
More on the male versus female mould:
I used a ripping saw table to cut up my cedar for the Shaw 650 I am building so the strips came out a bit inconsistent in terns of thickness. Because I used a female mould the bumps all presented on the inside of the hull where fairing isn't so critical were as the outside was pressed into the mould frames and so will be more fair where it needs to be. I think that both methods are valid but as I was fitting the strips to mine I was thinking I am glad the bumps were going to end up on the inside rather than outside.

Are you going all foam bulkheads etc?

[itkiwi]

Thanks for the comments. The inside is all foam and 200gm carbon cloth. Attached a copy the interior arrangement render. The 2 main bulkheads will go in after the interior is sanded and skinned with 200gm carbon. I have a mate who is vacuum bagging the chainplates at the moment.

Attached Files

•  L_650_SB_Recieving_Jig_Render.jpg   453.37K   156 downloads

[itkiwi]

Sanding out the glue on the inside of the hull took a week of my spare time. Thankfully, as this side of the hull skin in never seen, there is no need to fair the surface. the interior has 200gm woven carbon. the woven stuff is a lot easier to work with than the double bias. Occasionally though you get a small bubble where the carbon is not attached to the skin - I just grind these off and put a patch over them - see the picture - about 1 x 3 cm.

the other picture shows the front run of carbon done and the second being measured. The front section has extra carbon on the center line and where the sprit attaches. After the carbon is measured I pin it along the center, fold one side onto the other, wet out that 1/2, replace the carbon and repeat for the other side. I take a lot of care with the peel ply and smoothing it down as I don't have vacuum bagging facilities. So far so good.

Rumor has it another L650 is underway and yet another modified to meet the T/Y requirements. I think this is good - on the other hand sometimes it's like "my boat" is being shared around. Maybe #4 will be on this side of the ditch unlike #2 and #3. Don't they have any boat designers over there?

Attached Files

•  bubbleRepair.jpg   142.03K   117 downloads
•  carbonCutting.jpg   98.51K   141 downloads

[crossa]

Sanding out the glue on the inside of the hull took a week of my spare time. Thankfully, as this side of the hull skin in never seen, there is no need to fair the surface. the interior has 200gm woven carbon. the woven stuff is a lot easier to work with than the double bias. Occasionally though you get a small bubble where the carbon is not attached to the skin - I just grind these off and put a patch over them - see the picture - about 1 x 3 cm.

the other picture shows the front run of carbon done and the second being measured. The front section has extra carbon on the center line and where the sprit attaches. After the carbon is measured I pin it along the center, fold one side onto the other, wet out that 1/2, replace the carbon and repeat for the other side. I take a lot of care with the peel ply and smoothing it down as I don't have vacuum bagging facilities. So far so good.

Rumor has it another L650 is underway and yet another modified to meet the T/Y requirements. I think this is good - on the other hand sometimes it's like "my boat" is being shared around. Maybe #4 will be on this side of the ditch unlike #2 and #3. Don't they have any boat designers over there?

r u gona have this comply with traileryacht regs, with a cabin or just a sportboat like the shaws

[GybeSet®]

"and yet another modified to meet the T/Y requirements. "


sounds like that's a 3rd one, they need 'interior space' afairc

[crossa]

"and yet another modified to meet the T/Y requirements. "


sounds like that's a 3rd one, they need 'interior space' afairc

to get a sportboat to comply is quite dificult as there has to be 40% of boat as cabin, with a 1mhigh by 1m2 block of volume plus bunk space of 1800mm by 450mm times 2 inside the cabin that doesnt incroach on the 1m by 1m2 area, i looked at doing this with my modded 18 ft skiff but it ended up almost impossible and like the one being built will have an interesting time at regattas, as currently will have no class, or compliance with nztya, so will be interesting to see what happens?

[Hairy M]

gold coast 650 hope to be all done 12weeks max

Attached Files

•  402383_10150528815573058_711613057_8506873_1854801542_n.jpg   151.11K   193 downloads

[r i p it up crew]

"and yet another modified to meet the T/Y requirements. "


sounds like that's a 3rd one, they need 'interior space' afairc

to get a sportboat to comply is quite dificult as there has to be 40% of boat as cabin, with a 1mhigh by 1m2 block of volume plus bunk space of 1800mm by 450mm times 2 inside the cabin that doesnt incroach on the 1m by 1m2 area, i looked at doing this with my modded 18 ft skiff but it ended up almost impossible and like the one being built will have an interesting time at regattas, as currently will have no class, or compliance with nztya, so will be interesting to see what happens?

Boat 3 has been drawn up with a cabin to comply with TY ruling.

[GybeSet®]

AUS TY or NZ TY cab size

[Tokyo Trash Baby]

Doesn't really matter does it? Still going to rate as sportsboat?

[GybeSet®]

it would matter in South island

so

AU or NZ

[crossa]

it would matter in South island

so

AU or NZ

this particular boat and a couple of others are in the lower south island nz

[itkiwi]

My one is an open sport boat - check the Leech website. This one pictured has the same hull and general arrangement but has been modified to meet the Australian TY rules (and I assume the NZ ones too?). I guess you make a choice - I'm more focused on sailing and don't want the cabin - overnighting and so on. I accept the price is not being able to race in TY events but don't really care. A huge plus is not having to make an interior - that work is really time consuming.

Attached Files

•  L_650_TY_Render_1.jpg   131.33K   165 downloads
•  L_650_TY_Render_0.jpg   114.35K   226 downloads
•  L_650_TY_Render_2.jpg   201.35K   193 downloads

[crossa]

My one is an open sport boat - check the Leech website. This one pictured has the same hull and general arrangement but has been modified to meet the Australian TY rules (and I assume the NZ ones too?). I guess you make a choice - I'm more focused on sailing and don't want the cabin - overnighting and so on. I accept the price is not being able to race in TY events but don't really care. A huge plus is not having to make an interior - that work is really time consuming.

they let sporties into a few events but if more of us started turnung up they would have to change there ideas, maybee we form our own association, and enter the events that way, theres gona be 2 in queenstown that dont comply, im in oamaru, and think thers one in bluff being done similiar to mine, we could have a class that has no rules, just open slather, then there would be some flying machines!!

[Hairy M]

more from AUS not bad for the afternoon strong back down jig made and all level carbon panels on and for today lay up the timber in the hull

Attached Files

•  399931_10150531117098058_711613057_8510990_443670934_n.jpg   63.66K   158 downloads
•  403315_10150531129368058_711613057_8511005_1148673919_n.jpg   58.96K   227 downloads
•  402798_10150531381183058_711613057_8511505_1385358036_n.jpg   82.87K   208 downloads

[itkiwi]

more from AUS not bad for the afternoon strong back down jig made and all level carbon panels on and for today lay up the timber in the hull

Awesome to see #2 underway. What width strips are you using? The 45 mm strips I used I think were too wide - and consequently have to edge set when needed. I'm not sure I would run the planks as I did (see earlier posts) if I was to make another one. The hard bit for planking is near the bow knuckle and dealing with the plank twist.

Tell us a bit more about your carbon foam panels - did the foam come with the carbon already on?

[Turkey Slapper]

more from AUS not bad for the afternoon strong back down jig made and all level carbon panels on and for today lay up the timber in the hull

Nothing to see here!

Its photo shopped!

Since when has there been a Queensland build and not an empty beer/Rum can to be seen!

[Hairy M]

All done 7am start all done at 530pm. just for you slapper 2x bins of XXXXgold just not photo worthy

Attached Files

•  393849_10150533507748058_711613057_8516516_576531857_n.jpg   82.67K   300 downloads

[fdsailor]

Fark that's fast. How many of you working on it?

[Jacko]

Fark that's fast. How many of you working on it?

Mostly 5. A little fairing today and put carbon on Monday or Tuesday night.

[Mojounwin]

Fuck boys! you're pumping out the boat jobs pretty bloody quickly.

Well done. Great to see them coming together.

Cheers
Mojo

[Turkey Slapper]

Fark that's fast. How many of you working on it?

Mostly 5. A little fairing today and put carbon on Monday or Tuesday night.

What The!!!!

First post, many a year as member, and no Boobs?

[Jacko]

Fark that's fast. How many of you working on it?

Mostly 5. A little fairing today and put carbon on Monday or Tuesday night.

What The!!!!

First post, many a year as member, and no Boobs?

Finished fairing at 12pm at Runaway pub at 2.15pm. Total of 21 hrs with an average of 5 guys/120 cans plus pub. Secret: a shop fitter and 2 generations of chippies.
Great design/thought makes it easy.

[Hobbs]

Wow, fantastic effort! Really impressive!

How long to you think the rest will take?

[Jacko]

Wow, fantastic effort! Really impressive!

How long to you think the rest will take?

6-8 weeks realistic.(hoping)

[Hairy M]

carbon get laid on hull tonight

[cosmicsedso]

carbon get laid on hull tonight

How did that go?

You guys take your time don't you?

More pics please mate

[jonsailor]

carbon get laid on hull tonight

watch the humidity with fine cloths not having much resin....its wet as all shit on the lower Qld coast!!

[Hairy M]

carbon get laid on hull tonight

watch the humidity with fine cloths not having much resin....its wet as all shit on the lower Qld coast!!

yep have put it on hold until the rain is gone

[Jacko]

carbon get laid on hull tonight

watch the humidity with fine cloths not having much resin....its wet as all shit on the lower Qld coast!!

yep have put it on hold until the rain is gone

We've had the dehumidifier on for the last 24hrs and now the weather has come good we are going for the outer layer today.
Hopefully pull it of the jig Saturday morning then do the inside skin later the same day.

[itkiwi]

The final bit of the interior skin went on last night. Next job a quick clean of any little lumps of resin and then adding some interior panels. First up the chain-plate bulkheads. Unfortunately work has intruded so progress will slow a bit.

Check out the new news link on the leechboats.com website - the L8 is getting very close to launch. Go Brian.

Rob

Attached Files

•  1interiorSkin.jpg   196.85K   217 downloads

[Jacko]

The final bit of the interior skin went on last night. Next job a quick clean of any little lumps of resin and then adding some interior panels. First up the chain-plate bulkheads. Unfortunately work has intruded so progress will slow a bit.

Check out the new news link on the leechboats.com website - the L8 is getting very close to launch. Go Brian.

Rob

Its looking good mate. What do you think it weighs?

[itkiwi]

The final bit of the interior skin went on last night. Next job a quick clean of any little lumps of resin and then adding some interior panels. First up the chain-plate bulkheads. Unfortunately work has intruded so progress will slow a bit.

Check out the new news link on the leechboats.com website - the L8 is getting very close to launch. Go Brian.

Rob

Its looking good mate. What do you think it weighs?

Maybe 40 - 50 kgs. You can lift up the stern with one hand. Would be good to organise a weigh at this point.

[GybeSet®]

2 x bathroom scales should do it ?

[itkiwi]

Still haven't done a weigh - but I did weigh the main bulkhead that runs under the sole and just behind the centerboard case. 1.51kg's untrimmed. Just finishing the last couple of bulkheads. Hoping to do some assembly of all the bits next weekend. I'll have to see how busy work gets this week.

All the interior frames and girders have 300gm carbon biaxial strips 75mm wide as a padding between the hull skin and whatever part is being attached. That's what these photos show. I'm quite keen on this as I have a mate with a nice cedar strip whitehall that is not looking so good. This issue is that his internal panels, seat tops and so on are attached directly to the inside hull skin and the 200gm fibre glass has not prevented all the internal parts showing through to the outside.

Attached Files

•  1interior.jpg   159.96K   117 downloads
•  2interior.jpg   116.53K   126 downloads
•  3bulkhead.JPG   113.88K   116 downloads
•  4bulkhead.jpg   121.85K   96 downloads

[itkiwi]

BTW - Jacko what's happening in Queensland - have you had the launch party yet?

[Tokyo Trash Baby]

Looking good!!

[Jacko]

BTW - Jacko what's happening in Queensland - have you had the launch party yet?

All the frames and center case are in. A little tieding up through the week and putting the cleats on, then depending on time cockpit floor. Hopefully have carbon tubing later this week. I'll post more photo's mid week.

[GybeSet®]

Looking good!!

i suspect 'looking good' will be a bonus when it lines up against Peow Peow !

[Tokyo Trash Baby]

I think it's going to be a great battle of the "650's" once the gold coast boat is dialled in, which I don't think will take too long knowing the operators building it.

[Hobbs]

I think it's going to be a great battle of the "650's" once the gold coast boat is dialled in, which I don't think will take too long knowing the operators building it.

Agreed. Sort of like a fleet within a fleet! Will be very cool, very soon!

[furcoat]

Any trial ratings out there suggesting where they might sit on SMS?

[Turkey Slapper]

Going by predicted weight, around the shaws!

Too low!

[Hobbs]

Any trial ratings out there suggesting where they might sit on SMS?

Sure are. Not for me to say as I didn't do the leg work but it will certainly get some attention when it's announced. Maybe room for some optimising in there somewhere too!

[83TER]

Will they have a proper size rig on them unlike the Shaws ?

[Turkey Slapper]

Will they have a proper size rig on them unlike the Shaws ?

Dont encourage them to get it to go quick in the light!

[itkiwi]

Will they have a proper size rig on them unlike the Shaws ?

So, so you think the Shaw rigs are too big or too small?

Attached is the current sail plan however I understand the Aussie boat may have a 3m total sprit length.

Attached Files

•  L_650_11_Sail_Plan_B.pdf   19.73K   189 downloads

[83TER]

What do you reckon

Will they have a proper size rig on them unlike the Shaws ?

So, so you think the Shaw rigs are too big or too small?

Attached is the current sail plan however I understand the Aussie boat may have a 3m total sprit length.

[83TER]

Forcast is looking good for you this weekend

Will they have a proper size rig on them unlike the Shaws ?

Dont encourage them to get it to go quick in the light!

[GybeSet®]

7844 on the luff

what u got turkey

[Turkey Slapper]

7844 on the luff

what u got turkey

No idea, i just steer the thing!

The orange kite is fucking long on the luff but!

Just had a look, if your talking kite luff, 12.76m i think if i have the right number on the orange one!

[Turkey Slapper]

Forcast is looking good for you this weekend

Will they have a proper size rig on them unlike the Shaws ?

Dont encourage them to get it to go quick in the light!

Looks a bit windy!

Attached Files

•  sbs feb.png   15.33K   23 downloads

[itkiwi]

Here's some pics of my first go at vacuum bagging. always good to have someone show you how to do it. Now that I know how easy it is to do I'm tempted to get a vacuum pump of my own.

The rudder stock started off as a carbon tube with some additional wraps of carbon bogged onto a 3 layer foam and carbon center line bulkhead.

Photo 1 - both of the gudgeons are 11 layers of 50mm wide 450 gm carbon UD. The spec had the top one a bit lighter but it seemed easier to make them both same. The layers are wetted out on plastic and lightly scraped to get rid of any excess.

Photo 2 - 2 layers of 200 gm cloth go over the whole thing followed by the strips top and bottom

Photo 3 - a final 2 layers of 200gm cloth over everything

Photo 4 - getting ready for the vacuum - peel ply - breather cloth and the bag with double sided sticky stuff all the way round

Photo 5 - suction in the top of the bag and the the bag pulled down on the various layers

Now have to organise bushes top and bottom.

Other work has included all the bulkheads laminated and the last of the padding on the inside of the hull - assembly this weekend.

Attached Files

•  1stock.JPG   99.04K   93 downloads
•  2stock.JPG   109.54K   114 downloads
•  3stock.JPG   127.37K   130 downloads
•  4stock.JPG   94.23K   117 downloads
•  5stock.JPG   119.77K   100 downloads

[Jacko]

Dan and myself are working on the sail plan at the moment. The P is 7844mm and will remain so but the area in the mainsail and Spin is where we are looking at the moment. Currently we are looking at about .829 for SMS. I think the extra sail will be a huge benefit in the light but still controllable in the heavy. We also want to keep a class but still leave a little room for experiment. What we are trying to achieve is a basic class rule with a little room to move.

[Tokyo Trash Baby]

Dan and myself are working on the sail plan at the moment. The P is 7844mm and will remain so but the area in the mainsail and Spin is where we are looking at the moment. Currently we are looking at about .829 for SMS. I think the extra sail will be a huge benefit in the light but still controllable in the heavy. We also want to keep a class but still leave a little room for experiment. What we are trying to achieve is a basic class rule with a little room to move.

More photos jacko....

[itkiwi]

A bit more progress - the forward bulkhead is bogged in and will have carbon DB tape added after the bog is set and cleaned up. The ring frames are just foam at the moment epoxied and screwed on. The screws will be more removed and the foam tidied before 2x UD strips are added and cloth over the top.

The rudder stock is test fitted to the transom. I want to get the bushes made and fitted before I glue this in. At the front of this part you can see the puzzle joints in the foam. The parts only fit one way - you would have to try really hard to put something in upside down.

Attached Files

•  1bow.jpg   138.04K   116 downloads
•  2stern.jpg   107.48K   144 downloads
•  3rudder.jpg   123.8K   124 downloads

[Ncik]

why are you not laminating the bulkhead tapes straight onto the wet glue? have found this sooo much easier and quicker (than letting the glue cure, then sanding and taping) since being introduced to it a few years ago.

[facthunt]

this one is fat up front. looks like its borrowed alot from the 12. should give the colson 650 a run uphill in a bit of slop,

[Tokyo Trash Baby]

this one is fat up front. looks like its borrowed alot from the 12. should give the colson 650 a run uphill in a bit of slop,

something giving a colson a run for its money... that will be a first

[facthunt]

this one is fat up front. looks like its borrowed alot from the 12. should give the colson 650 a run uphill in a bit of slop,

something giving a colson a run for its money... that will be a first

yes they are the shit, the style leader in sportboats

[Jacko]

Dan and myself are working on the sail plan at the moment. The P is 7844mm and will remain so but the area in the mainsail and Spin is where we are looking at the moment. Currently we are looking at about .829 for SMS. I think the extra sail will be a huge benefit in the light but still controllable in the heavy. We also want to keep a class but still leave a little room for experiment. What we are trying to achieve is a basic class rule with a little room to move.

More photos jacko....

Rudder stock will be laminated tonight and cockpit glued in Thursday night. Hopefully Friday night deck. That'll be 4 weeks work.

Attached Files

•  IMG_3939.jpg   211.98K   162 downloads
•  IMG_4429.jpg   169.13K   168 downloads