628 replies to this topic

[Jim Donovan]

Mold stations set-up in New London, CT for Donovan GP26

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[timber]

Mold stations set-up in New London, CT for Donovan GP26

I am curious about what the bottom will look like. But it does look like it is set up at gentlemens working height. The size of boats is decreasing and the performance increasing, a healthy trend IMHO.
T

[The Advocate]

Post some drawings Jim!

[redboat]

This could be a tasty little boat.

Keep the updates coming.

Good luck.

[Jim Donovan]

Post some drawings Jim!

Working on it - give me a few more hours and there be some basic info on my website.

[Jim Donovan]

Post some drawings Jim!

Working on it - give me a few more hours and there be some basic info on my website.

Some quick info I assembled today is here: http://www.jpdonovan.../GP 26 Page.htm

Here are few images

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•  GP_26_Sailplan.jpg   207.1K   766 downloads

[The Advocate]

Looks like a sweet ride, lotsa rake in the rig though.

[Magilla Gorilla]

If you're not going fast at least you'll look cool.... Looks like a sweet boat!

[Prova]

Right on Jim!

Good luck Kevin!

[The Advocate]

If you're not going fast at least you'll look cool.... Looks like a sweet boat!

what the fuck does that mean you idiot?

[StayinStrewn]

sweet, +1

[007]

Nice job! Looks like alot of attention to detail.
How about some video links of a working model????

[oldskool]

Is it the new Remedy?

[GRUMPY]

Looks like a sweet ride, lotsa rake in the rig though.

What the fuck does that mean you idiot? My H20 has more rake.

[Sol Rosenberg]

I like. I want.

[schoonerman]

Me Likey Jim.

Interesting angle on the keel. You don't see many swept sporty keels. What's the design philosophy behind that? Holy HeyZOOS that's one big ass rudder.

Keep us posted and good luck on the build. May your shop be dry and warm.

[nroose]

Nice.

It amazes me that some Naval Architects can design a boat to any rule, and it still looks like it comes from their table. There is just something about this design that looks like a Donovan.

[TimFordi550#87]

looks like a nice remedy for a case of the slows.

[Savage 17]

Is it the new Remedy?

It is not the new Remedy. The new Remedy is an Evelyn 26 flat deck. This boat is being built by someone else in the area.

[TimFordi550#87]

Is it the new Remedy?

It is not the new Remedy. The new Remedy is an Evelyn 26 flat deck. This boat is being built by someone else in the area.

Lotsa remedies in this world, oh Savage one.

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[bruno]

Nice looking, who is building the rig?

[Jim Donovan]

Nice looking, who is building the rig?

We have a couple plans - this first is to build the rig along side the boat. I have some expereince rigs.

[Jim Donovan]

Is it the new Remedy?

It is not the new Remedy. The new Remedy is an Evelyn 26 flat deck. This boat is being built by someone else in the area.

I would sure like to see a GP26 "Remedy" - I'll have to give Bert a call.

I think Kevin, the builder/owner of this boat had a different name in mind.

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[Jim Donovan]

Me Likey Jim.

Interesting angle on the keel. You don't see many swept sporty keels. What's the design philosophy behind that? Holy HeyZOOS that's one big ass rudder.

Keep us posted and good luck on the build. May your shop be dry and warm.

The plan is to have the ability to change the sweep of the keel fin if desired, so the sweep shown is the maximum aft arrangement.
This is not an "on-the-fly" adjusment, but requires you to rest the fin in it's top molding, and adjust the bulb angle on the fin.
The fin is not a very heavy or complicated item, and the goal is to have the ability to make the change in day or two.

I believe it is important to design systems for these type of tweaks to allow fine-tuning of a boat to find it's optimal performance.

Me Likey Jim.

Interesting angle on the keel. You don't see many swept sporty keels. What's the design philosophy behind that? Holy HeyZOOS that's one big ass rudder.

Keep us posted and good luck on the build. May your shop be dry and warm.

The plan is to have the ability to change the sweep of the keel fin if desired, so the sweep shown is the maximum aft arrangement.
This is not an "on-the-fly" adjusment, but requires you to rest the fin in it's top molding, and adjust the bulb angle on the fin.
The fin is not a very heavy or complicated item, and the goal is to have the ability to make the change in day or two.

I believe it is important to design systems for these type of tweaks to allow fine-tuning of a boat to find it's optimal performance.

[Jim Donovan]

Nice looking, who is building the rig?

We have a couple plans - this first is to build the rig along side the boat. I have some expereince rigs.

I have some experience building rigs
Sorry typing too fast (and not editing again)

[Jim Donovan]

I really appreciate the positive comments my design has attracted.
This project benefitted from a realistic design schedule that allowed me explore a wide variety (20 or 30) hull shapes.
The final shape is produced from a NURBS surface with a minimal number of control points that results in an extremely fair surface.

I made this "movie" of the shape rotaing in Rhino (holding my camera in front of my laptop screen).
If you can ignore the low-budget film quality and look at the way the shadows cast on the form, the edges of the shadows show how fair the shape transitions from the bow to the stern.

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[samsonite]

I like it. Looks nauti... Any chance of a production/semi-production/limited run build or is this strictly a one off?

Very interesting project.

[Jim Donovan]

I like it. Looks nauti... Any chance of a production/semi-production/limited run build or is this strictly a one off?

Very interesting project.

The mold is definitely strong enough to get a few hulls built in it.
The way Kevin set up the mold stations makes it very easy to transport the mold on a flatbed trailer.

Kevin and I have discussed this and would like to talk to
individuals or builders interested in building additional boat(s) from the mold.

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[007]

Interested to know what the PHRF rating is going to be, especially in accordance with ECSA... and how it would rate against say, the Melges 24 on LI Sound and coastal RI???

[Nomenclature]

Interested to know what the PHRF rating is going to be, especially in accordance with ECSA... and how it would rate against say, the Melges 24 on LI Sound and coastal RI???

The Dees GP 26 is rated at 75.

[Kevin Farrar]

Only 5 sets of rib bands to go and the mold will be complete. Minor fairing and taping to allow for release and it will be done. I should be bending foam into the mold within the week. I know that as soon as I turn the heat back on to warm the resin it will change back to summer in southern new england. Progress photos soon.

Kevin Farrar

[007]

Jim-

What size container will this transportable sport boat fit into, for shipping or ground transportation?
What's the gross shipping weight?
Any restriction to sailing this vessel in colder water and climates? Thinking 1C water and -10C air worst case.

Questions from the fly to the spider, as I get sucked into the web.....

[Jim Donovan]

Jim-

What size container will this transportable sport boat fit into, for shipping or ground transportation?
What's the gross shipping weight?
Any restriction to sailing this vessel in colder water and climates? Thinking 1C water and -10C air worst case.

Questions from the fly to the spider, as I get sucked into the web.....

It will easily fit in a standard 40 foot container, although you'll need to build a special cradle to rock the hull over 35 degrees.
Not too difficult, the hull weighs in at 530 kg (without the rig, keel and rudder)
Standard containers are 7'-7" wide x 39'-4" long, 7'-9" high (The doors open only 7'-6" wide).
Keel, rudder, stanchions and pushpits need to be removed.
The rig is almost exactly 40 feet long, so can go along one of the walls at a slight angle.
If your sending with a trailer, then you'll probably need a high cube container to fit the trailer under the hull.


I once extracted a 35 foot powerboat hull from a 40 foot container sent from England.
The guy who got in there did a great job building a special cradle. It was rocked over about 60 degrees and fit with only a few mm to spare.
We built the deck and finished the boat here in Hawaii (see attached photo)



Boat and rig with everything is around 1100 to 1200 kg.
Trailer and cradle probably add another 700 kg.
This will be well under the maximum allowable weight for the cube shipped.

Roll-on-roll-off ships are typically much more affordable than paying for an entire container.
There are more of these ships around now, and all you do is leave the boat on a trailer and drive it up the ramp and onto the ship.
With the keel off the boat will sit as low as a Melges 24 does on it's trailer.
The class rules require that the keel is easily removable so the measurers can check it's weight, so keel removal and install is very simple.

The boat shouldn't mind sailing in cold climates.

Jim

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•  Mosquito_on_Trailer.pdf   150.65K   348 downloads

[ExOmo]

[/quote]


I have some experience building rigs

[/quote]


Yes you do...

Keep us posted!

[Kevin Farrar]

This is a photo of the mold with a few of the rib bands in from about a week ago.
Kevin

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[Jim Donovan]

I just got off the phone with Jim Betts talking about building GP26s.
The idea is to supply anything from just a hull, all the way up to a completed boat, depending on the customers requirements.
Jim is very familair and capable of producing boats in this size, and has a perfect shop for the job.

We have developed some clever construction methods that greatly reduce the tooling and labor costs vs. typical custom or semi-custom builds.
These methods allow for customizing the design far beyond what would be possible with production tooling.

We still have a little bit of homework to do to sort out pricing based on the various stages of completion.

[Jim Donovan]

I just got off the phone with Jim Betts talking about building GP26s.
The idea is to supply anything from just a hull, all the way up to a completed boat, depending on the customers requirements.
Jim is very familair and capable of producing boats in this size, and has a perfect shop for the job.

We have developed some clever construction methods that greatly reduce the tooling and labor costs vs. typical custom or semi-custom builds.
These methods allow for customizing the design far beyond what would be possible with production tooling.

We still have a little bit of homework to do to sort out pricing based on the various stages of completion.

[Jim Donovan]

I just got off the phone with Jim Betts talking about building GP26s.
The idea is to supply anything from just a hull, all the way up to a completed boat, depending on the customers requirements.
Jim is very familair and capable of producing boats in this size, and has a perfect shop for the job.

We have developed some clever construction methods that greatly reduce the tooling and labor costs vs. typical custom or semi-custom builds.
These methods allow for customizing the design far beyond what would be possible with production tooling.

We still have a little bit of homework to do to sort out pricing based on the various stages of completion.

Not exactly sure why this same message posted twice.

[Nomenclature]

Not exactly sure why this same message posted twice.

And now three times.

Is that going to be a finished female mold,
or do you lay in the core and internal skin and then flip the hull
for the outer skin.

[Jim Donovan]

Not exactly sure why this same message posted twice.

Is that going to be a finished female mold,
or do you lay in the core and internal skin and then flip the hull
for the outer skin.

Partial mold with foam shaped against ribbands - inner skin and frames bonded in place - hull removed from mold, flipped and outer skin laminated

[schoonerman]

Another guy for one-offs is Cree Partridge at Berkeley Marine Center. Very Nice build on the Antrim 49 canter right now and a Class 40 soon to loft.

He's out there looking for a 20-something project as it fits in perfectly with the 40 in the shed. He's spent his entire career building one-offs. Nice guy too.

[Kevin Farrar]

The last of the ribs bands were installed this morning. I'll take some photos later and try again to post them here. I'm having issues with my antique version of photo shop reducing the size of the jpeg files. We should actually start building the boat this week. Ya Hoo!
Kevin

[DeletedSoonIHope]

Get photobucket (or similar utility, I like photobucket for it's ease of use) Photobucket

Another suggestion, update your website, get the boat on that front page.

Farrar Sails

Good luck!

[Kevin Farrar]

http://s640.photobucket.com/albums/uu130/gnat30050/GP26/?action=view&current=GP26027.jpg&evt=user_media_share

Thanks,
Kevin

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[DeletedSoonIHope]

http://s640.photobucket.com/albums/uu130/gnat30050/GP26/?action=view&current=GP26027.jpg&evt=user_media_share

Thanks,
Kevin

WOW! Great job, Grasshopper, hehehe.

[The Advocate]

Kevin,

what is the reason for using cable ties rather than screwing the ribs on?

[Kevin Farrar]

Kevin,

what is the reason for using cable ties rather than screwing the ribs on?

The curved portions of the mold stations were cut with a C&C machine from 1/2" MDF board. I screwed sheet rock screws into the face of the stations then tie wrapped the rib bands unto dabs of epoxy and microfibers on the station edge. After the glue kicks off I remove the tie wrap.
Kevin

[fakawot]

Killer project Jim. You need to got one down here where the water is blue. Wish you success.

the topless blonde

[doghouse]

I just got off the phone with Jim Betts talking about building GP26s.
The idea is to supply anything from just a hull, all the way up to a completed boat, depending on the customers requirements.
Jim is very familair and capable of producing boats in this size, and has a perfect shop for the job.

We have developed some clever construction methods that greatly reduce the tooling and labor costs vs. typical custom or semi-custom builds.
These methods allow for customizing the design far beyond what would be possible with production tooling.

We still have a little bit of homework to do to sort out pricing based on the various stages of completion.

I can vouch for Betts quality. He built our Farr 36 and it's as nice a boat as I have ever set foot on, bar none.

[007]

Updates? Any new work in progress photos??? Hope it's coming together just as planned.

[Kevin Farrar]

Well the first attempt at the convection oven was less than successful. We have now re-engineered it and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this time it will work. Once the fool thing is operational I'll post some photos of the contraption. The mold is covered in with release tape and all the foam (for the entire boat) is on site.
More when we get rolling a bit.
Kevin Farrar

[fullsail]

Well the first attempt at the convection oven was less than successful. We have now re-engineered it and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this time it will work. Once the fool thing is operational I'll post some photos of the contraption. The mold is covered in with release tape and all the foam (for the entire boat) is on site.
More when we get rolling a bit.
Kevin Farrar

Yes I wanted to know how thermoforming corecell or foam.
I started a thread a week or so.

http://forums.sailin...showtopic=92503

PRoss was very kind to post.

I was expecting the builders like ntman, 83ter, hcw, wal or even Jonsailor to give their 2 cents. Or if we are lucky their 2 dollars. Cdn, nzl or whatever.

Anyway waiting for your results and photos'

Mr. Mouligne from Corecell sent me sent to this company for the oven:

oven

Thanks

Christian.

[GybeSet®]

Well the first attempt at the convection oven was less than successful. We have now re-engineered it and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this time it will work. Once the fool thing is operational I'll post some photos of the contraption. The mold is covered in with release tape and all the foam (for the entire boat) is on site.
More when we get rolling a bit.
Kevin Farrar

Yes I wanted to know how thermoforming corecell or foam.
I started a thread a week or so.

http://forums.sailin...showtopic=92503

PRoss was very kind to post.

I was expecting the builders like ntman, 83ter, hcw, wal or even Jonsailor to give their 2 cents. Or if we are lucky their 2 dollars. Cdn, nzl or whatever.

Anyway waiting for your results and photos'

Mr. Mouligne from Corecell sent me sent to this company for the oven:

oven

Thanks

Christian.

C theres no doubt that SBers here may know alot about this

but i reckon if you post your question in Gear Anarchy you get a bunch of replies, the 'gear-heads' hang out there just waiting for stuff like this

anyhow how's dem GP26s going ?
.

[fullsail]

Thanks for the advice Gybeset
I may try Boatdesign.net too.

Christian

[Savage 17]

Jim,

Any update on pricing from Betts?

[jkdubs808]

You know Jim, the more and more I check your site out and look at this GP26, the sexier and sexier it gets. I can't wait to see the finished product. By the looks of it it would be well ahead of anything we have out here in Hawaii. It would do well out here.

Btw we missed you guys on the last day of Summer Circuit. It was light like the 2nd day so sub-planing conditions for the Melges. See ya around the clubs.

[83TER]

Well the first attempt at the convection oven was less than successful. We have now re-engineered it and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this time it will work. Once the fool thing is operational I'll post some photos of the contraption. The mold is covered in with release tape and all the foam (for the entire boat) is on site.
More when we get rolling a bit.
Kevin Farrar

Yes I wanted to know how thermoforming corecell or foam.
I started a thread a week or so.

http://forums.sailin...showtopic=92503

PRoss was very kind to post.

I was expecting the builders like ntman, 83ter, hcw, wal or even Jonsailor to give their 2 cents. Or if we are lucky their 2 dollars. Cdn, nzl or whatever.

Anyway waiting for your results and photos'

Mr. Mouligne from Corecell sent me sent to this company for the oven:

oven

Thanks

Christian.

Sorry Fullsail but i hadn't even mixed a pot of resin before i started building my boat so i dont know enough to comment.

[fullsail]

Well
Seeing how good your boat is coming , I think you are learning fast.

Christian.

[ntman]

yeah mate i'm certainly not an expert .i just hangout with a few blokes who are and I've picked up a bit here and there. i will sat one thing though and that is that most o f the backyard builders i know here just use a heat gun to get thefoam to go into the jig. using an oven will probably give you a better result though

[fullsail]

Hey thanks ntman

Yes I wanted to know what all the backyards builders are doing.

So heat gun only did the job for the Stealth 8.

I guess taking the time to build an oven and learn how to use it will pay in the long run. And it is good to know that the heat gun can correct small errors.

I should get my hands wet in a small project and learn from there.
Maybe an inter 14 hull?

Christian.

[Carbontech]

Another guy for one-offs is Cree Partridge at Berkeley Marine Center. Very Nice build on the Antrim 49 canter right now and a Class 40 soon to loft.

He's out there looking for a 20-something project as it fits in perfectly with the 40 in the shed. He's spent his entire career building one-offs. Nice guy too.

I'll second that. Cree does excellent work and you couldn't find a more knowledgeable and aggreeable person to work with.

[Kevin Farrar]

Yes it finally works!! There is a resistance finned heater in the manifold and two 6" inline blowers to maintain air circulation. The thermostat can keep the temperature +/- 5 degrees and it's been test at 120 degrees.
Kevin

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[007]

Yes it finally works!! There is a resistance finned heater in the manifold and two 6" inline blowers to maintain air circulation. The thermostat can keep the temperature +/- 5 degrees and it's been test at 120 degrees.
Kevin

Nice work Kevin. I'll be passing through and will stop by to take a look next week; but until then we'll appreciate any progress updates and photos.......

[Kevin Farrar]

The foam is finnally going in.

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[Savage 17]

WOW!! Long way to go till you will be done!!! Are you still going to make Key West Race week?

[Kevin Farrar]

You are right there is a lot of work left to be done. I think race week is out the question at this point (at least this coming one). Now that the oven is behaving itself the foam portion should go pretty fast and most of the bulkheads are already to drop in. We still have some keel rule issues that need to be worked out but those shouldn't slow the project down. The biggest slowdown is being a sailmaker in the summer.
Kevin

[Savage 17]

More pictures please Kevin!!

[Kevin Farrar]

The foam installation is moving along.

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[jonsailor]

Looks nice, are you heat forming, triple cut......or what.
What brand and type is the core??
cheers

[Kevin Farrar]

Hi Jonsailor,
The foam is Corecell A500 15mm with Corecell A800 15mm high density around the keel area. The foam is solid core (no slices). I'm using a Contender Code Zero sail material roll ends as pattern material for developing the foam segment shape. The closely cut foam panel is then heated. After the panel is up to temperture I then proceed to bend the foam into the mold by hand and clamps. Once the foam has cooled I mark the joins and refair the edges to get a tight seam edge. I then put the mold piece back in the mold and mark where I drill for the sewing to the mold. I finally pull the peice out again and drill to sewing holes. Then mix up some epoxy and thickener, butter up the seam edges and sew it (ties really) (#40 dacron leech cord) to the female mold.
Kevin

[jonsailor]

Hi Jonsailor,
The foam is Corecell A500 15mm with Corecell A800 15mm high density around the keel area. The foam is solid core (no slices). I'm using a Contender Code Zero sail material roll ends as pattern material for developing the foam segment shape. The closely cut foam panel is then heated. After the panel is up to temperture I then proceed to bend the foam into the mold by hand and clamps. Once the foam has cooled I mark the joins and refair the edges to get a tight seam edge. I then put the mold piece back in the mold and mark where I drill for the sewing to the mold. I finally pull the peice out again and drill to sewing holes. Then mix up some epoxy and thickener, butter up the seam edges and sew it (ties really) (#40 dacron leech cord) to the female mold.
Kevin

well done and thanks, good to see you are heating solid foam, we do the same but most people do the easier option.
We went a little further and heat formed DIAB infusion foam into a mould
As you know, the more accurate you get this foam, the better your glass skins work and less bog.
Keep up the great work.

[Kevin Farrar]

Hi All,
The process continues. The next piece aft will have the high density insert for the rudder post. Going forward I'm going the start using narrower pieces to make it easier to form with the severe bend. Jim will be sending me a CAD file of the topside panels soon and I'll draw the panels on mylar with the gerber sail cutting machine ( a very usful toy to have when building a boat as it turns out). The aft portion of the bottom will be finished in the next day or so and I should have the bow done by the end of the weekend.
Kevin

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[Savage 17]

Looks good Kevin!! Keep up the good work. Keep the pictures coming.

[quasi-expert]

I've been following this thread every now and then and just came across the ORC website and had a look at the rules and basic dimensions.
assuming the weight (1000-1100kg) only includes hull and rigging (?), what is the sailing weight in the end (like in an ORC-certificate, excl. crew weight)??
sorry for the slight hijack but I thought this would be a good place to ask.

[Kevin Farrar]

Hi Persilz,
I did a little review a came up with a imformal guess.
Measured wieght includes internal ballast (7% of hull wt. in measurement trim) and Batterys (2% of hull wt. in measurement trim) this measured trim weight can be between 1000 and 1100 kg.
A guess of all the stuff excluded form measurement should weight approximately 73 kg. This would included items such as sails, outboard, anchor with rode, first aid kit, flares, fire extingusher, fenders, dock-lines, loose navigation gear, winch handles, tools and spares etc.
I figure another 8 kg of personal gear for 5 crew and 5 kg for food, water, beer and of course red wine.

So sailing wieght should be about:

Hull in Trim 1000 kg
excluded gear 73
personal gear 8
food and drink 5
sub total 1086 kg
crew wieght 340
Total 1426 kg

Add another 100 kg if sailed at max Hull wieght.

[quasi-expert]

THANKS!
I didn't expect such a detailed answer!
I guess everyone in the GP26 scene is aiming for minimum hull weight, so 1000kg should be realistic.
I saw a ORC certificate of a similar boat, a bit wider and heavier, and looked for something to compare with to get an idea of the speed potential.

[The Advocate]

Hi Persilz,
I did a little review a came up with a imformal guess.
Measured wieght includes internal ballast (7% of hull wt. in measurement trim) and Batterys (2% of hull wt. in measurement trim) this measured trim weight can be between 1000 and 1100 kg.
A guess of all the stuff excluded form measurement should weight approximately 73 kg. This would included items such as sails, outboard, anchor with rode, first aid kit, flares, fire extingusher, fenders, dock-lines, loose navigation gear, winch handles, tools and spares etc.
I figure another 8 kg of personal gear for 5 crew and 5 kg for food, water, beer and of course red wine.

So sailing wieght should be about:

Hull in Trim 1000 kg
excluded gear 73
personal gear 8
food and drink 5
sub total 1086 kg
crew wieght 340
Total 1426 kg

Add another 100 kg if sailed at max Hull wieght.

Kevin,

You have underestimated the allowance for red wine!!!!

[Kevin Farrar]

About 1 meter to go!!! I Have two pieces in the oven so I am keeping this short.

BTW 1 kilo should be plenty of red.
Kevin

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[StayinStrewn]

thanks for the cool pictures...keep up the semi-regular postings!

[Kevin Farrar]

Hello All,
Pretty sucessful week. Thermo forming of the corecell below the chines is completed. The Mylar template of the topside panels were drawn, checked, redrawn and the foam for topside panels cut and glued togeather. I finally got around to trimming the rings for two of the bulkheads and they are now set in and curing. Tomorrow I hope to start cutting the unidirection e-glass for the topsides. Like Jim's 20 footer I'll be laying the topsides up and vacuum bagging them off the boat. This process should start in a few days.
Kevin

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[Savage 17]

It is wednesday now!!! No update Kevin?

[Kevin Farrar]

Ok Ok
Mid week up-date.
Yesterday we cut the 176- 90 degree pieces for the topsides. The 12- 26.5 foot 0 degree peices still to go ( no biggy ). The 90's were cut on the Gerber sail cutter. Each topside surface needs 44- 7.25" peices none of them over 2' in length but each growing by 1/8" from aft forward. Using the Gerber and AutoCad for the layout it only took a hour and a quarter. It would have sucked doing this all by hand. Thurday night (if all goes well) is interior topside laminating night.
Kevin

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[Kevin Farrar]

Friday Morning
A heart felt thanks to Geordie and Bill for thier help with last evenings laminating session. The pump is still running this morning about 13 hours after it started. My guess is that I'll let it go untill the resin in the mixing pots stiffen up a bit more - another 4 or 5 hours. The "hot coat" was done with a mix of Ampreg fast and extra slow hardened with the laminate being mixed with just the extra slow which gave us plenty of time to do it right and also consume a modest amount beer. The next step will be to router the rebate along the edges of the outer surfaces and then do the outside laminate which is the same as the interior side. After this is done I'll trim the topsides chine edges and fair both the topside chine edges and the round bottom chine edges to get a good fit and glue the nealy finished topside panel back into the mold. My goal is to have the second lamination completed this next week and the placement of the topsides back into the mold next weekend.
Kevin

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[Kevin Farrar]

Monday Morning Update

The topside panels are laminated inside and out and this morning I spread a layer of micro-balloons on the exterior topside surfaces. This layer should go off by this afternoon and I'll move the panels back out into the shop area. While the second panel was being bagged yesterday I started making patterns for the inside skin laminate for the hull below the chines.
Kevin

[Kevin Farrar]

We managed to get the two topside panels installed in the mold this past Thursday night. Thanks again Bill and Geogie. The installation did not go as smoothly as planned but with a few more pieces of leech-line and wedges they finally agreed to go in. We bonded the panels at the chines with high density filler and epoxy. The clamping will remain in place until the inside of the hull is glassed from the centerline up to the chine overlap. The 90 degree patterns are made for the 44 piece required in that directioin and I'll start cutting them after this post. The current plan is to laminate the inside skin (centerline to chine ) next weekend with a crew of friends and then bring the two halfs togeather the week after that with the help of the designer.
Kevin

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[Savage 17]

almost a week kevin and no update!!! Come on winter is coming in new england. We need something to do with our time!

[Kevin Farrar]

The interior laminate was layed up this weekend (both port and starboard) chine to centerline. The plan is to bond both halves togeather when Jim gets here on Thursday. Once the boat is in one piece we will install the bulkheads that are made and sort out the plan of attack for the remaining interior structure.
Kevin

Photos:
Tom mixing resin.
Kevin and Peter laminating.
Port side with peel-ply Saturday afternoon.

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[Kevin Farrar]

A lot has happen this past week. Jim Donovan arrived Thursday afternoon and we went pretty much non-stop until he left to return to Hawaii last night. So here is what we've done in this last push.

The hull halves have been brought togeather and bonded.
A bow transom mold has been made and the part made from it has been laminated and installed.
Bulkheads A, B, C, aft water-tight and stern transom have been bonded in.
The centerline web between A and B has been installed and a horizontal plate now refered to as the Cat Bunk is bonded in place forward of the A bulkhead and the bow transom.
The plug for the keel recieving box has been started.
I'll post some photos soon.
Kevin

[Soley]

Bloody hell you really have had a busy week! Look forward to the Pics

[Jim Donovan]

A lot has happen this past week. Jim Donovan arrived Thursday afternoon and we went pretty much non-stop until he left to return to Hawaii last night. So here is what we've done in this last push.

The hull halves have been brought togeather and bonded.
A bow transom mold has been made and the part made from it has been laminated and installed.
Bulkheads A, B, C, aft water-tight and stern transom have been bonded in.
The centerline web between A and B has been installed and a horizontal plate now refered to as the Cat Bunk is bonded in place forward of the A bulkhead and the bow transom.
The plug for the keel recieving box has been started.
I'll post some photos soon.
Kevin

Here's photo of Kevin’s project as it looked when I left Monday evening (except the transom is in now)

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[Jim Donovan]

What was waiting for me when iI arrived Thursday and bulkheds fit before bonding - I think this was Saturday evening

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•  31_Oct_09_Bhds_Fit.jpg   95.02K   198 downloads
•  When_I_got_there_Thursday.jpg   131.58K   178 downloads

[mustang__1]

very neat blog here. Thanks for sharing the build process with us!

[mosailn]

Great work guys! Can't wait to see her out there next year.

What are the plan's for Gnat?

[007]

Looks like progress crew! I'll try and stop by soon to see her up close and in person, and lend a hand.

[Jim Donovan]

So I get a phone message from Kevin last night - he's finished laminating the keel box inside the hull.

Kevin seemed a little "tired" and possibly even grumpy.
I quess an hour of hunching over some stinking bit of laminate in the bottom of the hull, and then trying to get a leaky bag fixed can do this to you.

Of course I was the guy who got the glorious task of cramming myself in foward of bulkhead "A" to do the forward lower bond. That was HUGE fun.

Kevin will be happy that he's finished that bit of boat. The rest of the keel structural parts are designed to be built outside the hull.

[Kevin Farrar]

Yes I might have been a bit grumpy and you bet I'm glad that piece is done. The keel head is under the heat lamp post curing as I type. I thought I'd share some more photos of the project taken over the passed couple of weeks.

Jim Donovan: thinking about getting glued permanently into the bow.
Kevin: fitting the transom.
The fu*&%%$$ keel box.

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[Ryley]

Kevin! Looking awesome - can't wait to see the finished boat. When do you think you'll be dome?

Lance

[Ryley]

Holy cow, Kevin - thanks for the grand tour today. The boat - both the design and the execution - look awesome, and I can't wait to see this thing out on the water, even if all I ever see is the transom!

[Kevin Farrar]

We keep plugging away. The keel box is in. As seen in the attached photos the keel box has been vacume bagged into place with 12oz biaxe. You may be able to see the layering in the photos. Not show is the foam part that will become the keel grounding frame. The black parts will become a compression column for the mast step and the wooden thing is the start of the mould for the keel box frames.
Kevin

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[mustang__1]

where are you building this btw?