A few pictures to remind us of the end of 2023 boating
a perfect afternoon
anyone seen an oil rig needing supply?
plenty deep enough for Gerry Whiteing's 'Comtesse'
and enough wind for the club pond yacht's testing
Andrew Easton's ORSV up close
John Kerr's 29 inch pond yacht requiring renovation
Adjustable mast postion
Unfortunately a tooth missing, probably exactly where the mast should go!
For the 2024 challenge, a 3 foot length of wood from B&Q cut in half and marked out
The two 18inch planks screwed together and sawn
Sanded into shape
The hull now being 'As thick as two short planks'
unscrewed then jigsawn out the top layer to form a hollow hull
After designing the hull, it is time to read what it should have been like!
Copied and enlarged from the .stl file of a scale half-model of an H boat. 3d printed in sections
After many hours of printing and gluing together, it was decided it needs a much larger keel
Carbon tube courtesy of Bill Andrews, now with 3d printed fittings
The 'gooseneck' on the club yachts showing how they keep the boom down (Kicking strap UK / Boom Vang US)
and their extended keels courtesy of Ken Pond
More 3d printing. These four replicating one of the metal fittings for HMS Arun (1986)
The wheelhouse in Bill Oliver's large scale puffer
The smaller scale puffer being built by Fred Ellis
Rivets courtesy of PVA glue
stove pipe from drinking straw
hull painted
Derrick and hatch cover made, all parts from scrap except the winch
The components ready for Andrew Easton's pond yacht
and here it is!
Mark Waller built a planked hull
and varnished it
The finished craft
sailed very well
Graham Pollard is building this Dumas kit for his pond yacht
it meets the 18 inch length restriction
impressive 'go-faster' design on the hull sides
Rigged ready for testing
Bill Oliver has started a new kit
the updated RAF crash tender
the photo instructions
The hull takes shape
and the superstructure is coming together
Fred Ellis has one of these challenging metal kits
ideal for lifeboat's 200th anniversary
they do make a great model - but not easy
One of Gordon Bubb's challenge pond yachts!
Much more conventional is his Ailsa
Aluminium hull and keel that needs re-attaching
another less conventional yacht is his 'junk'
Andrew Underwood repaired his Huntsman's dented shaft
nail varnish matched the hull colour!
and another pond yacht reference book
Jeff Ayre's Scud is now complete
So it is now on to enhancing this classic style 'Empress of Britain' model
before starting on this Warrior hull (shown here stored below Queen Mary)
Looking forward to the start of the season on Good Friday