When we dehumidified the hulls we also removed the badly bent anchoring point for the spinnaker pole stays on the port hull. This came back to haunt us, when we turned the hull over to remove it from the shed we heard a piece of metal fall inside the hull. It was clear that the reinforcing plate had fallen off. … Read More
Wildcat F18 – Really wish we hadn’t looked – Part 2
One of the things we found early on of course was the ‘crack’ which turned onto a hole. We decided to hold off on fixing it until we had taken care of the rest of the hulls. It is an awkward fix because it is right on the turn of the bow of the boat. The hull laminates and gel … Read More
Wildcat F18 – What we have been doing for the last few weeks
While we have been quiet for the last few weeks, we have been busy. Even if a lot of it was busy waiting. When we bought the boat we put a moisture meter over the two hulls. The starboard one, the one with the hole, predictably was wet although the port hull wasn’t that far behind. Only solution was to … Read More
Wildcat F18 – Some times you wish you hadn’t looked
The refit of the boat had been, until we turned the hulls over, remarkably easy. Note to self, never ever forget “It’s never easy”. We de-beamed the boat and flipped the hulls over so we could assess what was needed on the bottom of the hulls. The warning of a problem came as soon as ‘Tris…’ picked up the starboard … Read More
Wildcat F18 – In the Dog House
We are a bit strange here at Bearly Awake, we do things like keep cars in the garage. Which of course means there is no room for boats. Solution? We need more space to work on the boats during the winter. So welcome to the ‘Dog House’, our new temporary boat shed. Of course our Border Collie, Roy, had to … Read More
Wildcat F18 – What we found from our clean and assessment
The reason why we do such a comprehensive clean up is so we can check that there aren’t any major issues we missed when we first looked at the boat. So we can build up our job list and order any parts. The good thing so far s we haven’t found anything major. The boat is older so it is … Read More
New Project – Wildcat F18 – Man maths strikes again
During the IMA National Championships at Swords, Ireland, in September, we were down working on the 600, near to the club house, building a set of Spectra/Dynema shrouds to replace the damaged metal ones. Before anyone says anything, yes we know they aren’t class legal but… Predictably this generated a lot of interest, given spectra is banned in rigging for … Read More
RS600 – Sailing on the 17th of October
It was a very gusty day at Swords, wind ranging from sat on the side, too flat out wiring and back again. Usually quick rapidly. Here is a short video. Top speed for the day was 14.2 knots.
RS600 – Sail Comparison very old vs brand new
Our shiny new sail arrived today, many thanks to a good friend who brought it over for us. Obviously the first thing we wanted to do was compare it with our existing crisp packet… sorry sail. So we decided to share what we saw. To be clear, our old sail is very old, so it has shrunk over the years, … Read More
RS600 – The project block and rope equipment list
A breakdown of the fittings and cordage used for the RS600 refit.
RS600- Iterate and optimise the controls
We’ve had a good number of outings on the boat now, and it’s given us the opportunity to fine tune the initial systems. Nothing to major, but more about making the boat as easy to sail as possible. But first lessons learnt to date, firstly the boat is so much easier to sail than the International 14. The boat is … Read More
I14 & RS600- Unpacking our shiny new tiller extensions (Ok they have a matt finish)
The problem with carbon or glass tiller extensions is they are notoriously fragile if you fall over the side! A stronger solution is a kevlar/carbon composite, kevlar being a super tough material. Hence they make bullet proof jackets out of it. But it is also very difficult to effectively laminate together, its hard to get the resin penetration. Enter our … Read More
RS600 – Fitting out the main control systems, new mainsheet and bridles
Big day, the weather was great in Ireland, despite a bad forecast, we had sunshine and light winds, so decided to hit the RS600 hard.
RS600 – Tidying up the racks, add the take up systems for the controls
If you are thing this might the wrong way around, you would normally be right. Instead of keeping the mass of metal saddles, rings.
RS600 – Mast rebuild, some new rigging & cleaned up fittings
After a few days of curing the we took the mast out of the shed and rebuilt it. Did something I haven’t done in years… used a rivet gun.
RS600 – Varnishing The Mast, Takes Time And Patience
We are using Epifanes 2 part polyurethane varnish for the new coating. We are using polyurethane instead of epoxy because it is more flexible and hard wearing.
RS600 – Sanding the Mast, just need to be careful
Been sanding the Mast in the evenings. The picture above is actually of the starboard side of the mast before we started rather than after.
Finalising the 14 and continue to strip the RS600 down
First job was to finish the 14, the old Pole Sock has reached the end of its life, so Phillip Watson of Watson Sails in Kinsealy made us a new one.