Hull Panels (take 2)

Didn't get quite as far as I'd hoped yesterday but I did manage to get the three hull panels lofted and cut. Kind of tricky moving those floppy 5.5 meter sheets around by yourself.

I did have some company, the Admiral and Captain paid me a visit and did a little supervising!

A decision needs to be made about the rudder(s), I think I am going the dual rudder option and I figure if I can lay them out now I can over drill and fill the transom prior to stitching. As long as I get it right I think that will be easier than trying to fill the holes after assembly.

I sent C-Tech an email requesting more information about their carbon spars but no response yet. The bowsprit needs to be figured in and it would be nice to have the sleeve(s) on hand during the early assembly.

If time permits I'll finish the re-enforcing of F214 and cut F0 tonight, then post some photos.

Hull Panels

Managed to get some time Friday to join the hull panels. Decided to use the butt block method of joining. I just used scrap Okume cut in 6 inch wide strips short enough to leave room for the shear and room to work at the chine. I made sure the grain orientation matched that of the large panels. Not sure if this maters but it was easy enough to do.

The strips were epoxied using MAS with a little thickener. I've used MAS Low Viscosity epoxy in the past and always had good luck. I like the zero VOC and no blush...

I should know later today if the blocks effect the ability to get a fair curve.

Assuming everything is properly cured (I made a test piece for destructive testing just for the heck of it) I hope to get the hull panels cut, frame 214 (transom) re-enforced and the keel blank epoxied.

I also spent some time at the computer running some keel bulb calculations and have what I think is a decent compromize between wetted surface and drag. It looks like a flattened shape is going to work and be fairly easy to build. I need to verify the center of gravity is close to the design.

The future Captain complete with a little drool.

Added Photos

I've added some photos of the lofting to a previous post but haven't been able to get much more accomplished. A little work has been done on the keel foil and bulb shapes. I'm planning to use CompuFoil3D to layout the templates.

I did manage to layout the hull bottom and sides and double check the location of the butt joints in relation to the frames and it all looks good. I'm still uncertain about whether to use tape and epoxy or 6 inch ply strips to create the butt joints. I don't want a bunch of extra fairing to do on the hull but I worry the extra material will cause issues while trying to get a fair curve.

My current inclination is towards the ply strips.

Lofty goals this weekend

This weekend produced a good start on the build.

The strips for the keel blank were ripped Thursday, the Okume was delivered Friday and the 165 pounds of lead arrived Saturday. The mail man was puzzled to say the least! Three flat-rate boxes +50 pounds had them scratching their heads. My wife explained it to him and he couldn't wait to tell the folks back at the office. "If it fits, it ships!"

Saturday and Sunday I spent lofting and then cutting the frames, I managed to complete them all minus frame 000. That should be an easy one. I discovered I am better at following a line with the jig saw than I am using a straight edge. I pay closer attention with the line.

After cutting (and routing the inner edges) I measured and the worst frame was only out 1/16 of an inch. Good enough for me! I normally work with metal and that seemed horrible but I'm told that is pretty close. This quality of wood is a pleasure to work with.

I took a bunch of photos I'll try and post a couple.

Next up is to layout the hull bottom and the sides. I did learn that the Okume is NOT 96 inches long! It is 98.5 (2500 mm)! Good to know because it would have put the forward butt joints nearly on top of frame 18. Glad I measured it.

First Cuts!

After annoying the folks at the local exotic lumber yard (the wood is exotic not the yard) I managed to acquire enough mahogany to cut and layup the blank for the keel! My original thought was to use teak but the cost was nearly 3 times as much as the mahogany. If I screw this up I will only feel 1/3 as bad.

The Okume arrives today and the plan is to make the butt joints this afternoon and hopefully start laying things out this weekend.

Hopefully Andrew will get to come see his (pre)boat with his mom this weekend.

Glass and more glass!

Wow, that's a lot of glass! I managed to find a relatively local source for both the fiberglass and the MAS epoxy. Deliveries are only one day away but I think I have everything I need.

Sunday was spent starting the clean up from the last project (Wavelength 24 rebuild) but there is still a lot to do. Sailing is more fun than cleaning but I wish I had been more diligent.

I've been reading everything I can about the build process and can't wait to get started. My hope is to have her in the water summer of 2011. Wow that seems like a long ways away.

Still pondering a couple of build techniques, I plan to spend some time staring at the plans and the templates rolled on the floor this weekend.

Just ordered a Fein Multimaster, can never have too many good tools!

The plans are here!

This is my first blog post chronicalling the build of our i550 sportboat!

We race a Wavelength 24 in Eugene Oregon and wanted something that is easy to trailer and fun to sail so we choose the i550. How can you beat sailing a boat you built yourself?

Thanks to my deceased father-in-law Hank for the inspiration, I wish you were here...

My son Andrew turned 6 months last weekend and the plans for his i550 arrived today! We purchased the fullsized layout and immediatly had them spread all over the floor!

The 20 sheets of Lloyds of London approved Okume will be here next week!