First Blood

Right, I've done my survey. Generally GBR52 is structurally sound and there is no major sign of water ingress. There are however several areas of superficial damage and has some heavy damage on the hull and deck join (known as the sheer) which will need investigating and repairing to the original spec. Just about all of the damage has been caused by collision - none by fatique, and so it is logical that the repairs will not need to be over specification. There are also signs of previous repairs about half way along the length of the deck adjacent to the sheer and these repairs are looking a bit shaky now.
Here's the plan of attack to get things moving.
1. Weigh everything, particularly the hull as it is to see if it is overweight.
2. Remove the centre section of the deck for access to enable thorough repair of the most damaged sections.
3. Repair hull damage by inserting new core materials and laminating over on the inside (vacuum consolidate) then replace the skin on the outside of the by cutting back to outside the foam insert line.
4. Grind off the surface of the removed section of deck and use this surface to mould a copy of the main deck area in foam core and carbon sandwich - using the laminate spec of the newer boats
5. Check and if possible modify the internal structure to be as allowed by engineering authority.
6. Refit deck using new section as manufactured at 4.
7. Remove aluminium rack support tubes and replace with carbon fibre of similar dimensions. Fit sleeves to inside to allow for smaller diameter carbon fibre racks. Fit chainplate to sheer struts
8. Re-skin foredeck with 2x2 twill fabric to replace damaged material.
9. Weigh everything again!
10. Paint - colour tbc!

Ok, as they say on the TV - Here's one I made earlier. A busy weekend has taken us to half way through item 3... we are well into the major repair to the gunwhale.
As you can see above, we chopped out a large section of the working deck with a jigsaw, giving us excellent access to the major damage area. Note the wearing of latex gloves (you can't see the goggles and face mask) - often the dust generated by cutting can be an irritant.


With the deck off we can see what's going on. Removing the damaged section and trimming the existing structure back to a tidy solid shape is the first step. Make the corners radiused so that the skin does not crack under stress. The skin is cut back - then the foam core has been cut back 2 inches further than the skin. This allows the core replacement panel to bond directly onto the outside skin.














The next post will be us putting in the new foam core panel to replace the damaged material and laminating over it to finish the job - watch this space!!

...and they're off!

The boat is in the works - well, it's kind of taken up one end of the works really - man these boats are big! First thing to do was strip her down and carry out a thorough inspection.















When inspecting carbon or glass composites, the key features to watch out for are the same whatever the project. Here're the main things to look out for:

Cracking. Get a bright torch and slowly, deliberately inspect the surface, particularly around high load areas. You're looking for hair line cracks - and open cracks, and star crazing and anything you don't like the look of. A bright torch means you won't confuse a crack with flaking paint or a pencil mark or something innocent like that.

Delamination. Take a coin between your thumb and index finger and lighty tap with the edge of the coin all over the surface, working in a methodical sweeping pattern. Solid structure will sound errr solid! - in fact it should almost 'ring' on carbon (depends on the thickness of paint more than anything). Delamination or core failure will sound dead or hollow. When you find something, work around it to find the edge of the delamination and circle with a marker pen and write a D in the middle. This technique takes a bit of practise, but after a short time it becomes pretty easy - and is a quick way to check large surfaces.

Flexing. All of the surface needs checking over for internal failure - and the best way to do this is a solid thumb push all over the structure. Sometimes a push with a thumb isn't enough and the heel of the hand and a good bit of body weight is needed. Unless you are dealing with super lightweight thin stuff, don't be scared to really test the surface - try to emulate the loading that the surface will get. Anything that moves more than you would expect is bad - but I bet you'll find cracking and delamination in the same area on most of them! Don't forget to mark what you find.

Key point damage. Fixing points and mountings get damaged very easily - especially if the part has started to flex or crack. You don't want to find the threaded inserts all need changing after you thought you were finished and the final coat of paint is drying, or that a hole for a bolt is elongated when it needs to be a close fit! A good inspection with a bright light and and test with a bolt or fastener to prove the thread or size of hole takes just a few minutes but can really make a difference.



Some damage is obvious though as this shark bite out of the deck edge shows!! Next time we make.... a list!!



Take me back to carbonology.com

Syncronicity 2

It is always worth digging out the history of the car, plane, boat, piano or whatever you are rebuilding - It gives you more contact with the project - makes it more personal...

I've been doing just that with the skiff over the last couple of weeks. When we first tracked it down and agreed to buy it, I emailed John Harris, who I had met at the 2008 Moth Worlds in Weymouth last July. John did a bit better than me that week - He won the event outright and is the current moth champion! - whereas (for once) I can only look back at gear failure, rig failure and finally - most unlike me, sense of humour failure!!

For his regular ride, John steers the 18ft-er 'Rag and Famish Hotel' (known the world over as 'The Rag') and is Commodore of the Australian 18 ft Skiff League - the world governing body for the class, so he was definitely the best person to call for some background!

There have only been 60 or so modern (murray design) 18 ft skiffs built so I knew there would be some information available about the boat and I was hopeful that the governing body for the class would have some record or other. John replied to my email straight away - and knew more about the boat than I imagined - because he used to sail it!!

He went on to explain that the boat was built in 1996 by Julian O'Mahony in Sydney and was originally called Tyrell's Wines. She was steered by John when he was just 20 years old and in his first season in it, in the 97 world championship (JJ Giltinan Trophy) she was placed 3rd, a year later in 98, John and his now regular crew of Craig and Rissole hustled her up another place overall to 2nd in the JJ... Come forward another year and at the 99 Championship, with the boat now owned by Tim Robinson and sponsored by the clothing manufacturer Rockport clothing, she wins the series. Maybe the only boat to have been placed 3rd, then 2nd then 1st in the class's pinacle event... Neat!

So the story begins......

Being more of a Blur fan than a Confucius fan, the intro of Country House where in the background you hear Damon say 'So the Story Begins....' comes more naturally to me than some wise conundrum about every journey beginning with a single step - But whatever, you get the idea!

It's about 11.30 on a bright sunny Spring day in Dorset - in a village just outside Weymouth and we're collecting the boat and clapping eyes on it for the first time. Ady, our middle man has been on the road with me since 7 am ish and and we are met by James' parents and Gareth and Sarah who help out brilliantly throughout the hour and a half of retrieving bits of the boat from corners of the Chalmers' beautiful garden and tying them to the trailer (the boat parts, not Gareth and Sarah)

Then we're off - The mighty ex Rockport looking a bit deshevelled, but strapped down firmly and rolling along nicely. I had been a bit concerned about the trailer having stood out in all weathers for 2 years, so we checked the bearings a couple of times and generally took it easy -but in the end my fears were groundless - the trailer towed perfectly.

At 19.11, 12 hours to the minute after picking up Ady from the depths of Suffolk/Middle Earth, I dropped him off again and pointed the car and skiff at carbonology HQ, where 30 minutes later I was unhitching and dropping off the skiff, neatly blocking off just 4 parking spaces in the yard!

So the story begins.... or we take our first steps or whatever way you want to put it. Next step is to get her into the workshop and devise a plan... more on that in the next post.

One final point - the Ex Rockport 18ft-er already has a new sailnumber courtesy of the European 18ft association so to avoid the typing of it every time - and so as not to replace 16 key strokes with the 21 of 'the carbonology skiff' we will now refer to it as GBR52.. Cool eh?

Take me back to carbonology.com

Syncronicity I

Early January 2008. So there I was wrapping up my 'Velociraptor S' International Moth to send to the USA. Sold and going to its new owner. I closed the container doors and watched the driver attach the seal that will hopefully not get disturbed until LA. The truck pulled away and the space in the front of the workshop where the boat had been suddenly seemed bigger. The boat was a company boat, so it was never actually mine - but I'd built that moth for myself really and now not in some way owning the fastest boat in the county kind of hurt.

A week later and a friend of mine who runs her own PR and media agency and I are chatting about sponsorship deals in sailing - y'know- how do they work, what can the client get in return for their money. I'm throwing up ideas that avoid the obvious route of sponsoring a local sailor and hoping they do well at the nationals. Naming rights to a local race series, find an unusual boat, do something just bigger than usual, when I use the 18 foot league in Australia of an example of how to do it bigger and better than anyone else and I cite boats like Fiat, Rag & Famish, Gotta Love it 7. OK leave that thought hanging.

That afternoon an old mate most famous in sailing for being a bow/forehand on an 18 calls me and we talk about sailing and motorcycles - but then we talk of little else! Then I'm driving home from work and it hits me. How about carbonology get an old 18 footer, one that needs some work, and puts it back together. We can show people how to fix up old composite structure and how just about any properly built carbon fibre boat can be put back together as good as new - and we can link products from the website to the work we're doing... And when it's all done we'll go sailing and have some fun... Brilliant. But realistically, are there any old Bethwaite 18's or early Murray 18s still around? Will we find one that we can afford and yet is worth saving?

A week later and it's the 30th Jan 2009. Somehow, more by luck than any judgement for sure I've found the I18 'Rockport' for sale in the UK and had got in touch with the owner - a top lad called James. He gave me the lowdown - The boat was badly damaged when it got blown off of it's cradle during preps for a respray in 2005 or 6 and has been side lined ever since. It was complete but a lot of the gear is old now and the hull needs a lot of work - like a total rebuild. I did some research... I knew that Rockport was the boat Tim Robinson had won 'The JJ Giltinan Trophy' in (The 18ft class World Championships, held in Sydney every year) - the odd thing was, he had won it almost exactly 10 years ago to the day on the 31st Jan 1999.
Meanwhile James had sent me some pics by email showing the boat as it is now and clearly showing the level of damage. It's going to be a long job and a major piece of 'deck off' surgery and but it's do-able for sure.

So, 10 years to the day after Rockport took Tim to became the first non Australasian skipper to win the 18 foot skiff championships in it's entire 65 year history, carbonology bought the ex Rockport - and a new chapter in it's history began.

We hope you will keep an eye on this blog and see how we bring an ex championship winning boat back to life, and what we find out about her in the process. DC
Take me back to carbonology.com