Today I finished attaching the two layers of 3 mm ply to the bow area to form the first 6 mm layer of the radius chine. From the bow the shape of the yacht has finally taken shape and I am very pleased with the appearance. On Passion X the first two layers of 3 mm ply were placed back to back as a single double layer but for Passion X1 the two layers have been staggered. This appears to have produced a fairer first layer which i will be able to fair with the torture board before fitting the subsequent two layers.
I could not resist getting to work with the torture board to see how fairness of the bow area. The excuse I made to myself was that I needed to check the alignment before planking the port side. It seemed a reasonable rationalisation and I indulged myself with some very fine tuning of the stringers on the port side before completing the last four double planks.
It was not a busy day but rather one of careful sanding and very fine planing to ensure that the two sides would come out the same. In the process I got some exercise with the torture board and also tested the 150 mm random orbital sander.
The spotted gum timber I had ordered was ready for pick up which was a pleasant drive in the country to timber yard and also a justifation for an easy day on the tools.
With the spotted gum home and the first layer of the radius chine completed I am accumulating a long list of tasks that can be done in accord with the weather conditions. The spotted gum will go on the edges of the king plank as a very strong doubler to take the bearing pressure of the keel bolts. It will also go under the keel so I can at any time plane the “V” of the bottom of the hull and form the keel shoe.
But my priority will be to get the second layer on the radius chine so that the hull is water tight and final fairing can begin. I will need plenty of less vigerous tasks to do in parallel so it could be a good thing that the list is long.
In the RANSA winter Wednesday series there is just two races left this season. I cannot say that I am not frustrated at the windward performance compared to the Sydney 38 Agrovation and the Sydney 36Cr’s Amante and Crosshaven. To be fair they are respectivly rated 4% and 3% faster to windward and apart from sailing smarter I have to acknowledge they have the natural speed edge on the windward work.
Our new yacht, the Didi 120 prototye is designed to be faster to windward and with a longer waterline still have good downwind speed but it will be winter 2024 before we can put it to the test.