The last three weeks results at RANSA have all been discards so our position at the top of the leader board is under threat. It does not help our prospects having to give time to the three closest yachts in the contest.
We have a reason for the week before last when we won the run to the heads by a good margin but gave it away with a tear in the leech of the genoa which caught on every tack and got progressively longer and more difficult all the way home. It should have been a good result but for the rip.
Last week was more routine but we did get the geno sheets jammed in the windward block and could not get it sheeted in consistently. That was a minor issue and our tacking angles from the chartplotter were pretty special so the rest of the fleet must have been more special.
On the boat project I laminated up two layers of 6 mm ply to the shape of the cabin top and cut the doublers from these laminated and curves sections. By careful trimming I was able to get the doublers to a friction fit in the spaces and glue them to the first layer of 6 mm ply when that was installed. As of 1st Sept all the first layer of 6 mm ply is glued to the cabin top and all the 12 mm doublers are installed. At this stage I need to install the first layer of the sloping front of the cabin and then do the second 6 mm layer.
The other big job for the week was to glass in the engine beds to the hull. This calls for four layers of 420 gsm double bias on the corners and intersection with frame G where the engine beds join. Aft of frame G the beds run parallel and close to the cabin walls for the head and the quarter berth. That called for some very patient fibreglassing.
After glassing in the engine beds I decided to reinforce the strongback with three layers of 425 gsm double bias to give some cross grain reinforcement. the stern tube was already covered with three layers so it was a straightforward process to extend the laminates fore and aft for extra durability in these hard to access areas.
Shaping the front of the cabin is quite time consuming as clamps have to be built up from layers of plywood and then shaped to the cabin front slope after the glue is well cured. The timber stingers that tie the sloping cabin front to the 12 mm ply sided require careful fitting for an exposed timber finish and I counted five different surfaces that had to be fitted to the cabin top and all with fine glue lines.
While waiting for the glue on the cabin front stringers to cure I have cleaned up the glass around the engine beds ready for the epoxy paint and marked out the cabin side portlights so I can get better ventilation while applying the epoxy.