At the beginning of the year I had an urge to build another yacht the start of which was obtaining the plan by Graham Bantock.
It can be built from a GRP mould but I decided to go for plank on frame again, my favourite boat building method also I had quite a stock of timber planking which was very suitable for the job of building the hull.
Builders of this model are recommended to refer to Racing Sailboats by Chris Jackson which details the build methods very well and is a great help throughout the build.
The planking went well, although at times I could have use another hand and elastic bands came in very handy. I was certainly very pleased with the hull planking.
The next significant part of the build was to build and fit the fin and mast trunking. This to hold firmly in place the mast which goes through the deck to the keel and the fin which goes through the keel to the deck. This was also to be the first time I attempted to use GRP in a boat model.
I built the trunking as per the plan and after checking all measurements several times glued it into the hull both at the base and to the inner gunwales.
The inside of the hull after a tidy up was painted several times with clear GRP including around the mast and fin box. I ended up giving it two coats being generous around the keel but not forgetting the weight I was adding to the yacht. I was very impressed with the strength and rigidity it gave the build.
I will state at this stage although I am checking weights and measurements carefully I am not planning for the completed craft to conform to any official measuring.
I started making the fin and rudder by cross laminating some 2mm thick hardwood at the required sizes which are fin 460mm by 95mm the rudder 180mm by 70mm both being around 10mm at their thickest point. I was pleased with the rudder when shaped, faired down and smooth but less so with the fin which considering the stresses it would be under in a blow and with a 2.5 kg lead weight on the bottom. So I ended up buying a carbon fibre expertly built fin, very sleek and very strong also a smaller and smarter profile than I had a achieved. I then fitted the tidied up lead weight on the bottom and as the fin was shining black proceeded to paint the weight and rudder in black GRP.
To be continued and many thanks for the encouraging remarks about the build .......

Where has the last year gone? I must apologise to anyone who was following this build blog for its sudden halt, Until I looked the other day I was under the impression that I had finished it so in case anyone is interested I will try to remember the main parts of the build from where I left off.
It became apparent at this stage that I was dealing with quite a lump and it had to have a cradle which I proceeded to build from 20mm timber this made life much easier and was to become essential. My next task was to build the deck. When planking, the first planks which would form the gunwale had an inwale 3mm lower than the top of the gunwale which allowed a carefully formed deck to drop inside, this worked well and needed four large access windows to be cut.
My main concern at this point is that when the deck was dropped into the hull and fixed all work below it had to be finished or accessible through the access windows. That meant linking the rudder to the servo, fitting the sail winch and ensuring that all of the rigging, pulleys and access holes were ready. With fear and trepidation I fitted the deck which had been pre coated with GRP resin with a good finish achieved after ensuring it was sealed all the way around the hull and well attached to the mast and fin box.
I had at this stage a finished hull and deck with rudder, fin and servo`s, now I had to spend money on Sails and rig and clever bits.

Thank you all of those gentlemen who have been so kind in their likes of my continued build blog. I will continue and hope it will not be a disapointment.
I will at this point say that I have enjoyed building this yacht more than any other of the boats that I have built previously. The plans (2 pages) are really great to work from and cover in great detail all that you need to know and as mentioned earlier

Racing Sailboats

in conjunction with the plans take all of the guesswork out of the job.
The GRP work that I carried out on the hull was all new to me, I found that working with small batches and measuring resin to hardener very carefully and accurately was the key to success. I hope to use this method again on future projects to achieve a fabulous finish and lots of added strength. The boss has called and our meal is on the table I will resume a.s.a.p.

I neglected to mention that when dealing with GRP resin the ambient temperature is also very important in the curing process.
I bit the bullet and ordered the sails, number one suit was recommended, I also ordered the mast (one piece costs extra postage but I thought worth it) also the boom and jib boom and the rig kit including the basic kicker.
This all arrived and was unpacked and found to be good quality, it then became apparent that with the mast in the hull and the fin in place there was less than 3 inches from the top of the mast to the ceiling of my workroom🙄, this created problems during the build and made it impossible to transport the complete boat in my car. Rig bag was quickly ordered😜.
There were no difficulties experienced in rigging the boat with the instructions followed.
Strangely I could not get my brain around how the winch worked, it took me ages to grasp what is quite simple when finally I grasped the principle. I found a u-tube on the subject very helpful.
The windows in the deck have been covered with adhesive patch material, like Fablon, in a fabulous dark blue.
I have decided not to name suppliers I purchased from on the blog as I don`t think it right but if any builder wants a recommendation I will reply to a personal message.
Time for the maiden voyage, it surprised me how quickly and easily I managed to rig the boat lakeside, then into the water and away she went. Wonderful, beautiful and a delight to sail so responsive, no regrets and no reservation in recommending this build.
I am now in the early stages of building a 6mtr but that will be another story.