Filler for screwheads:    first question is are you intending to paint over them,  or varnish?    If you intend to varnish,  the colour of the filler is important,  but if you intend to paint the colour doesn’t matter.

Probably the most durable fillers are the epoxy ones,   and if colour is immaterial I would suggest either Watertite (by International Paints) or Plastic Padding Marine Epoxy Filler;   however neither is a suitable colour to use under varnish.    Both are two-part epoxy filler,  and are very similar.   Be aware,  though,  that Plastic Padding make a number of very different products,  most of which are aimed at automotive applications and are not intended for or particularly suitable for marine use;   so if going for that product do make sure that you get the correct one!

Back in the seventies (and I think in the sixties) International Paints offered a two-part filler,  which was available in a limited choice of colours including mahogany.   I forget whether this was epoxy or polyurethane,  but it was good.   Unfortunately it was withdrawn decades ago,  but it is possible that you may find a similar product by one of the other manufacturers.

Failing that,  my personal choice for mahogany filler on a vintage boat is Brummer Stopper (or is it Stopping?).    That is old technology,  but contemporary with the boat,  and it may well be what was originally used when the boat was built;   certainly it was one of the popular stoppers of the day.   Still manufactured,  so far as I know,  and available from some hardware shops;   certainly I have routinely bought it within the last very few years.

Should you refasten the chainplates:   undoubtedly yes!   At the very least take out the old fastenings to check them,  and be prepared to find that they have dezincified,  and/or that they have waisted (due to corrosion) deep inside the wood.   If you are lucky enough to find that neither has occurred then you can put them back and enjoy peace of mind,  but it is more likely that you will need to fit new ones.

Oliver

I should have started by congratulating you on inheriting a family heirloom.   Enjoy!

Wood mast:   if the halves will split easily than the existing glue has failed,  or is in the process of failing.   So yes,  split it,  and refasten with epoxy.    But if it won’t split easily I would be tempted to leave well alone.

I concur with your seeking a metal rig for everyday use,  and keep the wood rig for high days and holidays.   Bear in mind that the metal mast is narrower than the wood one where it passes through the gate,  so you will need some form of rigid padding;  the very first metal masts came complete with aluminium cheek blocks for that very purpose.

Should you modernise?   I am not sufficiently familiar with the market in USA,  but if you were in the UK then I would say most definitely not.    You have a historic boat,  and with the additional and very personal historic connection that she was built by your grandfather,  so I would be urging you to keep her historically authentic.   If you want a more modern GP14 there are plenty available,  and unless you want something very modern indeed they are not expensive;   the market in secondhand boats is very depressed.   And there is plenty of fun to be had from a historically authentic vintage GP14;  both sailing fun,  including in terms of exhilarating performance in the right conditions,  and the added dimension of the vintage interest.   After all,  the boat was designed and built to be fun to sail …

But the availability of more modern GP14s in USA may be much more limited.   At the end of the day you will have to make your own decision,  but I hope you decide to keep her historically authentic.

Oliver

Have you looked at the GP14 Owners Online Community?   https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/GP14_Community/info

And our archive site at http://gp14building.wordpress.com/

The Online Community is free to join,  and has probably the largest collection anywhere of photos and information and expertise relating specifically to older GP14s.   And we enjoy a very warm reciprocal relationship with the Class Association.

Oliver

Painting and varnishing vintage boats;   I recommend most strongly that for any boat of that age you avoid the temptation to use polyurethane paints and varnishes,  and especially two-part ones.    They are absolutely marvellous on new construction,  but they have poor tolerance for the underlying wood flexing,  so if used on a vintage boat they have a marked tendency for the paint or varnish film to crack at joints in the ply.  Then water gets in through those cracks,  gets under the finish (particularly in the case of varnish),  and starts to lift it off.   That is not a problem for new construction,  but it is a very real problem for vintage boats.

One-pot polyurethane is a half-way house,  and modern ones seem to be much improved over what was on offer when the technology first came out,  but I still wouldn’t take the risk on a vintage boat.

So my recommendation is two-pot polyurethane for new construction,  and for other modern boats in good condition,  but conventional finishes (strictly not polyurethane) for vintage boats.

Oliver

Keelbands.

These are probably 1/4 inch half round brass, very heavy, and by now very much more copper than brass. If you take them off they will probably break, the screws too will be very brittle.

Now, if they are still bare metal it may be as well to leave well alone, mask them out and repaint.

However if -as is likely – they have about 12 layers of paint on them i would take them off with a view to cleaning them up and replace with new aluminium band if they break up. New band is available pre drilled and ally will be much lighter and will not tarnish.

I dont like keel band thats been painted over, it looks horrible and is a bad water trap.

I am not clear whether you mean the rubbing strakes (often referred to as the gunwales) at deck level,  or the two rubbing strips (sometimes called bilge rubbers) on each side of the bottom of the boat.

In either case,  if they are in good condition and not coming apart from the hull you can leave them in place.  In that case,  treat the rubbing strips on the bottom as an integral part of the hull;  sand them and paint over them.    Treat the rubbing strakes (gunwales) as an integral part of the deck,  and sand them and varnish them with the deck;   for a thoroughly classy job you could of course mask them off,  but since the line between paint and varnish is underneath the rubbing strake it will always be hidden except when capsized or when the hull is turned over most people don’t bother masking it!

In either case,  if these parts are coming adrift from the hull it would be sensible to remove them,  clean up,  deal with any rot,  and then refit them,  securing with fasteners and also bonding with epoxy.     If securely attached but in poor condition it will depend on just how badly damaged they are,  but these parts can properly be regarded as sacrificial (to prevent or at least reduce damage to the hull itself),  and if necessary either the whole part or the damaged section can be replaced.

Oliver

Sorry;  I failed to refer back to your original post,  which indeed made clear that you are referring to the rubbing strips on the bottom.

Oliver

I think you may have difficulty removing the rubbing strake in one piece and without damage;   it will all depend on how it is fastened,  whether it is glued (and it probably will be),  and how strong the glue now is.    Best to assume that it is not going to come off without damage.

There is no need to remove it,  unless you need to do so in order to carry out repairs,  and I would leave it in place;    but do all your sanding (both the hull and the rubbing strake) before you start painting and varnishing.   Then varnish the rubbing strake at the same time as the decks,  separately from painting the hull.    If you are particularly conscientious in the matter you will use masking tape to ensure that you do not inadvertently paint the under side of the rubbing strake,  but since that side is always hidden  –  at least so long as you manage to keep the boat the right way up  –  many people don’t worry all that much about getting paint on the under side of it.

By the same token,  you could use masking tape to ensure that when you varnish the rubbing strake the varnish doesn’t also get onto the sides of the boat.

I strongly recommend that you use specialist paints and varnishes designed for marine use,  or (even better) for use on yachts,  and for an elderly wooden boat it is vitally important that you use conventional single-pot products.    Modern two-pot products are absolutely marvellous when used on new construction,  but they are not sufficiently flexible to allow for the wood moving underneath them,  and so can be disastrous on a boat of this age.   The products that I normally use for this age of boat are Toplac paint and Schooner varnish (NOT Schooner Gold,  which I find much less satisfactory to apply),  both by International Paints,  which are top quality (and very high gloss) products;   but in part that choice is because they are readily available here.   However there are other manufacturers whose products are no doubt equally good,  and on my other boat (trailer-sailer yacht,  in GRP) I have recently used Mono-Urethane by Epiphanes and been very well pleased with it;   however for an elderly wooden boat I would expect their conventional products to be more suitable.   Unfortunately although Epiphanes  –  like International  –  has a first class reputation I have no personal experience of using their conventional product.

The attached photos show the GP14 which I owned at the time,  a dozen years ago,  finished in Toplac and Schooner.    Although the boat was then around 25 years old people periodically used to ask me whether she was new …

Hope this helps,

Oliver

Well done on the restoration.

I can give you recommendations for UK suppliers for boom-up covers,  and I am sure they would ship over the USA,  but you may find something suitable in your own country without incurring the shipping costs.   But let me know if you would like recommendations for UK suppliers.

Rig dimensions;  you should be able to find these in the Class Rules,  which I am sure are available on this site.   Start in the Members’ area.   But do feel free to ask again if you need one of us to pick it out for you.

Oliver

Looks good,  thus far.

Congratulations,  and enjoy.

Oliver

Indeed Oliver, Fretz has done a lovely job making the old gal look young again. The hull is my goal for this winter

What exactly is the aluminium mast?

If it is a Series 1 GP14 mast it should fit the existing mast step as it stands,  but unless it has the original cheeks for the mast gate (fitted to the original metal masts) you will need (hard) filler pieces to go inside the gate to restrict its movement side to side.   Any hard material that you have available will do,  but it does need to be reasonably incompressible;  plywood,  or hard plastic is fine;   foam rubber is not.   From memory,  5 mm thickness each side.

If it is a Series 2 GP14 mast it is slightly shorter (I think 12 cm again from memory) and has a different foot.   If you want to make this interchangeable with your original wood mast you will need an adapter piece  –  plus a certain amount of engineering and ingenuity  –  to lengthen it.

If your aluminium mast is anything else then some ingenuity may be needed.   But fitting a Series 1 mast foot may well be possible,  and the rest is basic ingenuity and adaptation.

The series 1 mast foot was still readily available last time I looked,  (try Super Spars,  or Speed Sails),  and indeed when I bought a new Series 2 mast from Speed Sails about 10 years ago it was supplied as standard as a Series 1 and then shortened in their workshop to the Series 2 length and the foot changed;  it seems that it is cheaper for the manufacturer to supply just the one design,  and then adapt it,  rather than supply a choice of two designs.

Hope this helps,

Oliver

• This reply was modified 6 years, 6 months ago by Oliver Shaw.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 6 months ago by Oliver Shaw.

The original design for the boat had chain plates above deck,  but there are some benefits (largely of comfort and of convenience while sailing) of having the shrouds pass through the deck to terminate at chain plates below deck,  and the rules were changed as early as (I think,  and once again from memory) 1952 to permit this as an option.

Nonetheless the “traditional” rig,  with chainplates coming up through the deck,  was still in use in new build until at least as late as 1959,  to my certain knowledge  –  because at one time I owned such a boat,  and indeed that arrangement was entirely usual in dinghies generally as late as the mid-sixties.

The benefits of through-deck shrouds are set against the greater difficulty,  some might call it fiddliness,  of attaching the shrouds below deck if you frequently tow the boat,  or for other reasons have to frequently step and unstep the mast.

I suggest that for your purposes the most important consideration is easy compatibility and interchangeability between your two rigs.    So I suggest that you adjust the shroud lengths of your new mast to fit the existing chain plates of your boat.

Hope this helps,

Oliver

• This reply was modified 6 years, 6 months ago by Oliver Shaw.

<span style=”font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: ‘Georgia’,’serif’; color: #333333;”>Sorry;  didn’t spot your final question.</span>

<span style=”font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: ‘Georgia’,’serif’; color: #333333;”>You don’t get rid of the chain plates,  you merely install different ones lower down,  below deck.</span>

<span style=”font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: ‘Georgia’,’serif’; color: #333333;”>I have no first-hand experience of lifting bridles for launching by crane over a dock wall;  that seems to be far more prevalent in USA than in UK.    We more usually launch from a beach or slipway,  by floating the boat off a launching trolley.   But I have seen photos,  and my impression is that the usual solution when chainplates are below deck is a pair of wire strops coming up through the deck, attached to chainplates below deck.</span>

<span style=”font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: ‘Georgia’,’serif’; color: #333333;”>How you guys attach your lifting bridles when the mast is already stepped and the shrouds attached and tensioned is another matter;  but you will know your own systems!  !!</span>

<span style=”font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: ‘Georgia’,’serif’; color: #333333;”> </span>

<span style=”font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: ‘Georgia’,’serif’; color: #333333;”>Oliver</span>

Sorry;  for technical reasons which I am unable to debug  the system would not allow me to post a response by any means other than composing in another format and then copying and pasting.   Trying to post direct produces a forbidden / unsafe content error message.

As we all know,  composing in another format and  then coying and pasting results in visible formatting commands;  and any attempt to remove them again produces the same error message!

For the moment I am stumped,  but I hope that you can just ignore the formatting verbiage to get to the content …

Oliver

Your photos look good.

To address your queries:

Weather helm:   first,  distinguish between actual weather helm (i.e. how much rudder angle you need to apply to keep the boat straight) and the amount of pull on the tiller.   The two are of course related,  probably approximately proportional for small angles (and you should never have anything other than small angles),   but they are not the same thing;   as you have already picked up the relationship between them also depends on the profile of the rudder blade.  The original design was for the blade to be swept back,  as was normal at that time,  but in the sixties the rules were changed to allow the blade to be set more or less vertical.

Changing the set of the blade is an easy modification,  just cut away the appropriate amount of shoulder on the blade where it buts against the stock,   and it will significantly reduce the pull on the tiller;   what it won’t do is to cure an inherent weather problem,  which you may well have.

Set the centreboard correctly first,  then experiment with altering the trim of the boat,  and then the mast rake.   The centreboard should be fully down when beating to windward,  always assuming that there is enough depth of water,   and lass far down when sailing further off the wind.    I think I read a report in Mainsail some years ago of an interview with Mike Senior,  one of our Gold Fleet sailors and a multiple Championship winner,  in which if I remember correctly he said that off the wind he likes to keep things simple and so  sails with half plate for all off-wind legs;   and since he is normally at the front of the top echelon racing fleet his techniques must be pretty good.   I myself am not so high flying,  so I like to adjust the plate progressively,  having about half when I am on a beam reach or slightly broad on the beam,  and about a quarter on a very broad reach or a run.

The boat should be sailed upright,  and with the transom just clear of the water;   so you need to ensure that you minimise heeling,  and when working to windward (and with two persons aboard) the helmsman needs to be right up against the thwart,  and the crew as far forward as is comfortable.    Bring your weight slight further aft as you come off the wind,  and in planing conditions you may need to come a long way aft.    Many dinghy sailors who are not used to the GP14 have their weight too far aft all the time.

I am not sure what effect on helm balance having your weight too far aft will have,  since it will move both the centre of lateral resistance and the centre of effort aft,  but probably not by the same amount.   What I am certain about is that having the transom dragging in the water will slow the boat down and make her much less efficient,  and make the sailing harder work than it should be.

Allowing the boat to heel will of course introduce considerable weather helm.

If you are satisfied that your trim of the boat is correct,  the next thing to experiment with is mast rake.   Regard that 21′ 10″ dimension as only a starting point;   that is a figure for the modern rig,  with comparatively high rig tension and a bendy mast.   It may be useful as a starting point,  but now try adjusting the shrouds to allow the mast to come a little further forward.   Keep experimenting until you have only very slight weather helm.

Hope this helps,

Oliver

Centreboard problems;  see my paper on this in the Member Area on this site.

It may not give all the answers,  but I think it is a useful start.

Oliver