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I know on my wooden masted Series 1 (1964 vintage) I tend to keep the shrouds just tight enough to keep the leeward one from going slack.
Well, Spark is stripped of paint. Took the rest of today, but the rough work is done. Now to dig out the filler on the screw heads and refasten her with new bronze screws.
Now I knew my Geep had been in some sort of altercation in the past. I found the inside of a patch just forwards of the mast on the port Side. I finally found the outside of it, buried under three layers of paint. I can only surmise she was damaged early in her racing career. The patch is well done and was completely unnoticeable to the naked eye on the outside of the hull. I will probably just fair it back in and leave it,
She looked far worse than she really is. As you can tell from her bottom, the hull is in good shape. The paint was grotty at best and made her appear 10x worse than the reality of it. I will be stripping off her decks and redoing them though. Years of no varnish and things resting and rubbing on it have reduced them to so many splinters waiting to happen
As you can tell by her NJ registration, not too far away from you, Fretz. I am in Northfield, close to Atlantic City. I actually bought Spark last December from a gentleman from up by Doylestown and brought her back to the shore where she belongs.
More work has been done. I finished stripping poor Spark of all her hardware, trim, seats, and anything else that was not glued in place (and some things that were glued that away easily). Then it was a case of rolling her over on the trailer and sanding. I am about a quarter done in removing all her paint. Thus far I have found a white primer, blue, light green, and finally the dark green.
Thankfully the ply and wood beneath all that paint is in lovely shape. I think once I refasten and fair everything in, she will be a treat to paint. I had to stop as I ran out of time and sanding discs for my orbital sander. Tonight and tomorrow it is supposed to rain, so it was back into storage with half her bottom denuded of paint. Hopefully I can finish the job soon.
well, I am talking of the screws that hold the ply to the hull. Once installed they will be faired over and painted, so I am not worried about going up a size as nobody will ever see them.
I was amazed to see that the rub rail was held on by cut nails. They worked well as it was a bear to remove, but I was not expecting it.
Of course this Thursday is supposed to be a beautiful day, perfect for sailing. The past month has been awful, rainy with small craft advisories due to wind, and I just made Spark unsailable. Oh well, I can bring her home and start sanding in comfort
yes, mine do not quite reach the stays, but as I am re-doing Spark’s deck this winter, I can buy longer tracks to get a better reach (sorry) for the genny. Thank you once more for the keen advice!
An interesting tidbit you bring up with your photos, Oliver. Spark already has sliding cars to adjust the sheeting angle for the jib. I have noticed that many GPs seem to have them. I imagine that would make using the Genoa easier when reefed?
I cannot offer advice in sailing the GP at your stature, but at just under 6 foot myself, but only 85kg in weight, I can sleep aboard these boats. Granted mine is an older Series one, but still. There is more room on these boats than you might imagine. Especially if you drop something and have to spend time finding it.
I actually have a local mill that can get robbins. The importer/distributer is semi-local and he can get the ply direct. If I were to go with plywood again, I would probably go with Sapele. Expensive, but beautiful when varnished.
that is a shock cord, Oliver. I tend to use it when rowing. I move it forwards on the tiller in front of the extension’s bracket and lock the extension down atop it. I can still move the tiller back and forth some with my foot when I am sitting on the case while rowing. The day I took that picture the breezes were fickle. so it worked well just to hold the tiller as it sat in that picture.
This winter I will be sanding down Spark and refinishing her. Sadly, the decks are ruined. Lack of any varnish over the years allowed the top layer to delaminate in spots and the plywood complains when I put any weight down. I am considering pulling it all up and strip planking it for longevity and looks. There is no racing fleet in the area anymore, so 5942 gets to retire to cruising about and gunkholing, a much more refined activity than rounding the buoys in anger.
Indeed, My wooden masted 64, #5942 does not have spreaders.
I hope to have her in the water next week, for the first time since 1981. Just waiting for the rain to end so I can do some painting.
Many thanks, Jozef, I have never seen my boat rigged and there are few GPs in my area any more, so Rigging was looking to be an issue. Your picture helps immensely
it certainly looks like your rudder cheeks have been chewed on. I am willing to bet some repair down the line moved the stainless steel downward some on the cheeks and that is keeping you from inserting the tiller all the way.
Of note, my Series 1 rudder looks to be the same construction, I do not know if it were ever changed over the course of GP14 production. The rope that lifts the rudder blade on mine runs up through the cheeks and exits under the tiller whereas yours runs on a dedicated pulley bolted to the side of it.
