Forum Replies Created

Viewing 15 posts - 61 through 75 (of 708 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • Oliver Shaw
    Moderator

    And from life member David Gilbert,  on the GP14 Online Community forum today:

    “Oliver, I think that Graham is confusing L&P with Knight and Pink. Lawrence and Plater stopped making boats sometime in the late 60’s, while Knight and Pink were a while after that. K&P were a South Coast firm, so most, if not all of their boats were Southern area. They did rectify the construction, but (fortunately) they were not faster than legal boats. I remember the cheat was picked up at Llandudno, helped by John Martin’s paint job, which accentuated the different run on the forward end of the chine!

    “As an aside, Lawrence and Plater built beautiful boats in Walsall, (GPS, Albacores and Finns). John Tyler’s 4560 and Bill Morris’s championship winning Frantic were from there.”

     

    Oliver

    • This reply was modified 1 year, 5 months ago by Oliver Shaw.
    Oliver Shaw
    Moderator

    I referred in the first paragraph to certain issues with Lawrence & Plater boats.   A couple of personal emails this evening from Graham Knox read:

    “You might not be too surprised that I have looked at the Forum this evening and picked up this interesting item. Yes, L & P boats were controversial and caused quite a kerfuffle. I think it was an early 1970s Championship at Llandudno where the problem with them arose. As all the Boats were lined up on the Promenade, bow to the road, bow shapes stood out. At the time, there was not a measurement for frame 1 (I think I recall correctly) but boats were to be built according to the plans. L & P boats had a finer entry at this point and the Association required the builders to correct the anomaly. It showed up on the chine. (I might even remember who the individual owners were competing! I think they were from north London). It caused quite a rumpus with owners.

    “Hope this helps!

    “Of course I do not know whether this boat has been corrected or not.”

    “This is the trouble with me having a memory bank!”

     

    Oliver

    • This reply was modified 1 year, 5 months ago by Oliver Shaw. Reason: Geographical clarification
    in reply to: Keeping Centre board Perpendicular #25993
    Oliver Shaw
    Moderator

    A pair of rubber doorstops on the end of the handle,  as you describe for the Wayfarer that you have seen,  is fairly standard in many dinghies  –  and it certainly used to be standard in Series 1 GP14s.    However when I had A Capella professionally built in 2005/6 she came with nothing apart from a length of rope with stopper ball,  as you describe.

    Thus I can depress the handle until it is slightly below the top of the case,  which may well result in the board going beyond the vertical;   however when cruising I cannot really tell the difference between that position and having the handle just showing above the top of the case.   It would be interesting to know the views of top racers on this,  although neither you nor I do much racing these days.

    I confess that in deference to age,  and particularly when single-handed,  if it is blowing hard I sometimes sail with a little less than full plate (and just accept the slight increase in leeway),   as a safety precaution;   with slightly reduced grip on the water (as well as reefing when necessary) it gives me more of a sporting chance of handling unexpected vicious gusts without the risk of capsizing.

     

    Oliver

    • This reply was modified 1 year, 5 months ago by Oliver Shaw. Reason: Typo: "with the risk of capsizing" should have read "without the risk of capsizing"!
    in reply to: Two-pot polyurethane paints #25972
    Oliver Shaw
    Moderator

    Apologies for any duplication;    I have just replied by email,  but it has not yet appeared,  so I am now copying and pasting here.

    -o0o-         -o0o-           -o0o-

    As of a couple of days ago, Force 4 still had a little, and as of this moment it is listed on their website as available in selected stores;  my previous experience with them is that if they have a product in one of their stores but not in their central facility they are more than willing to get it sent from whichever store has it.  They also seem to have a little paint, listed as available online, although not the full range of colours:   0345 1300 710    sales”AT”force4.co.uk

    Not sure about 1st Mark,  but I think they still had a little when I visited them yesterday;  sales”AT”1stmark.co.uk   01942 273372

    Also not sure about Liverpool Powerboats, but they are certainly worth a call:  0151 944 1163   info”AT”liverpoolpowerboats.com    Perfection Plus (the varnish) is currently shown on their website as pre-order, which suggests that it is out of stock but that they can still get hold of it to order.  Perfection (the gloss paint) is shown as in stock, but again not the full range of colours.  Perfection Undercoat is shown as out of stock.  Both the paint and the varnish carry a note on their website that as of August they are being discontinued by the manufacturer.

    Hope this helps,

     

    Oliver

     

     

    in reply to: Two-pot polyurethane paints #25963
    Oliver Shaw
    Moderator

    UPDATE

     

    Over the first half of the summer I stocked up with International Perfection Paint and Varnish while I could still get the stuff,   sufficient (all being well) to provide for one further repaint and varnish of both A Capella and Tarka II.   That exercise involved buying what was available from three different chandlers.

    The last of the three,  1st Mark in Golborne (erstwhile Leigh Dinghy Stores),  gave me an interesting and potentially useful update.

    First,  the useful bit;   as at the time of my visit (August) Hempel are still doing 2-pot finishes;   probably reformulated,  although that is not totally clear.   They also tell me that they supply Tim Harper,  who built A Capella for me,  and that Tim has now switched to Hempel paints.

    The other information,  interesting rather than specifically useful,  is that periodically certain chemicals go onto either the “red list” or the “amber list”,  the latter being early warning that the chemical concerned is destined for the red list in the moderately near future.   Manufacturers then have a period of time in which they can,  if they choose,  reformulate their products;   and it appears that Hempel may well have done that.

    However they tell me that International’s UK sales of their Perfection 2-pot products have been declining for some years,  so it is suggested that they may have considered just how many cans they sell in the UK each year,  and taken the commercial decision in the light of that declining number to withdraw from this market rather than go to the expense of reformulating.   However I gather from Bruce Idleman in the USA that the products are still marketed there,   with no restrictions beyond the strong advice that amateurs should not apply them by spray,  and appropriate safety advice for professionals doing so (with proper hazmat protections in place);   it seems that they do not see the need to reformulate the products for that market.

     

    Oliver

    in reply to: Keel protection #25958
    Oliver Shaw
    Moderator

    On a different aspect of this,  my understanding is that Toplac and Schooner are the two leading products amongst conventional paints and varnishes  –  although I fully accept that other marine paint manufacturers will probably have equivalents  –  and they come close to Perfection in terms of gloss,  and exceed it in terms of flexibility.

    But they are not quite as hard or as durable.

    So prior to the discontinuance of Perfection my recommendation (and I think International’s) was Perfection on new plywood construction (but International do not recommend it on carvel or clinker),  and Toplac & Schooner on old construction,  and also on carvel and clinker construction.

    Regards,

     

    Oliver

    in reply to: Keel protection #25957
    Oliver Shaw
    Moderator

    That sounds like a case of extreme bad luck,  and I commiserate with you.

    What an introduction to sailing;   and in a brand new boat in which you have invested so much labour and love,  not to mention expense!

    Hopefully that experience will prove to be only once in a lifetime!

    Oliver

    in reply to: Keel protection #25954
    Oliver Shaw
    Moderator

    I have just had a quick look at this product on the Force 4 website.

    I am not aware of any cruisers having found the need to use this,   but I can fully see your concern to preserve the pristine finish of your newly built boat.   My purely personal take on it is that a very great deal depends on the situations that you personally encounter where you sail.

    For what it is worth,  I commissioned a professional new build,  A Capella,  in 2005,  completed and delivered in 2006.   Suffice it to say that she was my pride and joy  –   and although I have much more recently passed her on to my godson,  as an advance on his future inheritance,  she still is my pride and joy;   we both regard her as “our” boat rather than as “his” boat.

    Her only protection to the keel is a standard aluminium keelband,  and (coupled,  of course,  with good seamanship) I have found that fully sufficient,  despite my home club being situated on a lee shore (in the prevailing winds),  and having a very shallow concrete slipway.

    When I had her back from my godson,  her current owner,  for a major refit over last winter,  the first time in 14 years that I had actually turned her over for attention to her bottom,  she required remarkably little attention to the keel and bilge rubbers;  nothing more than a little filler and sanding and a repaint.   The metal keelbands,  plus good seamanship throughout,  had done their job.

    However the seamanship,  in ensuring that I did not “graunch” the bottom when coming ashore,  is a crucial factor!

    So if you feel particularly at risk in your local sailing situation it may be sensible to invest in the quite modest cost of this Force 4 product;   but if you feel that your situation is more within the mainstream you probably don’t need it.

     

    Oliver

    • This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by Oliver Shaw.
    in reply to: Spinnaker downhaul take-up #25917
    Oliver Shaw
    Moderator

    This reply, sent by email, failed to appear;

    “I suspect that there is more than one way of doing it,  and that it may be very boat-specific.

    But in case it helps,  I am currently away with A Capella,  and will try to take some photos for you.”

    However that has now been eclipsed by replies from others,  and I confess that I forgot to take the photos.

    I am now back home,  and tied up for the next week,  but if needed I can take some photos after that.

     

    Oliver

    • This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by Oliver Shaw.
    in reply to: Topping lift set up #25916
    Oliver Shaw
    Moderator

    One further update on topping lifts.

    I personally have never found the need to adjust it on a GP14,  although every yacht that I have ever sailed (including the three that I have owned at various times,  including the current one) has it adjustable.

    However I have just returned from the GP14 UK National Cruising Week,  and one of my fellow participants there was Simon Conway,  whose cruising expertise I respect.   He initially fitted a fixed topping lift,  but has recently made it adjustable so that when he needs to row he can lift the boom well clear above his head.

     

    Oliver

    in reply to: Topping lift set up #25890
    Oliver Shaw
    Moderator

    >   an extra metre of relatively small diameter rope 

    I am reminded of a telephone conversation some years ago.   A group of canoeists were to paddle the full length of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal as a charity fund-raiser,   and I had signed up with the support group;   amongst other things I was specifically tasked with towing a trailer holding multiple canoes back to the start point after they had finished.

    Over the telephone the organiser gave me the necessary information,  including the size and weight of the trailer,  and asked whether my car could handle it.

    I said “It’s a Land Rover;   what’s another ton or two between friends?”

    In the end I never did get to assist,  because the car was stolen (from my own driveway) the night before the event;   but that is life.

     

    Oliver

    in reply to: Topping lift set up #25889
    Oliver Shaw
    Moderator

    But spending on the boat is in a different category  …   …

    If she demurs, tell her how much you have saved by choosing a dinghy instead of a yacht!

     

    Oliver

    in reply to: Topping lift set up #25883
    Oliver Shaw
    Moderator

    Apologies for possible duplication.    I replied by email,  but nothing has yet appeared.

    “Sorry;  I have never had occasion to measure it.

    “However there are three possible guidelines to set the rough parameters.

    “1)  I think it likely that the Class Rules   –  currently under revision,  but currently still in force  –  will give the length of the leech of the sail.   This is not quite enough;   add a generous bit over.

    “2)  On the website,  in the Members’ Area,  are two or three tuning guides    At least one of these,  and very possibly all,  give a precise distance from the masthead to the transom for a boat optimally set up.   Your topping lift will not need to go as far as the transom,  so this length will be a generous upper limit.

    “3)  As the very last resort,  you know the height of the mast and the length of the boom.   Then apply Pythagoras,  tacitly assuming that the boom makes (roughly) a right-angle with the mast,  and allow a generous bit over in case it is not quite a right-angle.

    “However we are not talking about serious money here;   an extra metre of relatively small diameter rope costs buttons.   So make sure that you have ample, and then whatever you discard can go into the bag for odds and ends of assorted ropes.

    “You do have such a bag … ?   ”

     

    Oliver

    in reply to: Topping lift set up #25881
    Oliver Shaw
    Moderator

    It is standard practice on yachts to have the topping lift adjustable,  but on GP14s I have found that this can be overkill,  always provided that the length is correctly set in the first place,  as described above.

    But most certainly,  having it adjustable is not wrong.

     

    Oliver

    in reply to: Topping lift set up #25871
    Oliver Shaw
    Moderator

    > On an aside is there any mechanism for searching for existing topics on the forum please?

    It would be useful to have,  and you are not the first person to have asked,  but we do not at present have a search facility.

    Last time the (then) Webmaster answered this it was not available on the particular package (at the current price) which we were using.   However we do keep our technology and our media channels under review,  so it is something which may yet come at some point.

     

    Oliver

Viewing 15 posts - 61 through 75 (of 708 total)