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Viewing 15 posts - 61 through 75 (of 75 total)
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  • in reply to: Rudder blade control lines #12227
    steve13003
    Participant

    I normally just wrap the ends around the tiller, make sure that the ropes are not longer than EYC need to be as this reduces the amount of loos rope to keep out of the way of your feet.

    Steve

    in reply to: Side bench problem Speed Boat #12156
    steve13003
    Participant

    So that anyone who reads this understands the problem, after taking out the rotten plywood which was obviously not marine ply I have managed to insert a new piece of 10mm marine ply which was first sealed with West epoxy, bonded this to the two fibre glass parts of the bench making sure that the afte end was on the support.  A second reinforcing piece of ply has been bonded to the underside of the side bench.  The gel coat damage and cracks were ground out and filled with gel coat filler rubbed down an polished as best I could the blend in with the undamaged areas, you now have to look hard to see the damage.

    The question is what state are the benches in? I don’t want to pull them apart but will be very wary of any cracks or signs of movement.

    Suggestion to owners of Speed boats of similar age check the condition of your side benches and if you see any delamination of the side deck mouldings get something done soon as possible.

    steve13003
    Participant

    Mark

    I have a spare straight rudder blade that is made from solid wood and is standard thickness the top was cut to fit an alloy rudder stock, it may need to be changed to suit you stock.  You are welcome to buy it for £20 plus postage unless you want to collect from Leigh on sea Essex.  It was originally advertised on the web pages with a Milanes blade which I sold to another member a few weeks ago, that would have been more than you wanted as it was a Super racing blade with the alloy stock.

    contact me off line at scorbet@btinternet.com if interested

    Steve

    in reply to: Position of Genoa tracks? #12106
    steve13003
    Participant

    Hi if you look at the attached photo you can see where the tracks used to be fitted on the deck before I modified the boat to below deck sheeting.  The tracks are parallel to the boat centre line.  Only if you use a small midi genny or a jib do you need extra tracks set inboard or at an angle..

    in reply to: Position of Genoa tracks? #12104
    steve13003
    Participant

    Middle of the track should be about 50mm aft of the clew with the sail pulled in with moderate tension, so that the position of the fairlead can be adjusted fore and aft to suit the wind conditions. Aft in strong winds to flatten the sail and forward in light winds to give more fullness.  Laterally the track is normall set in the middle of the side deck, bolt the track through the deck and reinforce under the deck with a pad of hard wood or marine ply at least 12mm thick.  Make sure you seal the wood or plywood with epoxy or varnish before fitting and use large washers under the nuts.  I just sold a set of Holt tracks and fairleads on eBay so hope the ones you have are good.

    in reply to: Water in buoyancy Speed boat #11955
    steve13003
    Participant

    Thanks guys I am away from home this week but will follow up Duncans comments next week before my next races

    in reply to: Mast Step Conversion #10614
    steve13003
    Participant

    Hi,  I have completed the mast step conversion on three boats to date so hope I can offer some useful advice.

    The important things to note are the final measurements you have to achieve to satisfy the measurement form.  Setting the height of the mast step plinth is governed by the measurement from the shear lines, this is quite difficult to set up but essential if your work is to satisfy a measurer.  The plinth is notched into the top of frame 2 and the front of the centreboard case, S o although Oliver says make it so the centre board case can be later removed, fitting the new mast step correctly will make a centreboard case removal very difficult or impossible.  Make sure the spine fits as closely as possible to the hog so that the load from the mast is spread evenly.  When finaly bonding everything in place make sure you use plenty of well filled epoxy, I use a mixture of white fibres and brown colloidal silica fillers.

    I don’t know where you sourced the wood, one good source is if at the same time as fitting the mast step you take the option to remove one of the side benchs on each side.  You can cut the plinth and the spine from the benches the spine is two pieces  laminated to the required thickness.

    hope all goes well Steve Corbet

    in reply to: advice please for mast tensioning #9612
    steve13003
    Participant

    Pete

    See my answer to your next posting

    Steve

    in reply to: Advice for a novice ref mast and rigging #9611
    steve13003
    Participant

    Pete

    Can I suggest that you look at the members library section of the web site where you will find a very good first guide for beginners on how to rig and set up a GP14, you will find some of the ideas are for more modern boats but many are relevant to your boat.  Is your boat a wooden hull or a fibre glass hull? If it is an old boat with out any jib halyard tensioning leaver or multi purchase blocks you may find a rack on the port side of the plate case when you have pulled the jib halyard as tight as you can and then cleated at the back of the plate (case with a helper pulling the forestay forward to bend the mast), pull the halyard up and lock it into the highest position on the rack that is possible.  This is OK for fun sailing, but invest in a hifield leaver or a safer multi purchase bock and tackle – both will also require you to change your jib halyard from all rope to a wire with rope tail.  Another tip is that your gooseneck fitting may be of the sliding type, these inevitably slide down the mast when even a light load is applied to the kicker, to stop this drill through the mast just below the correct goose neck position, top of boom inline with the lower black band, and insert a stainless bolt or split pin, or even better fit a newer gooseneck which will be fitted to the mast with rivets.

    Hope that all helps without confusing

    Steve

    in reply to: Spare Parts #6799
    steve13003
    Participant

    Hi it depends on what bit you need.  Most of the fittings for a GP14 are fairly standard dinghy fittings and can be purchased from most boat chandlers.  Ebay is a good source of cheap parts, you can also find bigger bespoke parts such as rudders, masts and booms – but most will be located in the UK as the number of GP14s in USA was small.

    Hope that helps Steve

    in reply to: Centre main for an old Woody? #5025
    steve13003
    Participant

    Hi, I would echo Oliver’s warning about the strength of your spars, the boom in particular will not be strong enough if it is one of the old IYE gold round ones.  If you add a bracket for a centre main block this will weaken the boom and  if you have a windy race it will end up as a V.  The main sheet needs to be a split tail with each side tied to an eye on each quarter.  The main part then runs along the boom and down to a block and cleat mounted as high as is legal on the back of the centre  board casing, make sure the mounting pillar is very strong, the swivel mounted block and jamb cleat will not be cheap unless you can find a used one for sale or gifted!.

    re your previous post about the spinaker pole system , sounds a mesh that needs to be scrapped.  A simple double ended pole with an eye on the front of the mast with an up haul to a turning block about half way up to the shroud plate then down to a cleat on the cockpit edge would work, with a down haul to a hole just in front of the mast to a cleat under the cockpit edge.  I would use a hook at the join between the up and down parts with an eye on the pole, all the slack is in the down haul and being rigid the height of the pole is fixed when the spiny is up.

    good luck. Steve Corbet

    in reply to: Mast Step Rot – Help! #4320
    steve13003
    Participant

    I’ll try to answer your questions in order

    1 if you work out where the frames are which surround your rot you then need to cut the old ply  along  the centre line of the frames, this helps you to replace the new ply with the same curves as the original ply.  Because you are using the frames to support the new ply edging or backing pieces are not needed.   As for which epoxy to use either SP 106 or a WEST product will be easy go use make sure you buy a pack which includes measuring pumps or syringes, always measure the quantities carefully and at the recommended temperatures.

    2. If you need go cut out part of the keel a scarf joint will allow the strength to be maintained over the rebuilt joint

    3. The screw holes should not be a problem as the screws are a tight fit in the wood, all old holes should be filled with an epoxy filler marine grade Plastic Padding is easy to use.

    if the paint is flaking it is a sign that a previous owner has not prepared the hull by rubbing down the paint before painting.  Given the amount of work you will be doing in replacing the  rot I would recommend a completed stripping of all the paint, refill all screw holes as the old filler will pop out as you remove the paint, then repaint with good quality paint prime, two coats undercoat and one or two topcoats.

    Steve

    in reply to: Mast Step Rot – Help! #4311
    steve13003
    Participant

    Hi I will try to point you in the best direction.

    First if you need to take out the centre board and I presume you mean the cb case, this is a very major job not to be undertaken without some detailed preparation.  Details on how to do this can be found in the library under the members tab on this web site.  If all you need to do is removal of the cb itself simply undo the bolt and slide the board out.

    Second question on how far to chase out the rot, I would normally recommend that you carefully identify the location of the frames either side of the rotten areas cut out along the centreline of the frame, missing any screws, cut a new piece of ply to fit the area cut out and fit with epoxy glue and filler.  The area you are repairing may need you to remove all or part of the keel to ensure the new  ply to the hog.

    i would also suggest that you buy a set of the plans for the construction of a series 1 wooden GP14 from the office, this will help you to understand how the boat is constructed

    Hope all goes well Steve Corbet

     

    in reply to: Stopper or putty to hide wood screws #4300
    steve13003
    Participant

    The  filler used originally was most likely to have a product called Brummer a Stopper,  this was in its water resinstant form a cellulose based putty, there was also  a standard version which was water based  – not suitable for marine use.  With time the Brummer Stopper  tends to crumble and if water gets to the underlying screws the stopper gets popped out bursting the the paint or varnish.

    Replace the filler above screws with an epoxy filler – under paint can be any colour under varnish I use SP epoxy filled with colloidal silica, gives a reddish colour and is very durable, the best for appearance is as you say wooden plugs but you need to drill the screw holes the correct diameter to match the  plug cutter  you have. Plug cutters are available from better tool shops.

    Hope that helps Steve Corbet

    in reply to: Just aquired GP14 #3626
    steve13003
    Participant

    Hi welcome to the GP14 family.  Repairing any of the wooden parts such as your laminated tiller is normally best done using epoxy resins such as SP106 or similar from WEST , use a filler such a cellulose fibres to make the epoxy act as a glue.  The repair will normally be stronger than the original.  Alternative look on eBay for a secondhand rudder complete.  If your tiller is in poor condition look carefully at the rudder stock as this needs to be strong enough to take the twisting loads when sailing.

    Considering your mast step drawings are available for all versions of the GP14 from the class office you will need the correct sheet for your early fibreglass boat.  I have not looked at the mast step in on of these for a while but I would guess that the mast step would have been made from ply wood, a better replacement would be to use a Hard wood.  If you have the old one use it as a pattern or try to get a look at a boat of same age.  When making a replacement make sure you seal it against water by coating it in the SP106 epoxy.  When cutting the slot for the mast make the width , side to side, as tight as possible to the size of the foot of your mast.  The length wise dimension is set by the class rules, then look at the GP web site for  dimensions for setting up the for/aft position of the mast foot / rake,  makes the boat easy to sail if all is set up and balanced.

    Steve Corbet

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