Went to the T37 National Championships yesterday, Oct. 5th, 2013. Took my nieces so I couldn't stay too long though.
There were some very nicely built boats. I took the opportunity to look at certain things that people have done to make their boats better and more unique. There were 27 boats in all and you could tell that people spent a lot of time custom building their boats. Lovely paint jobs, creative changes within the rules, etc...
Today's tips:
TIP 1:
UPDATE: If I were to build another boat, I would at this stage, after the hull has been glued up but the deck is still off, also sand down the fillets along the inside bottom of the boat. Sand just until nicely smooth and even and then give it a light clear coat of epoxy. It will look super clean and professional. Mine is OK but it could have been cleaned up more when I had the chance.
Also an update: Gluing in the rudder post and keel before gluing on the deck worked out wonderfully! Do it. Although I would be much, MUCH neater on my rudder post next time. It looks a bit sloppy. The picture below is before I added a crapton of thickened epoxy to build it up. If I had stopped at this point it would have looked fine (although I'm not sure it would have been strong enough).
I would be a bit cleaner with my keel installation too although it looks OK as is. Certainly better than I could have done had I put the deck on first.
The instructions say to glue the deck on and then you'll later install the keel and rudder tube. It makes much more sense to glue in the keel and rudder post BEFORE gluing on the deck. It is SO much easier to do it that way and you'll make a much neater job using less epoxy. I emailed Will about this and apparently it is standard operating procedure for the T27 (his smaller kit). He says it's OK to do it this way so that's what I'm doing.
TIP 2:
UPDATE: This next tip worked very well too! When I installed the mast step in late October (see the related post) having the tube plugged like this was wonderful. I was able to leave the mast in all night long and have it exactly lined up. Well worth your time to do if you have a tiny bit of thickened epoxy at some point.
The thickened epoxy goes into the end of the mast step to plug it. It is the smallest amount I could use and still cover the entire end so that during the installation of the mast step later on, no epoxy will get into the step and glue the mast. It doesn't go up the step more than an 1/8" at very most, probably less. Pretty cool huh?!
There were some very nicely built boats. I took the opportunity to look at certain things that people have done to make their boats better and more unique. There were 27 boats in all and you could tell that people spent a lot of time custom building their boats. Lovely paint jobs, creative changes within the rules, etc...
Today's tips:
TIP 1:
UPDATE: If I were to build another boat, I would at this stage, after the hull has been glued up but the deck is still off, also sand down the fillets along the inside bottom of the boat. Sand just until nicely smooth and even and then give it a light clear coat of epoxy. It will look super clean and professional. Mine is OK but it could have been cleaned up more when I had the chance.
Also an update: Gluing in the rudder post and keel before gluing on the deck worked out wonderfully! Do it. Although I would be much, MUCH neater on my rudder post next time. It looks a bit sloppy. The picture below is before I added a crapton of thickened epoxy to build it up. If I had stopped at this point it would have looked fine (although I'm not sure it would have been strong enough).
I would be a bit cleaner with my keel installation too although it looks OK as is. Certainly better than I could have done had I put the deck on first.
The instructions say to glue the deck on and then you'll later install the keel and rudder tube. It makes much more sense to glue in the keel and rudder post BEFORE gluing on the deck. It is SO much easier to do it that way and you'll make a much neater job using less epoxy. I emailed Will about this and apparently it is standard operating procedure for the T27 (his smaller kit). He says it's OK to do it this way so that's what I'm doing.
TIP 2:
UPDATE: This next tip worked very well too! When I installed the mast step in late October (see the related post) having the tube plugged like this was wonderful. I was able to leave the mast in all night long and have it exactly lined up. Well worth your time to do if you have a tiny bit of thickened epoxy at some point.
___________
I'm planning ahead for my mast step installation. The instructions say to tape the mast and take tons of precautions so that you don't glue the mast into the mast step. My solution: When you have a small (and I mean tiny!) amount of thickened epoxy (still workable!) left from one of your glue-ups, take a little bit and make a small covering for the bottom of the mast step. Then when it's time to install the mast step you can leave the mast in the entire drying time for proper alignment without worrying about gluing it in place. 
The thickened epoxy goes into the end of the mast step to plug it. It is the smallest amount I could use and still cover the entire end so that during the installation of the mast step later on, no epoxy will get into the step and glue the mast. It doesn't go up the step more than an 1/8" at very most, probably less. Pretty cool huh?!
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