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cngrsmn
 

I was wondering of anybody had any objection to stiffening up the
bottom of an old sunfish that has a flimsy bottom with a light
stringer system. Say maybe some 1x2 puttied into place with a layer
of mat over maybe biax or something to hold the boards in place.
Race legal? Who cares she's only 10.

Thanks
congressman
Wayne Carney
 

-----Original Message-----
From: cngrsmn [mailto:cngrsmn@...]
Subject: [sunfish_sailor] support

I was wondering of anybody had any objection to stiffening up the
bottom of an old sunfish that has a flimsy bottom with a light
stringer system. Say maybe some 1x2 puttied into place with a layer
of mat over maybe biax or something to hold the boards in place.

Whew, if you are up to the task of opening up the hull in order to keep an
old boat going, I say why not. Who's to say what you can and can't do to
continue enjoying your boat.

If you haven't done this before you'll probably want to consult
windlinesails.com "how to" on foam block replacement for instructions on how
to access the inner hull.

There are commercially made ribs of glass or Kevlar, but I don't know a
source. I think home-made ones should work just fine. 1X2" would be as hefty
as a ribs found in small motor boats. IMHO, you could go with something a
bit smaller, for instance, you can make ribs out of glass mat laid over,
say, 1/2" PVC pipe -or- half diameter PVC pipe -or- light weight cardboard
tube, such as the core of a roll of wrapping paper. The fiberglass lay-up
will provide the strength. A light weave "roving" material would make a
really strong rib.


Race legal?
Probably Not.

Fun legal - definitely!


Wayne
cngrsmn
 

--- In sunfish_sailor@y..., "Wayne Carney" <wcarney@f...> wrote:


-----Original Message-----
From: cngrsmn [mailto:cngrsmn@y...]
Subject: [sunfish_sailor] support

I was wondering of anybody had any objection to stiffening up the
bottom of an old sunfish that has a flimsy bottom with a light
stringer system. Say maybe some 1x2 puttied into place with a
layer
of mat over maybe biax or something to hold the boards in place.

Whew, if you are up to the task of opening up the hull in order to
keep an
old boat going, I say why not. Who's to say what you can and can't
do to
continue enjoying your boat.

If you haven't done this before you'll probably want to consult
windlinesails.com "how to" on foam block replacement for
instructions on how
to access the inner hull.

There are commercially made ribs of glass or Kevlar, but I don't
know a
source. I think home-made ones should work just fine. 1X2" would be
as hefty
as a ribs found in small motor boats. IMHO, you could go with
something a
bit smaller, for instance, you can make ribs out of glass mat laid
over,
say, 1/2" PVC pipe -or- half diameter PVC pipe -or- light weight
cardboard
tube, such as the core of a roll of wrapping paper. The fiberglass
lay-up
will provide the strength. A light weave "roving" material would
make a
really strong rib.


Race legal?
Probably Not.

Fun legal - definitely!


Wayne
That's an interesting reply there Wayne. But I was reallying looking
for a response with information, possibly the name of someone who
works as a judge on these things during a regatta. By the way, the
idea about the pvc wouldn't work, the resin, while appearing to bond
to the pvc, would break away after very little stress on
compression. I actually went out to the shop and fired up the
autoclave and made a couple of darts out of carbon fiber to keep the
weight down and glued them in. After repairing the bottom of the
hull the boat was filled with 2 part pour-foam to replace the
flotation foam. The inside of the dart/stringer gets foam to help
stiffen, should last a while, of course the banging of the wave
action will collapse any foam eventually.

thanks,
jeff
cngrsmn
 

--- In sunfish_sailor@y..., "Wayne Carney" <wcarney@f...> wrote:


-----Original Message-----
From: cngrsmn [mailto:cngrsmn@y...]
Subject: [sunfish_sailor] support

I was wondering of anybody had any objection to stiffening up the
bottom of an old sunfish that has a flimsy bottom with a light
stringer system. Say maybe some 1x2 puttied into place with a
layer
of mat over maybe biax or something to hold the boards in place.

Whew, if you are up to the task of opening up the hull in order to
keep an
old boat going, I say why not. Who's to say what you can and can't
do to
continue enjoying your boat.

If you haven't done this before you'll probably want to consult
windlinesails.com "how to" on foam block replacement for
instructions on how
to access the inner hull.

There are commercially made ribs of glass or Kevlar, but I don't
know a
source. I think home-made ones should work just fine. 1X2" would be
as hefty
as a ribs found in small motor boats. IMHO, you could go with
something a
bit smaller, for instance, you can make ribs out of glass mat laid
over,
say, 1/2" PVC pipe -or- half diameter PVC pipe -or- light weight
cardboard
tube, such as the core of a roll of wrapping paper. The fiberglass
lay-up
will provide the strength. A light weave "roving" material would
make a
really strong rib.


Race legal?
Probably Not.

Fun legal - definitely!


Wayne
That's an interesting reply there Wayne. But I was reallying looking
for a response with information, possibly the name of someone who
works as a judge on these things during a regatta. By the way, the
idea about the pvc wouldn't work, the resin, while appearing to bond
to the pvc, would break away after very little stress on
compression. I actually went out to the shop and fired up the
autoclave and made a couple of darts out of carbon fiber to keep the
weight down and glued them in. After repairing the bottom of the
hull the boat was filled with 2 part pour-foam to replace the
flotation foam. The inside of the dart/stringer gets foam to help
stiffen, should last a while, of course the banging of the wave
action will collapse any foam eventually.

thanks,
jeff
Wayne Carney
 

Jeff,

-----Original Message-----
From: cngrsmn [mailto:cngrsmn@...]
Subject: [sunfish_sailor] Re: support
That's an interesting reply there Wayne. But I was really looking
for a response with information, possibly the name of someone who
works as a judge on these things during a regatta.
Ah Haaaa...., I believe the only events where this type of hull repair might
raise a question are sanctioned "Sunfish Class" events. You probably want to
contact an official at the Sunfish Class Association. Here's the web page
You can find the ISCA (International Sunfish
Class Association) rules posted at this web site as well.



By the way, the idea about the pvc wouldn't work, the resin,
while appearing to bond to the pvc, would break away after
very little stress on compression.
I agree totally. My suggestion of using PVC was intended only to serve as a
form for laying up a fiberglass rib. The glass fiber (mat, cloth, or roving)
would be the structural element and the stiffness would be a function of
shape. Sorry I didn't make this clear.



I actually went out to the shop and fired up the
autoclave and made a couple of darts out of carbon fiber to keep the
weight down and glued them in. After repairing the bottom of the
hull the boat was filled with 2 part pour-foam to replace the
flotation foam. The inside of the dart/stringer gets foam to help
stiffen, should last a while, of course the banging of the wave
action will collapse any foam eventually.
Wow, that's a bit more space-age than the typical repair job. Nice to have
that sort of equipment and those materials on hand. Carbon fiber ought to
make a dandy stiffener.

From what I have read and discussed with other Sunfish sailors, the Sunfish
hull has about a three year life when sailed almost daily and used in top
level competition events. Everyone else can probably expect to get a lot
longer life, so I'd think your repair should get you a few good years at the
very least.


Wayne

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