Update 6-15

Progress

Just because there's lots of dead air doesn't mean we stopped work! 
A couple of key 'learnings'
  • Once the competition season begins, it's a lot harder for a coach to spend several hours a day working on the boat.
  • It's damn near impossible to take pictures and work with epoxy at the same time
  • And when you work with epoxy, most of the 'work in progress' is hidden from view anyway.
  • Putting the second hull together goes much faster than the first.

So here we go...

Port Hull

We put the last panel on the port hull this morning.  
As noted above, it did go significantly faster this time around.
Panel screw clamped in place
We learned a lot of tricks the first time around, and by measuring/adjusting our work from the starboard hull, we cut 2 months off the second hull's build!
We also had several of our team athletes volunteer to help with assembly.  It was great to get them involved, and saved us a much longer night (or 2nd night) to get everything hung.

Torx cabinet screws may be the ultimate clamp for blind clamping.  We used staples the first time, which are a pain in the backside to remove.  This time, we used screws on sacrificial strips to hold the panels in place while epoxy cured.
The bow block gets carved today, and we will probably hang glass on Monday night.  

Athletes flow coating panels.  




Ready to hang panels







Starboard Hull
Piddly little finish tasks
Add final outside panel (tumblehome)

Deck

Deck beams reinforced
I'd been thinking seriously of starting over on the deck, and then finally decided it was 'close enough to actually work.  Sistered cedar 1x4 to lateral beams, furring strips on top of those to bring up to level, and epoxied it all together. 
Next step - add plywood top and secure to frame, then add reinforcement points below.  
i have also gone back&forth about the method of securing the deck to the hulls.  For better or worse, it will be 5/8th" SS bolts running from hull into a blind plate secured to the inside of the deck. I am still discussing sleeving the bolts with delrin/UHMW or similar just to add some additional impact distribution material.   Final positioning of these will need to wait until the deck and hulls can be assembled on the floor.  (That will be a big day!)

Deck furniture

Finally making some headway there!  Since the center of mass will be a bit difficult to calculate/confirm until the boat is on the water, we will put the seat on tracks to allow fore/aft adjustment for weight distribution.  The battery box will also be put on tracks until trim is completely decided.  At some point this fall, we'll make any final adjustments to placement and add lateral tracks to make the battery easier to swap out.  


Also planned is a small solar panel to charge a 12v system for LED lights and sound system - yeah, gotta have a sound system:)

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