Boat Builder Central

Larry, I should have picked up on your use of "drifter". I know what it means, but I guess I didn't read your post carefully enough to remind myself. For some reason I always think a drifter is like a really big and light symmetric spinnaker. Anyway, your idea about the adjustable pole sou...

If I could find a suitable aluminum pole to use, I would, believe me. I just have a hard time believing that some random aluminum tube that I find would be strong enough. Maybe if I cannibalized an old boom.... Or do you know of somewhere I could get something that would work for my purposes? Are th...

Larry, it's odd that you've never seen a spinnaker flown from a bowsprit...it seems like every performance boat nowadays has a retractable bowsprit from which to fly an asymmetric or "cruising" spinnaker. For example, check out these photos of the J/80 . Whatever you decide make sure the d...

I'm trying to figure out how to add a bowsprit to my MacGregor 21, and I'm considering using that carbon fiber mast kit on BoatBuilderCentral.com. I need it to be removable or retractable for trailering, but the simpler, the better. I was thinking of making some sort of bracket for it that would be ...

You could also put on a few thick coats of enamel. That would seal out the water and probably be strong enough to not scrape off if the boat was dragged along the surfaces. If you're very worried about scraping, you could always put some very low nap carpet on the top surfaces.

A 27' sailboat design? I can't wait to see how she looks.

Although, I've already convinced myself that the VG23 is the best trailerable seaworthy boat that I may be capable of completing. Hopefully I'll be able to realize a VG23 project (dream) while I'm still a young boatbuilder

As far as the thickness goes, 15/32 is to 1/2 inch plywood as 1.5 x 3.5 is to 2x4 dimensional lumber. Everybody calls it a 2x4, but the finished dimensions are really 1.5x3.5. I don't know about your lumber store, but the place where I've bought plywood before (for misc projects, not for my boat) ha...

I'm still not seeing the VG23 spar kit listed on the VG23 page. Is it listed somewhere else?

This is a great thread -- a lot of my questions are getting answered. I have one more thing to bother you about, Stainless: When you let the first fillet cure completely before doing the second one, did you sand the first fillet before applying the second? I remember hearing somewhere that if you le...

So leaving the plastic ties in the fillet is not a problem? Devlin mentioned something about how metal ties expand and contract at different rates than the surrounding composite material, and if left in, they could cause damage over time. Why is this not an issue with plastic ties? Is it because the...