I believe Roger can make you a hull bottom??? to reduce the tedium/stress of
making this part and its internal structures. The deck is mostly flat or curved
- an easier stripping process where you can take your time and personalize the
wood detail design. All you need is a garage.
Bob, it would be great to see you in a Swift sailing with us its gonna be a
blast. Moreover, the swift and canoe are not mutually exclusive and really
complimentary with respect to apparent wind skills, so keep both. With 60
bots under construction ~20 Swift Solo skippers at the Fort this year and quite
a few who are nearing completion and have sent their apologies, I believe we
have already well and truly met the critical mass for a class. I think we will
easily be able to field enough boats for regional regattas in the coming
summer. Certainly in the NE and the NW and possibly soon in the UK.
See you all at the fort on Sunday some time.
Greg
Swift Solo - Rose
----- Original Message -----
From: Bob Lewis
To: BDally6107@xxxxxxx
Cc: swiftsolo@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Saturday, March 05, 2005 6:48 PM
Subject: RE: help needed at Fort Desoto
Bram,
Just in case I haven't missed you.
I'm kind of interested in whether you have plans to someday make boats from
molds. I was thinking it might be a topic of discussion at your first meet.
I'm thinking a new wave of builders would be interested in a) buying a shell
hull and deck and finishing it or b) borrowing the molds and finishing.
Personally, I feel I have the skill and equipment to put in bulkheads and glue
the top and bottom together but I would never attempt to strip build. Not that
I'm ready to jump out of IC's or anything but if you achieve critical mass one
might have to go with the flow!!!
I fully understand and endorse the need to avoid super boats - all carbon
nomex. But surely you could come up with something - maybe your present lay-up
with balsa core, that might be a step down but not much and way cheaper if out
of a mold. The difference in stiffness might be negligible. You could maybe
then add a little carbon here and there to bring it up to the cedar core boats
if it was a little softer.
The first rule should be to keep the cedar hulls as the best option such that
anyone who wants to do an uncompromised run at the world title would get a
cedar hull. You probably would need to come up with some measurements that
would show the benefit of cedar because if say the top three at the worlds had
balsa cores it would be hard to refute the benefit without numbers - weight,
stiffness, lamboli. Perceptions can rule over facts.
Good luck in Florida - sounds like a hoot.
Bob Lewis
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