V-berth makeover Part I

[bearmcnally]

Hi Troppo
This is what I was saying hope it helps ?

Cheers Bear

[Troppo]

Thank you Bear. I see what ya saying.

Putting in those side panels would hugely increase the strength of that section.

I also need to do the little triangle section in the bilge since I have removed the ply from there as well. It probably was neither marine play or exterior ply as the layers have come unglued. I have ordered epoxy and stuff from Boatcraft Pacific so looking forward to getting into it.

[wyndham]

Hi Troppo

I notice your anchor locker is vented, I would seal seal it off from the rest of the boat as on one occaision when lifting the anchor in adverse conditions the bow was going under and filling the anchor locker

Neil

[Miker]

Hi Troppo

I notice your anchor locker is vented, I would seal seal it off from the rest of the boat as on one occaision when lifting the anchor in adverse conditions the bow was going under and filling the anchor locker

Neil

Good pick up Neil. I can see the anchor well drain going down to the port bow, but missed the vent. What a crazy thing to do! Unless of course it was a waterproof vent similar to those on a coachroof.

Troppo, I'd seal that up. There isn't much need for it if you're opening the v-berth section.

[Tales]

I removed the light ply structure in the bow of Tales when I undertook the deck/bow fitting repair some years ago.

Have not replaced it because it certainly was not a structural part of the boat.

Can now stretch out in my bunk which is nice.

I think the TH is quite well designed in the area being discussed and see no need for reinforcement.

Certainly, slamming off a wave makes a big noise in that area but I have never observed any distress in Tales.

The report of two boats apparently having failures in that area to my mind does not constitute a design problem. We don't know the prior accident history of either boat.

White Tie copped more punishment back in '78 than any of our boats are likely to have and no problems there.

Any boat regularly used in Port Phillip and Bass Strait has to work hard - none of your flat water sailing down here - and no one has a bad word to say about a Top Hat.

Cheers,

Tom

[storm petrel]

White Tie was specially set up for the race by Formit f/glass and I would not be surprised if it had a strengthened bow. Has anyone been aboard her to have a look?

[Tales]

Nick told me that White Tie was the demonstrator boat for Formit. She was supposed to have and extra 10% higher mast which may have accounted for her good placings in local races.

She was built before Nick asked for sponsorship for the Trans Tasman.

The only change to original (apart from the mast) was one size up in standing rigging (which fits with Illingworths original design specs).

Nick prepared the boat for the race himself.

Cheers,

Tom

[Troppo]

Hi Troppo

I notice your anchor locker is vented, I would seal seal it off from the rest of the boat as on one occaision when lifting the anchor in adverse conditions the bow was going under and filling the anchor locker

Neil

Ah, I hadn't got around to asking about that. I have so many questions I am .

When I realised there was a hole between the anchor locker and the interior I thought, "Gee these THs are good, they must never get water over the bow!" Actually, I didn't think that, I wondered if I could patch it up before I got water coming in.

Okay, patching it up has been confirmed as being critical so I'll add that to the list.

Neil, I hope I never have to lift the anchor in conditions like you were in.

[bornfreee]

Hi Guys Jamie had a crack on the port bow area as far as i can remember which happened while beating towards Lord Howe Island,he used foam cut in quite a large circular pattern and glassed that to both sides of the bow meaning port and starboard, thus strengthening up the forward area, my mrk 1 built by Formit did the same thing water leaking into the bilge from a crack up the front.
though the Top hat design is awesome, only the Mrk 0 and Mrk1 were really built to what a yacht should have been built to go out into blue water, each Mark there after were built cheaper and cheaper, and if you don't believe me climb into a mark 3 into areas you have to crawl into and have a look at the shoddy workmanship thin ply with a splash of glass on it to hold it there, ply under your decks instead of solid glass and ply in the roof area and Bow area with a thin layer of glass, ask Shaun he didn't believe me until he did repairs on blue Moon, so the design is fantastic the build quality fell behind.
All bulkheads add strength in some way that front one i am guessing would help the deck area forward, i know i would want it there, as for stringers, even the humble endeavor 24 has stringers in the bow area making her a really strong boat while beating i was gob smacked when i bought my first Top hat and saw no stringers, if you bang on the bow area from the outside on the hard stand you can feel the weakness in that large area so i do agree with mark it is an area that needs to be looked at if you want peace of mind.
One boat that stands out as being a high class built from a production boat is the Brolga 33 you paid a lot of money for it but it was first rate build quality large beams glassed into the boat as always just my opinion