Updates to Plans

Although we spent a great deal of time and effort in making our plans available in electronic format unfortunately a few errors crept in.

So please use this page to update and correct the download drawings. Some of the errors we have noticed ourselves, but please let us know of any more so that we can update this page and make the download drawings as accurate as possible. To make it easier for you to print out the revised drawings and us them in your workshop I have uploaded them as PDFs

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Thank you

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General Notes:

The normal method of marking out plywood bulkheads using full size patterns is to lay the pattern on the plywood. Then "prick though" the pattern with a nail or bradawl at say 1in or 30mm spacing. Remove pattern and "join the dots"

Some of the Materials Lists still suggest using resorcinol glue. However this glue is now outdated. Now I recommend using epoxy throughout, but you can use polyurethene glue for strip planking and also for non structural or lightly loaded above water joints. Always use epoxy below the WL.

Another outdated method is to use gripfast nails instead of screws. With the advent of cordless drills/screwdrivers I now recommend using stainless steel countersunk screws instead. Approx 2/3rd of the length should go into timber, 1/3 for plywood. So 6mm ply use 18mm (3/4in) screws. 25mm (1in) for 9mm ply etc. Screw size no 6 is usually sufficient as it makes the smallest hole in the wood. But no8 screws are good for more heavily loaded joints. They can usually be driven straight into the wood, no need to predrill.

We recommend sheathing all exposed plywood with 200g/sqm glass cloth and epoxy as a minimum, maybe doubled below the WL

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Rudder blocks

The kick up rudder system I use on many of my boats works very well. However the blocks need to be carefully made for best results.

They do not want to be tight in the slot or they might jam (which is why it is probably not a good idea to use solid unsheathed wood as it can swell if the rudders are left down for long periods). But neither do they want to be loose as then there will be a very annoying rattle when at anchor.

So what I usually do is make the block as snug a fit as possible and then add a vertical bead of Sikaflex or 5200 to the sides of the block. Not only does this act as a fill-in if the block is too narrow, but also acts as a soft bumper and reduces any banging noise.

Furthermore the block should extend behind the transom at least 50mm so that when you tighten the downhaul rope it pushes the block forwards. See this video for more https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7HxVyJkPio

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Waterlines

While your hull is still upside down you should mark the waterline all round. The boat is already set up square, if you don't do it now you'll find it much harder to square the boat up once you've turned it over. You can use a laser level or the more traditional watertube

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The following changes list the designs in alphabetical order so please scroll down to see your boat details