We put the cradle of a couple of planks to make a sled to move the boat around,
then jacked the sled up and winched it onto the trailer.
All we had to do then was remove the planks and bolt the cradle to the trailer.

The standard wingnet rail is 50mm alloy tube with a 3mm wall.
I decided to make a wing shape for the rail so it would be more comfortable to sit on.
I drew up a modified wing mast shape, laminated some corecell foam and Mark was good enough to machine it to the shape on his CNC machine.
It was then sheaved in 4 layers of carbon and a light layer of glass.(All under vacuum).
I was very happy with the result as it came out the same weight the alloy would have been.
Below are a couple of pics.

I forgot to point out that I moved the rear bulkhead, ie- the one imediately in front of the transom below the **** floor, forward a little and put in a hatch.
This is to provide plenty of room to stowe a stern anchour when in cruising mode and make fitting that compartment out for water ballast, for racing, a little easier later on.

Florin, a friend of many years, flew in from Europe 7 weeks ago to help me with work on the boat.
He has made a huge difference, with the two of us, working 8am to 7pm 7 days a week to get the boat to the stage it is at now.

In addition to that, at night he and my wife Terri have been working on a name and graphics.
So getting the graphics on the boat was a big step forward for all of us. Below is a pic of the graphics being put on.




BTW:- this was the boats first outing and a chance to see how it handles on the road.

Also below is a pic of a couple of blocks that Florin made for my down haul system that will run inside the boom.



The last pic is the first standing of the mast.

Hi Phill
The boat looks fantastic, Pity about he East Coast Low, this weekend to take it out for a ride. At least you win the boat park award again.

Richard

Folks,
It has been a long but enjoyable journey from the purchase of the plans.
Lots of friends have been there to help me along the way.
First mention has to be Ian Farrier for supplying such detailed plans and endless support over the years.
My wife Terri who does not even sail. I could not have built this boat without her support along the way, and with significant input regarding the aesthetics.
Mark with his CNC machining, laminating and radical ideas to push the envelope to produce a more refined end result.
Jack was always available when I needed a hand laminating and offering practical advice based on experience from his own boat build.
Peter, along with many of the guys that I ride with, when a big job was on or I needed to move hulls around.
Richard, either by lending me specialised tools or borrowing them from someone.
Florin, with his CAD skills to help work stuff out just to make things easier, not to mention flying 19,000km to work for 6 weeks, 7 days a week, 10 and 11 hour days to get the boat on the water. All just to see it sail.

Yes, the boat is now on the water. Still lots to do to finish her off but she does float and does sail.
Following next couple of posts are just going to be pics.

more pics

Well done Phill, The finished boat looks great. When you emailed me and said that you where doing 7 knots in glassy conditions, I thought it was under sail not motor

Richard

I have no idea what it does under motor.

Sorry Phill
From the angle you are sitting and the angle that the photo is taken from it looked like a motor wake out the port side of the boat.
I have now seen the error of my last post.

Sorry
Richard

To get the boat on the water I didn't have much in the way of sail tuning and setup. I'll now go through and fine tune all the control setups. My first little project was the main halyard. I have a 2:1 main halyard but only ran a 1:1.
The preferred fitting between the sail and halyard these days for this type of boat and 2:1 seems to be the Tylaska H8 halyard shackle with a breaking load around 3600kg and a cost of up to 178 dollars. I am going to make my own halyard shackle from a low friction ring by Ronstan RF8090-16 for $23 and soft shackle that I will make from 4mm dyneema with a total cost of around $25 and a breaking load of over 5,700 kg.
My first attempt used 1250mm of 4mm SK78 dyneema with a 250mm bury . The length of the bury was to ensure there were 4 thicknesses of dyneema through the eyelet in the sail. (this link will show how to do this type of soft shackle- http://www.bethandevans.com/pdf/improvedsoftshackle.pdf ) . The through hole in the dyneema to form the noose in the shackle was made 12mm past the centre between the eyes made in the end. This is the left most soft shackle in the pic. It proved to be long enough to work but not long enough to fix permanently to the LFR as per the soft shackle in the centre. The soft shackle in the centre was made the same but used 1400mm of dyneema. This seems long enough to meet my requirements with 105mm between bearing surfaces and a total weight of 33g as opposed to the H8 at 87.7gms. The soft shackle on the right was made from 800mm of 3mm sk75 dyneema with a 150mm bury and could have been strong enough with a BS of around 3400kg but I felt more comfortable with the thicker line . The size of the knots change quite a lot for only 1mm thicker line. As the noose has to open up enough to get the knot through it affects the distance between bearing surfaces because I want to be able to release the shackle without difficulty.

When I started this project my objective was to build a strong stiff boat because I mainly want to do coastal sailing as opposed to closed waters. I chose to build in the heavy glass option for strength knowing that it would end up being heavier than if I used the same methods in the lighter glass option or even carbon.
I knew that the day would come that I would have to come to terms with the consequences of that decision and get the boat weighed. Well that has happened. I bit the bullet a couple of days back and weighed the "Mad Hatter". It has come in at 920kg. I just missed my target of 900kg. Still if you compare this weight with similar boats it is a pretty good weight.

Anyway we took the Hatter out during the week and I checked how fast it would go under motor. At 3/4 throttle (being a new motor I didn't want to go above that until run in) it sits on 8.5knots in flat calm conditions. Just above idle its 4.7knots.

Below is a pic of The Mad Hatter patiently waiting on the Gosford waterfront while her crew had a coffee before the day's sail. The sea breese started at 5 knots and slowly built to 10.The warm sunny day gave a further glimpse of what is in store with summer just around the corner. It all made for a most enjoyable day with the boat feeling light and lively. The Hatter sat on 13 to 14knots once the breese filled in and hit a top speed of 16 knots for the day with just main and jib. I can't wait to get the screecher rigged and really wind it up.



I thought I'd add the pic below just because I like it.
A top sunset to finish off a great afternoon's sail .
The Mad Hatter and friend's cruising cat sitting on moorings as the sun falls below the hills.

So Phill,

how is life and the boat now that you have had the time to enjoy the fruits of your work?

Rolf,
Life and the boat are great but as far as having "time to enjoy the fruits of my work". If only it were that simple.

Apart from the occasional sail, my time is mostly taken up with finishing little details so I can really enjoy the fruits of my work during summer.

It will all be worth it in the long run. This is by far the nicest boat that I've sailed. It is fast and comfortable and light to steer. It accelerates like a sports car and seems to handle like one too. It tacs like a laser, not only with full rig but even when sailing upwind under jib alone. It's all so easy and bodes well for the summer ahead.

Great to hear!

And you even have a shelter for the stradivarius. Much better to have the boat there rather than the car

It sounds as if you already enjoy the boat - and is ready for more once spring is there. (I forgot that you have "winter" in Australia at this time of year.. )


I know Ian Farrier used to have some kind of trend chart on his site for how many working hours each "personality" needed to complete their building projects. From the very fast carpenter who went saling after a year in a basic boat to the cabinet maker who spent the rest of his life in the boatbuilding workshop. Have you considered where you placed in between those extremes?

Rolf,
I decided before I started this project that it would be the last boat that I build so I planned on taking my time.

Time wise I've been much closer to the cabinet maker than the carpenter. I rarely considered the time a task would take only the method versus the result.

So it has been a massive investment of time but I'm happy with that investment.

That graph is a bit optimistic. I can't see a person building an F-85SR in 2000 hrs. Especially the beams and the folding mechanisme, including the reinforcements in the hull, are very time consuming. I've allready put in more than 2500 hrs @450/year and I still have about two years to go.

I know vacuum bagging takes more time, but still...

Phill,

I guesstimated that you would tend towards the cabinet maker from how I know you

Doing things properly takes the time it takes. I still have a mini-tractor in my garage with from 1 to 10ish hours spent every week. Once it is out - I have some more boatbuilding to do etc. As we discussed several times before - the journey is the goal and the real experience.

Unfortunately - not everybody understands or accept this. Especially friends and family tends to shake their heads at my priorities.


Nico - I dont know, but if a rough finish is accepted, quick and dirty methods, buying pre-fab materials , very basic fitout and one have experience from similar projects - It is surprising what can be done.

Hi Rolf, yeah you're probably right.
I'm probably too much of a cabinet maker myself as well.
You are absolutely right about other people shaking their heads

Nico and Rolf,
Re "other people shaking their heads" - my better half came up with the name "Mad Hatter". That says a lot, but I like it and now it looks finished, she appreciates the result.