Rolf,

You are correct, the DK17 was designed for the larger A cat sailor. DK for Dirk Kramers, 17th revision of the design.

Quote from (email) Steve Clark "Dirk Kramers and I have been talking this for some time.... Both of us weigh more than 200 and felt that there was something that would work better for super sized individuals. ....it is Flyer or A2 in general appearance, but, most significantly, it has more volume high in the stern. This should help the boat from squatting too much as we go wild. On my Flyer, it is rare that I can sit far enough forward in moderate air..."

George Sanders is a larger guy, I'm probably the smallest of the bunch at 190lb.

The reason I jumped into this thread was that Dave Snell said he was 210lbs.

Bill

photo 1

photo 2

photo 3

Photo 4 - this is another shot of my high tech wet sanding area.

Wouter et al;

I just sent this as part of a private message:

" My biggest problem has always been working with epoxy. I'm not good at it! I get the stuff every where, use too much on the wood and end up with a lot of wa$te! My clean-up time is MUCH greater than it should be. If you know of a good book that might help me with these problems, that would be VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!"

Also, it occurs to me that I'm not looking for a boat with the greatest performance. For me the criteria are:

1. Single handed

2. Light weight, for ease of movement on the beach

3. Relatively durable and inexpensive with good performance.

In my memory, the H 16 is my favorite boat, probably because it was my first cat! I still find that level of performance fully acceptable! For me, the boat was a hoot!

There is something to be said for the H16, easy, simple, durable. My Dart 16 was like that.

As far as working with epoxy goes, I find that the more preparation you do, the better off you are. So, make sure you have plastic or some other means to catch drips, areas that you dont want to get epoxy on, you tape, or cover with plastic, wax, mclube, packing tape, etc.


Another good idea is to cover your the area you are working on with peel ply, its a nylon fabric that helps control the surface and soaks up any excess epoxy. Plus when the epoxy cures, you merely rip off the peel ply and you take the blush with it, and it leaves a nice textured surface, so no sanding.

On the first hull I pulled off the peel ply before I glued the hulls together and the drips ran down the sides of the hulls, which needed to be sanded off. On the second hull, I left the peel ply on, and then the drips came off when I pulled off the peel ply.

so if you use this peel ply stuff, you don't have to do as much sanding between layers?

" peel ply" Fantastic! Where can I get some!?
Also, you are dead right about the prep., the lack of which is my worst sin!

yes, no sanding between layers.

Peel ply allows the epoxy to soak thru, so the blush rises to the surface, the peel ply rips it off leaving a surface free of blush rough enough for a second coat.

check
www.fibreglast.com
www.jamestowndistributors.com
http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/product;part;37897;process;search;ID;,Fiberglass,Vacuum.Bagging.Supplies
http://www.nfgsales.com/peel.htm

Thanks for the updated photos Bill, looks awesome! Looking forward to see it again when painted and rigged.

I haven't used peelply while working with ply/wood, but for vacuum bagging it is a 'must have'. Good fiberglass shops will have it, most who carry WEST system epoxy can also get it.

I have heard about people using regular lightweight nylon as peel, but I dont know how advisabl that would be.

Bill;

Thanks for the info!

Bill,

Here is a silly question for you. Why didn't you spray the molds with gelcoat so that you could pull the hulls from the molds and have a finished product? Were the molds somewhat imperfect where you have to do sanding anyway on the outside?

Just wondering?

Mike Hill

Bill,
The boat looks great. I can't help but notice that the hull shape resembles my Dart 18...upsidedown.

Mike,
The molds were perfect, polished smooth as glass, but I had no experience spraying gelcoat so I didnt do it.

At the time, I was looking to pull hulls out as quickly as possible and decided I would worry about it later.

For a brief moment I toyed with wood veneer, http://www.rockler.com/rockler/images/Walnut-1.jpg
and also toyed with leaving it clear coated carbon, but was talked out of both ideas because epoxy softens when it gets too hot and both finishes would have gotten hot in the summer sun.

My thought was that the wood veneer would actually add strenght to the hull as well as provide a finished surface. But then the wood veneer would have to be clear coated, and that would add weight, so I discarded that idea.

Carbon spreaders - so light that they dont even register on my scale.

The alternative was Proctor spreaders at 1.3lbs

So are you going to awlgrip it now? If so what color? I congratulate you on doing something like this. I also loved your caption's sense of humor. I wish I had access to this kind of knowledge. I've often thought about doing a project boat.

Mike Hill

carbon mid boom sheeting setup with a modified ronstan rachet block.

modified Flyer mast base - I found the round stock in the parking lot at Sail Newport, it had been run over on one end and left for trash. I kept it, cut off the broken end and gave it a new life as a rotator arm.

For those of us who have never sailed an A cat, can someone try to compare an A's performance to a Hobie 17 or other similar boat? And, how much better is a modern boat in performance of an older wooden A cat?