Please help me get out of a dither

[ACB]

The time has come to get started on the mortal remains of K377, Mercury, an Uffa Fox 14 from 1937. I use the term "mortal remains" advisedly; twenty years in a hedge did nothing for her and any rebuild will with luck conserve the transom and the hog, centrecase and stem and perhaps a few strakes. No fittings or spars survive.

So far I have got as far as getting the plans.

I think I need advice or at least to start a discussion on whether:

(a) one goes for a restoration to original spec

or

(b) one aims to get the boat sailing, i.e epoxy and suchlike get used in the rebuild.

If the latter the boat would be finished to look at least "internally and externally plausible" but the added stiffness and watertightness would mean that she should not be sailed against other vintage 14s.

In favour of this would be that the boat could be treated like a cold moulded inghy not like a museum piece. I would put gthe ribs back though.

I started out favouring (a) but have come round to favouring (b)

Advice, please...

[Rupert]

I guess it depends upon whether you are planning to join other vintage 14's, or sail her more as an everyday (sort of) boat. Given how much of her will be new, conservation becomes less of an issue.

Go with what you feel will give you the most joy of ownership.

[ACB]

Thanks Rupert.

I see her future as an everyday sort of boat, really - we are a long way from any I14 vintage fleet and I see her as a stylish way to go round the cans at the club (handicap to be discussed...) That way she would get sailed more.

Would I be accused of vandalism?

One decision already made is that she will be finished with Coelan for durability, rather than trad varnish ( m9ft tender is Coelan, Firefly is trad varnish, IC is 2 pack over epoxy, think Firefly might get two pack over epoxy in the Spring!)

[Rupert]

Some might accuse, but they aren't the ones doing the work, spending the money or sailing her. Much better she gets used again than goes on the bonfire.

What is Coelan?

[ACB]

It is an expensive varnish substitute, a very flexible moisture curing polyurethane, originally made I think as a sealer for concrete floors in the building trade. It is completely clear but the primer, which contains the anti-UV stuff, comes in yellow, red or brown (called "spruce", "teak" and "oak") so the finished item tends to be a bit lurid, as compared to real varnish. Unlike two pack poly it can be used on real wood, as it remains very flexible and is to some extent vapour permeable, too.

Its great merit if used on a boat made of real wood as opposed to ply or cold/hot/moulded is that it is flexible and very durable - lasts for years and years.

In this snap the tender and the bowsprit are Coelan, the mast is Epifanes:



for comparison, the foredeck of the IC is two pack over epoxy:

[chris]

I am in a similar dither over how to approach my 14 of 1946. It sounds as if it is in a similar state. Replacing ribs is a real problem as they are let into the hog from below before the skin is applied so in theory you can't replace one without removing the skin and to do that means taking the whole thing apart and making a new mould to rebuild it. The chances of being able to successfully reuse much, if any existing timber seems slim so logically it would be better to start from new and just make a replica, which defeats the object anyway.
I hope to make a start next year but I would like to acheive a restoration rather than a replica!

[ACB]

Happy to exhange notes, Chris!

To do a proper job I think one would have to make a "building form", as used by Uffa in the first place. I'm sure we've all seen pictures of his technique, but anyway this link might show it:

https://sites.google.com/site/cbtmuseum ... collection

I am going to guess that:

-the moulds are on the stations (?) and there are five and a half ribbands.

- The lowest ribband appears to lie below the line of the sheer (?) so the ribs are fastened to that and to the hog (?) and the ribs are cut down to the gunwale after planking.

- the inner skin (at 45 degrees) is fastened to the ribs, the rib positions marked on the inner skin and layer of (in my case) cotton duck) and the outer skin is fastened through both.

[JimC]

...any rebuild will with luck conserve the transom and the hog, centrecase and stem and perhaps a few strakes.

I think that's more original timber than survives on some of the Thames Raters.

On the subject of moulds there's some interesting stuff been done by Clive Everest, the RS300 and RS600 designer on a new Cherub, getting all the pieces for a new boat mould Laser cut and assembling it in something like half a day. It occurs to me that, although goodness knows where you get hold of the technology, it must be possible to get a digitised model of the interior of an old boat with something like the 3D laser modelling equipment that gets used now. If you get a digital model of the interior of the boat then producing a new building form from laser cut mdf or whatever becomes almost easy. It ought to take shed loads of work out of a restoration like this.

[Bill-Conner]

It beggars belief that Uffa and his men built one of these 14's in a week!
The two skins were initially seperated by a oiled silk membrane more latterly it was light varnished canvas. This stoopped them leaking very much.
Mostly the ribs (Canadian rock elm mainly (Now as rare as rocking horse manure.)) were butted up to the hog not rebated which is why if you invert them you'll find extensive cracking along the line of the edge of the hog.
There is a very good description of building a ribbed 14 (Though glued!) in one of Robin Stevensons books, by using glue he was saved driving the thousands of copper brass pins of the nailed up boats. Certainly by 1946 Uffa could have used one of the waterproof glues.
How did Uffa do it?
Though close inspection shows the craftsmanship though good, was not as good as it looked.
I think that unless a solid job is done it will be an ongoing task just keepin the boat together.
Good luck.

[chris]

Many firms do laser cutting and its not too expensive either. I had some steel components cut recently and once the data was in the computer they did test pieces cut in MDF for me to check. It just a question of getting the details in the computer in the first place.
When Dinghies Delight has a chapter on Steavenson making his 14.

Mine differs a bit in construction as its not an Uffa Fox boat. there does not seem to be a cloth membrane (I've looked very carefully) but the inner skin is tongue and grooved and only 1" wide boards. the out layer is the same width but not T&G.

Do you know what model by Fox yours is?

Jim, Indeed, if I was going to replace so much I would just start from stratch...but then I would choose to build a more upto date model anyway!

[JimC]

Jim, Indeed, if I was going to replace so much I would just start from stratch...but then I would choose to build a more upto date model anyway!

I was thinking of the advantages of being able to quickly knock up a decent jig/frame to keep the boat in shape during the rebuild. That way you'd be spending your effort on the boat, not the tooling.