Removing anti slip on Contender

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Pike
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Removing anti slip on Contender

Post by Pike »

I've just got a grp Rondar Contender which is in need of a bit of
Tlc. I'm planning to pro grip the deck and gunwhales but it
has the original anti slip along the gunwhales, what would
be the best method to remove this? I'm guessing it was put
on with the gelcoat, presently it looks like rough artex.

Thanks
Pat
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Re: Removing anti slip on Contender

Post by Pat »

If it's as rough as the "rough artex" that Rondar put on the floor of an old club Lark, it's lethal!
It took an angle grinder to get it down to something smoother and safer.
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chris
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Re: Removing anti slip on Contender

Post by chris »

How about the roughest wet and dry you can get (40grit?) Plenty of water, and use a block for the wet 'n dry.
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Re: Removing anti slip on Contender

Post by Lukey T »

Similar problem on the Merlin forum at the moment;

http://merlinrocket.co.uk/forum/main/to ... =1&search=

Below is Chris Martins suggestion. Chris and Phil Scott have years of experience repairing and renovating all kinds of boats out of their boat yard in the Midlands.

"Angle grinder with a linishing pad, 40 or 60 grit and lots of care should do the job. Just aim to get most of it rather than all of it off then finish it with the DA.

We did have to use heat on an old Bob Hoare frp NSM II when all else failed. Low setting and again lots of care. I can't remember exactly what the scrapings weighed in at but it was over 5 kilos! The boat suffered no ill effects but heat is definitely not recommended unless as in this case you have no option. You can get chemical strippers designed for fibreglass, but if they are anything like the ones for wood you might as well use orange squash if the paint is remotely hard."
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Ed
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Re: Removing anti slip on Contender

Post by Ed »

Ah the angle-grinder with sanding disc.... quite the most versatile and powerful tool going for boatbuilding. It is a complete joy to see what someone who is really confident with handling one can do. Carving, shaping, cutting, removing 'anti-slip' etc. in next to no time. All in all, a brilliant tool.

But....

it is also the most dangerous and potentially damaging tool I have ever used. The shortest lapse in concentration and you can totally bugger it up big time, in a split second. So if you are going to use one, just really take care and go very very carefully.

ed
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Re: Removing anti slip on Contender

Post by davidh »

I've done this job on a Mk 1 Rondar (I take it your boat has the square drain holes in the rear edge of the cockpit floor).

In the end, you'll probably end up needing all the methods discussed so far. The original non-slip built onto the Rondar deck mouldings was a nightmare, but in the days before pro-grip was as good as it got.

So, mark out where you decide you want the pro-grip (I just want pro-grip everywhere - I love the stuff). On the big areas, a short long board works well, elsewhere, a rotary disc for the more detailed work around the edges (though Ed's warnings are very, very real!). It doesn't have to be a perfect job, get it okay, then fill - the pro-grip itself hides a multitude of sins!

Once you've got it on the decks it will transform sailing the boat - all the more so when trying to keep the weight both out and aft when pushing it hard downwind and in waves!

Please post some pics....we all want to see your progress

Dougal
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Pat
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Re: Removing anti slip on Contender

Post by Pat »

You couldn't use sandpaper on our "artex" - it just ripped it to shreds it was THAT spikey!
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Re: Removing anti slip on Contender

Post by neil »

Off topic, but this thread gives me a flashback to a house I had that was built in the 1970s with a bathroom with Artex on the walls (it also had a brown bathroom suite). The only way of removing it was an angle grinder, and it took about 30mins to flatten it all back. I was very pleased until I realised I'd not done a very thorough job of taping the plastic sheeting over the door to stop the dust escaping. 30mins grinding followed by hours of hoovering and dusting the entire house.
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Re: Removing anti slip on Contender

Post by davidh »

Pat - Yep, the Rondar diamond nonslip could be brutal. That's why I said 'all of the above' to the suggestions made. I'd use the rotary disc to just take all the 'peaks' off - the rest will come off okay with a short long board.

Neil.....Oh dear..... yes... the dust! The first one I did, the deck was what Rondars called 'French aircraft grey' - a bluey grey colour that just made lots of evil smelling talcum powder mix. But the second time around the deck was that awful deep red colour (it was supposed to give good colour saturation with the minimum amount of gelcoat) but a morning of sanding that down make you look like Sweeny Todd - even after I'd dumped my work clothes outside, I still left a patina of very fine but red dust throughout the house.

A horrible task but not that bad once you'd gotten the first tips off the diamonds.

D
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Re: Removing anti slip on Contender

Post by Nessa »

David is right, you want pro grip everywhere. My boat has the entire cockpit floor done as well as a wide strip on the gun whales and patches on the aft deck (for when you are bearing away in breeze). This gets expensive but you don't have to use pro grip. You can get the same Eva foam from chiropodist suppliers at a fraction of the price. I have also used Funky Foam from craft suppliers. You need a decent impact adhesive to stick it on. Thixofix was always my favourite.
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Re: Removing anti slip on Contender

Post by davidh »

Like you Nessa I've gone for the whole cockpit floor in progrip - plus continuing it from transom to shrouds on the side deck. The summer before last I sailed an old Rondar one afternoon that just had the non slip pattern laid into the Gel coat - and couldn't believe how hard it made the boat to sail. As soon as the wind came from aft of the beam, I was 'doing the usual' - one foot in the back corner of the cockpit, the other tucked up under me at the corner of the stern deck/side deck, but kept sliding into the boat and having to bear away fast. It was horrible...... yet at the same time it was funny - for the older boat - with the beamier waterline sections aft, felt much more stable when turning downwind than the more modern boats - but the results show which is faster(the woodie is right on the tolerances.... I have no margins there at all and the result is that the boat can be very 'twitchy' on the run!).

I too have used thixofix - though Wickes contact adhesive works well BUT if you are going for progrip 'pike' over a large area, get plenty of hands in there to help!

Cheers

D
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Re: Removing anti slip on Contender

Post by roger »

I wonder what goes on underneath the pro grip on a wooden boat. I would be concerned about damp held against the wood and then rot.

Of course we all know that Davids love of pro grip comes from sailing a certain sliding seat boat at Baltic Wharf. For those who don't know the story no pro grip but lots of Pro lube the make the floor slippery. I still have the image in my mind of David trying his hardest to stay upright in the boat let alone keep the boat upright.
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Pike
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Re: Removing anti slip on Contender

Post by Pike »

Thanks for all the replies guys and girls :D Just got the dinghy
home last night

My Contender is number 559 no square holes in floor so
I'm not sure what mark it is.

I'm intending to progrip all along the back half of the
decks and probably the floor too. Probably going to
order it from Algeos who I believe are the company
that make the foam marketed as progrip, had thought
about using the funky foam but can't seem to find it in
sheets bigger than A4
Last edited by Pike on Sat Jun 07, 2014 12:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
davidh
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Re: Removing anti slip on Contender

Post by davidh »

Hi Pike (do you have another name at all - it does sound rather rude addressing you so)

Okay - if your boat is 559, then you'll have round drain holes and the raised bracing for the centreboard will only extend aft as far as the tower. It can be a good move to check the IYRU Plaque Number too.

If I were you I'd get a strong work light, lash it to a broom handle, stick it in through one of the hatches in the forward end of the cockpit whilst you look in through the other hatch. You want to be looking at that area where the forestay tang extends downwards towards the bottom of the boat. Some Rondars of that age suffered major failures when the forward web 'let go' with fairly catastrophic results! It is simple enough to check that all looks okay, if not you have a chance to put a couple of hatches in the deck and do something now (you'll see a number of boats from that era with twin hatches either side of the forestay - now you know why!)

By the sound of it you got a great deal there - lots of boat, what is more, one of the all time great designs, well done! Do you know where you'll be sailing it!

You are in good company here, as another forumite recently got hold of boat number 160 - Dave Pitman's Championship winning 'steed', there is at least one other 'oldie' and I for one have high hopes of seeing the boat appear at some of our events. You've also got Nessa on here who is a long time Contender sailor, Peter Vinton used to race one and I still have mine.

Good luck,

Dougal
PS - don't believe a word of the rumours about my performance at Baltic Wharf. Why head butt walls when you can head butt a plank boom - at speed!
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Re: Removing anti slip on Contender

Post by Bill-Conner »

Don't tell your name Pike!
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