The Bare Bones

To build the kit so that it’s fair and square, a frame is needed, onto which the strakes are built up. This consists of a square section tunnel, made of MDF, onto which the station templates are slotted in the right position. Most of these templates are temporary, but some parts stay with the boat, such as Station 1, Station 3 and the forward bulkhead at Station 5. It’s worth measuring everything three times, as any mistakes now will cost dear.

I did have one hiccup, where part of the frame that was supposed to hold the forward bulkhead at the right position just wouldn’t fit in the right place, but a quick email to Francois confirmed that one of the drawings was incorrect, and a new page was sent. If your plans date after March 2017, then you should be OK. Phew!

Slight panic as one of the frames doesn’t fit!

Once the frames are in place, it’s easy to see how the boat will take shape, and now’s a good time just to run your eye over the lines to see if anything obvious is wrong.

All stations in place, with the side bulkheads in place loosely to check alignment

After a dry run, now’s the time to tape up the edges of the frames with packing or Mylar tape, so the resulting hull doesn’t stick to them. This is especially critical at Stations 1, 3 and 5, as well as Station 2 where the sidetank bulkheads pass through the frame. The strakes will be glued to these bulkheads but NOT to the frame, otherwise, you’ll have a problem!

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