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Go Backwards before Going Forwards

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Backwards  Well after all the hard work making the centreboard case and fitting it, I found out later that I had fitted  it in the wrong place. Don't ask, originally I used a plank from the transom to the foredeck levelled up and a laser level from the centreboard bolt hole to check it. For some reason I had not worked out it appeared that it was going to be too far back so instead of questioning myself properly I cut 100mm off the front  of the case [ the part that forms the mast foot base ] and then epoxied it in. The following day I re-checked using a different method - Inside bottom of the transom to the centreboard bolt hole then added to thickness of the transom on so the CB bolt hole was measured from the datum- outside of the transom only to find that the centreboard case was 10mm too far forward of the maximum.  Very big oops, I broke every rule in my book, measure a lot and only then cut. I should have peer review it with someone before making my dumb decis...
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Dark Arts

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  Dark Arts The next stage was to start putting this old girl back together. The first thing was to understand the rules and to interpret what they meant and what was measured from where. This was actually the main challenge throughout the whole rebuild, doubt and uncertainty certainly slowed down the whole process. Stog and Mars Bar were invaluable because I was confused a lot of the time which stalled progress. They were online help, 'what does this mean what does that mean', 'where is this measured from'. The main datum was the outside of the transom, and the actual skin of the boat. Some measurements were +/- 15mm which isn't a lot on an old boat and others such as the deck camber were no more than 95mm. I bought plywood from Robbins a mix of  Gaboon, and Sapelee faced. The Sapelee faced is heavier than the Gaboon but looks better and its going to be used for the bulkhead, centreboard case and transom. The stringers etc are all cut from one 6x2 rough sawn plank ...
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A Firefly to Rebuild- Part 1 Ripping it Apart.

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Beginnings I had rebuilt 2 wooden Wayfarers years ago, we raced one number 662 at a world championships in Hayling Island in 1993 and cruised it up the west coast of Scotland. The other came from a shingle beach at Bexhill on Sea, we kept it for a while and then sold it to friends who sailed it at Bala. Eventually that boat turned up at our sailing club Port Dinorwic, bought by John Jones a master craftsman boat builder. Both were sapelee decked and very pretty boats.  Adrian Stoggal, sometime Olympic race officer and whose daughter Ella sails a renovated firefly was  renovating another old Firefly with Neil Marsden in his workshop in Garstang, near Preston. Stog kept pesterimg me about rebuilding one and kept sending me boats worth renovating. Eventually, through Fiona Tylecote, [ thanks Fiona!], I was pointed towards a boat in Torpoint, about as far from home as I could get from Caernarfon in North Wales. The boat  number 2762, built in 1961 measured 7th November and de...
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