They are both really flattered and send you their best purrrrrr

Gato,

I was looking through the Tabby building blog on your website again and have a question: In our Blade F16 strip plank project, I spend a lot of time sanding the hulls after planking+gluing. A lot more than I would on a ply hull. How would you compare the outside fairing/sanding on the tabby before glassing to sanding/fairing your ply and strip plank projects (you did a fair bit of sanding on the mast, did you not)?

Did you do anything to make the foam planks get a tight and clean fit in the curves, or did you just fill them from the outside before sanding/fairing? We are planking with 4mm spruce strips, and use a plane to get a tight fit between planks. This also adds to the time spent building.

I think I said it somewhere already, the strip foam is the easiest and fastest way I have tried so far.
I user 15mm wide and 5mm thick strips all over and I did not glue them together at all they are hold together by the double faced tape in the moulds, then the inside is glassed and the frames and all the other details on the inside are coved and glassed before the epoxy has set. That saves already a lot of time and sanding.
As I use narrow strips (15mm) there is no need to make them fit together. The only tool used when putting the strips was a sharp knife.
When the hull halves comes out of the mould and are joined together it’s about 30 minutes of sanding to fair the outside. Then a layer of epoxy mixed with filler to seal the foam and the joints, and then the glass laminated directly to that. It took me five weekends to make the Tabby.

!!!
Surely that is with the strips already ripped and the mould set up? Still a great building time. You had the hull panels done in two weeks then! Makes me wonder about our choosen building method

Thanks for the information!

Ripping the strips was done with a bandsaw and it took about half an hour/hull half.
I have been a wood enthusiast myself, but when it comes to modern designs I have changed my mind...

I will have to do a foam boat as well, just to test it against the woodies.

Why not a Tabby, I'm thinking of making a 14 feet version

If my youngest girl and Omars boy show any interest when they are 5-6, I'll ask Ncik for building plans!
I am into F16s, and possibly the F18 class if they get some class racing going here (which it looks like they will do). Going into a potential F14 class becomes a bit too much even for me :-)

Or did was it a 16 footer you hinted about?

I was not thinking for racing purpose, just for having fun before you get the rest ready for sailing. I can tell you, it's great fun to have a cat of just 50kg that you can rig in no time and be on the water and sail in winds of +30 knots...

I see. Tempting.. But I fear that if I sidetrack I'll never finish the current project!