I have a sneaking suspicion that what little free time you used to have is going to be used up filling all the orders you're gonna get for this. That's a good thing. Now you need to do a slug graphic on the side of the J-22.

Looks great to me.

Now, that's funny. We've been talking about doing something on the J22 when I get it to the house for some attention this winter. I'm not sure about a slug but you have me thinking.....

Regarding the cradles, I think I'll be OK..my cradles are pretty flat bottomed and I have my trailer tires balanced (yes, I'm that guy). It's really not a big deal to get the graphic high enough up the hull where the cradles won't be a problem. If I get some damage there, I'll just trim the graphic a little higher and re-seal it. I'm more worried about the blistering I discovered on the hulls from the cradles! I'm going to get a Todd Hart paint booth to put on my boat storage pad so it can stay mostly dry.

I'm also helping someone restore an old Ski Tique that doesn't want to spend the time refinishing the hulls...I'm probably not going to blog that work but pictures will be on our Flickr site at in the Graphics Works set (man, I need to get our website finished):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/teamseacats/sets/72157635308360963/

Have you thought about wrapping the boards/rudders as well?
As long as it doesn't affect the performance of the boards this could be a real eye-catcher.

Very cool result Jake. Are you running a vinyl print business - or did you just buy the printer for your own projects? Any advice on buying a vinyl printer like this (size, manufacturer etc) for boat and sail projects?

Chris.

I have an "on-the-side" business that my wife and I have been running and I keep toying with making it a full-time proposition for me. We've got a solid industrial customer base that has kept this viable for a while. For most of that time we had a 20" vinyl cutter and a 12" printer/cutter machine. A couple of years ago we re-invested into the business to build the garage (and office space) and increase our capability. With the wider/larger format capability comes a considerable savings in consumables. I've always used Roland DGA equipment because it's built like a tank and just works for year after year. What we're doing now is a bit beyond the hobby level (for me, anyway) but if you are interested, you can find out more about the printing equipment at the Roland site. The main printer we use is a VP-540i which was only made for a short while. It's a combination printer/cutter with large/double print heads for accelerated printing. The sister machine that they offer today is the SP-540i which is the same machine but with 1/2 the print speed. They split the product lines with the VersaCamm and Soljet when they developed a method to print with metallic flake inks. The VP series was dropped to make a clear line of distinction between Soljet and VersaCamm models.

Roland VersaCamm Website

Our laminator is a Royal Sovereign 1401C

I rechecked my measurements and I had assumed an average height of 24" on the graphic. It's actually 22" at the bow and a little less than 12" at the stern. Assuming the average is closer to 18" (probably a little less than that), the overall weight is closer to 2.5 lbs for both hulls.

Jake,

I don't want to teach you to suck eggs, but thought you might be interested to know (but probably already do) that the guys doing wraps on power boats paint over the seams with a clear varnish. It helps with stopping water getting under and lifting the seam.

Sure, Ive seen that. It comes in a big felt tipped pen. The 3M edge sealing tape I used is supposed to be better for that and remain more removable later.

It would definitely be cool but I doubt it will withstand the wear from sliding in the trunks for long. It would be tough to get the seam to not affect foil performance and I'm not sure it would survive complete submersion under those circumstances. Gelcoat definitely has a purpose there.

Those are some mad skilz you're building there... Kind of like window tinting, from hell.

I'd bet that machine would cut window tint too.
Might be a niche market there..... Window tint with something printed on it?

Really hot looking boat Jake! Sent you an email on the EVA decking. Totally jealous of the man shed that must make these projects SOOO much easier!

Give it a month, I've got 5,000 lbs of porcelain tile in a corner waiting to be installed. I'll finally have a finished floor that I can clean!

It would cut window film but I doubt that film will retain the ink. We can, however, print on the perforated window film but I'm not sure you want that on anything but back windows.

The GRG boat looked AWESOME on the water and it was painfully obvious that the wrap did nothing negative to speed. I am working on a design drawing for mine! of course it will not be all fancy and computer generated like jake's.....more likely crayons, construction paper and glue sticks...

Here's a shot of the hulls finished (with my sailing crew, Ted). Replacing and putting graphics on the sails are the next project.


DSC_3888 by Green Room Graphics, on Flickr

I don't know Jake, those sails look damn new to me...funny your boat was built 5 ahead of mine, if that's your original sail number on those not so 08' sails...I'm 885.

Boat looks really good and I know you guys are quick, it'll be fun racing...where's your America's entry?