Hi!

I picked up an old Mosquito some months back - I'd wanted one for something like 20 years, so it was very cool. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> The boat, however, is in a poor state, and I am looking forward to restoring her. I've some experience with boat building, as I've been building a wooden boat (lapstrake ply using the West system), but it would be foolish of me to claim any real level of expertise.

Anyway, the fiberglass hulls have been sanded down prior to purchase, and the person who did so removed most of the gelcoat, revealing the glass underneath. Where it hasn't been sanded back there is some pitting. The deck is made of ply, and this has also been sanded back - unfortunately a bit too much, so they have removed the top layer of ply in places. (Not a big deal, but I was hoping for a bright finish on the deck). The transom is also made of ply - again with some uneven sanding.

Having been reading this forum on-and-off for a while, I saw someone mention that the hulls should ideally weigh 22kg each (I think that was prior to painting, but I can't recall the post), in order to be sure that the finished product would be sitting just above minimum weight (55kg, if I recall correctly). So I weighed the hull, and it came out to about 24kg. This is without hatches, any rigging attachments, rudders, gelcoat or varnish. This seems a tad heavy. I'm figuring a final weight of about 28kg per hull, but that's just an uneducated guess.

So, I'm hoping for some advice. As near as I can figure it, I should ideally shave up to 4kgs off the hull. I don't know what the ply is, but I'm guessing that changing the deck to gaboon ply would help, as would replacing the internal "bulkheads?" with a lighter wood. Is this worth doing?

(As an aside, I would like to take the deck off anyway, as there is a smallish hole which would be better repaired from inside, but it isn't necessary to do so if I can live with a poorer finish.)

Any suggestions would be much appreciated. I should mention that I really love the Mosquitos, in spite of having no experience with them at all (never even crewed on one), so I wanted to make a really good job of the restoration so that I could be proud of her. And I am aware that I could probably scrap her, but I have a fondness for rescuing old boats - and I found that building and working on them is as much fun as the sailing. Plus it is always a fine excuse for buying new power tools.

Thanks heaps!

Hi there Bilby,
Welcome aboard.
First thing, do not use power tool while restoring a mossie. You dont want to do excess damage with those evil tools.
Secondly, Give Peter Cobden a call. As Iam building a new mossie I found talking to him to be very helpful and he's not one of those people that tries to confuse and make you reconsider what you want to do( found him willing to help out at any oppotunity).
Which state and club you sailing out from or considering to sail from? Maybe there is some one at the club to help you out.
Ciao
William Booker

Hi Bilby

I think you'll find that theres not much you can do to bring the weight down, perhaps a new deck would save a little, but the older glass mossies with the timber decks are just heavier than boats can be built now, it won't be so much the timber aspect that the weight differs its more the fibreglass, which obviously you can't much with.

The best idea IMO would be replace the decks with gaboon, check out the inside while their off, repair/replace anything that looks suspect, you could, to neaten the appearance recess your tramp track into the hulls with a glass tube.

Sanding the hulls I would stop if at the glass, then fill any obvious hollows etc.. and then long board the hulls, but don't go any further through the glass! then primer and long board again to show up anymore imperfections and then again if neccessary until your happy to paint, you might find yourself doing it a few times, and I sometimes think it a waste of paint, sanding it off, but the end result will show off your hard work.

Keep us informed with the project, and photos please if you can. Theres heaps of people here that can help out with all sorts of things, and my method might be trumped by someone else, but anything from painting hulls to fitting masts to beach wheels someone will throw some ideas you way.

Have Fun

Regards

Thanks, William.

I'm in Adelaide, so if I do end up joining a club I shouldn't have a problem - I'd like to, but there's the whole "I can't sail" embarrasment to overcome first. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I agree about power tools - we discovered working on the other boat that hand tools are great. It isn't so much that new tools are needed, so much as providing an excuse - even if they won't be used.

Hey Bilby
The best thing you gould do if you have a chance is to drop in on the nationals some time next week.
There would be the biggest gathering of mozzies in aust.
Check the national web site for info.
Not sure exact location but it is adelade.

Hi mattaipan!

I feared the wood wouldn't be the problem - I was trying to work out where an extra 3kgs would be, and I can't see the deck weighing more than 2kg. To be honest, I was hoping I'd have more luck inside - she seems somewhat overengineered to my tastes, and while I want a strong hull, I suspect that I can make better use of materials to drop the weight down a bit. I wasn't expecting to see so much wood inside the hull - although it may be simply that I don't know what I'm looking for. The lapstrake hull we're building has no internal structure, and my other OTB cat - also in need of work - is made from aluminium, so the hulls are completely empty.

Whatever happens, I'm leaning towards replacing the deck, but that may be because I'm foolishly sold on the idea of a bright finish.

Thanks heaps for the advice. Work has meant that I had to delay the project, and will probably miss the whole of this season, but I'm finally able to get started. It should be fun.

The nationals are at Christies beach S/A .
Anything you need to know you should be able to find out there. http://home.vicnet.net.au/~nmcca/titles_2006-07.htm

Hi Bilby

As long as its sort of clear at the start that you shouldn't be aiming for minimum weight, its just that method of construction used at that time, the minimum weight was higher I think (someone can probably correct this but it might have been 65kg or something like that) 55kg on the older boats made in fibreglass and older timber boats for that matter, may be unrealistic. They weighed my boat at Waranga Basin, Vic years ago for a state titles, and the platform weighed something like 70kg, and they didn't bother measuring anything else <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> not much lightweight material around back then.

All I'm really saying is you might have to aim a little higher than minimum, do a nice clean job, have fun and remember you won't be the only one thats got a heavier than minimum boat.
<img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Regards

Thanks!

I'll probably go down to the Nationals today to have a look at what others are doing, but this makes a lot of sense to me. I'll focus on making an attractive, overwieght boat that looks cool. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Given that I'm not exactly on the light side myself, this should work out fine.

Thanks again!

Hi Bilby,

those GRP hulls did have some trouble with the stiffening and frames inside coming away from the hull, so it could be well worth while taking the decks off to have a look, the sides of the hulls where particularly prone to flexing some foam frames may help with this, then you can put nice decks back on.

As Matt said there probably isn't much weight to be saved as the GRP skin was just to heavy, that's why they changed to foam sandwich. But being heavy doesn't preclude it from sailing well (a heavy weight boat won the sloop rig Vic. title a few years ago)and providing enjoyment, just make sure it is strong enough as you fix it up.

Regards Gary. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

from experience, I say bin the hulls you have and start from scratch. you will end up with a minimum weight boat with the shape you want. and its easy !! 6 weeks time in the garage and about 1200 for the pair.

Given the "I can't sail comment" I would not worry too much about min weight. There are much bigger gains to be made from getting some racing experience than by losing a few kilos. You can always build a new set of hulls while racing with the current set.

Thanks for the advice. I took off one of the decks, and it seems whoever made the hulls did a great job. I considered the option of building new hulls, but I'm pretty much dedicated to building the Fulmar at the moment, and what I want to do with this is rescue an old Mozzie. That way there'll be one less rotting in someones backyard, as I read on one of the forums or something.

So I'm not worrying about minimum weight, but instead I'm going to focus on getting a really nice finish. At this stage she'll have a bright finish on the decks, once I've replaced them with new gaboon, and a (hopefully striking) two colour hull using two-pack paint. I had some fun with photoshop a while back playing around with designs. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Thanks again! And I hope the Nationals are going well!