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'Make it So' in CarbonRichard Battey takes a camera to Lawrie Smart’s workshop – Autumn 2003 |
With the recent debate concerning boat weight and construction/material methods having reached fever pitch I recently received a call from Laurie Smart who asked if I would like to visit his boatyard and see his latest going’s on. Without hesitation and with his workshop only being 5 minutes down the road I jumped at the opportunity at being invited to see Laurie’s latest creation.So armed with notepad and camera a very cheerful Laurie greeted me and quickly ushered me into his workshop to explain the latest materials he is using to build Pat Blake’s new boat. Principally the lines are based on his latest ‘Make it So’ design but with a little less rocker, lowering of the stem, and slightly narrower displacement waterlines. The major change is in the construction as Laurie is using a new material for the hull which has a 3mm foam core sandwiched between 1.5mm ply with an overall thickness of 6mm and weighing a remarkable 40% lighter than Gabon ply. Laurie explained that whilst this material is extremely light it has difficult workable properties making it virtually impossible to plane as the inner core disintegrates (being foam) which initially caused some concern when planking the hull as Laurie’s previous construction methods consisted of scarfing. However, Laurie then explained that he had devised a simple but effective way of joining planks without having to use the scarfing method. 
Laurie demonstrated that by setting a depth gauge to a specific tolerance he could remove the inner core and join both planks with a beech insert producing a very neat but extremely strong joint, plus allowing the flexibility for the timber to be laid in place. To provide the smooth edges for each plank Laurie then used a router along the bottom edge, which again provided a clean finish, requiring only a gentle rub back with glasspaper to achieve the end result.Laurie stated that “the unique way of joining this particular material has paved the way for reducing the construction time of planking the hull, by eliminating the need of scarfed joints”, this was further demonstrated by Laurie when he proceed to glue 6 planks in less than 2 hours with the exact precision and attention to detail of which Laurie is so renowned. Once the hull was planked the joints were epoxy filleted. 
 The hull when complete is epoxy coated and sheathed inside and out using 200g glass cloth and then finished in a two pack paint providing an extremely tough and durable inner/outer skin which Laurie assures that if impact should occur to the hull it will be completely impervious against fracture being so robust. 
 The decks are constructed in the same material as the hull, epoxy coated, and laid up with 200g carbon fibre cloth, adding enough strength to eliminate a considerable amount of deck framing, giving a bare shell weight of 30kg. Again Laurie tells me that whilst the ‘build’ time has been reduced by the planking methods, there is a slight increase by the laying of fibre matting on and in the hull, and carbon fibre on the decks. 
 The inside of the boat is then completely rubbed back, having been epoxy sheathed, and coated in a 2 pack low sheen paint again providing an extremely tough and abrasion resistant finish which again reduces the overall build time by eliminating any varnish. 
Unlike all of Laurie’s previous boats there is no varnished wood to be seen as it is either painted two pack or carbon sheathed creating a rather unorthodox looking finish by Laurie’s standards but still one of beauty, remarkable build quality and expertise.When measured the bare hull weighs a remarkable 76 kg requiring 22 kg of correctors. Now that’s what I call a light boat! Lawrie explained that whilst this boat was a one-off design, it will allow his one-off designs to have the same correctors as the present mass-produced FRP boats, without the vast costs of making new moulds. See also: Other photos from this interview |