Hi Dougal

I just arrived home after a few weeks away with work and we are planning to be up at the shed working on Terabyte on Sunday, work will re-comense on The Dream Machine next week.

Can't wait to get stuck back in to the job. Spent too long in Super Yacht world recently and not enough in the land of Merlin Rockets.

Made lots of plans though.

Be good to see you.

"... there was a huge amount of surface epoxy under the paint." What was left on the boat side? Bare wood?"\r\n\r\n\r\nWhen I stripped the paint back at least 2.5mm was left on the wood. I used this for fairing the hull to get a good finish... I am using Durepox to paint and varnish my hull. The first coats on the hull absorbed very quickly into the ply. Where I have tried the clear coat on the inside has done the same.

I tried to send some photos to Mags a while ago but there were some technical issues... I am officially a computer illiterate so I wasn't sure what to do to rectify it...\r\n\r\nI will try again\r\n\r\nHows things with you Julio..? The latest update was great reading as always.

"Ok progress slowed somewhat over the last few weeks with a work trip abroad and a made rush at work but, Niane is now upright, faired and looking fast. Interior is being sanded but....! I have decided to trial run my fit out....!\r\n\r\nThe reasoning is that I am a touch concerned that when full rig tension is added she might implode... She shouldn't, she looks over built and strong, but she is old and you never know, she might...\r\n\r\nSo I am going to set her up, step the rig, fit out the rig tension and the rake system, get it all working, then take it all off again, hopefully not have to strengthen her anywhere and get the insides finished...\r\n\r\nExciting stuff....!"

So can anyone give me any history on sail number 3450 "The Dream Machine" Ian Holts Niane design built in the 90s by Ron Hall...?

According to the MROA year books, 3450 was built by Ron Hall Boatbuilder probably at the beginning of 1990 for Mrs S.G.Aubrey of Bolton SC. The design is an Ian Holt 'Niane'.
The 1994 YB records a new owner, P. Jones also at Bolton SC.
There is then a gap in the ownership records until 2001 when the owner is shown as A. Gouldby at Waveney and Oulton Broad YC. There is nothing more recorded in later year books.

Since then I guess it has been in Lymington...! Hasn't been sailed much since 2009.

Anyone know anything about the Niane design.

Gareth, I would think that there is little knowledge of the design other than those who sailied one or raced side by side. There was only 1 or 2  built and so there is little experiance. However this is from our design guide:

Niane 

Holt was convinced that he still had not found the solution to the heavyweight's problem, and further talks with Jackson in 1989 led to a new design for 1990. Based on Canterbury Tales, this design has a fuller stern and slightly deeper midships section. 


I hope that helps. Should be a good boat by all accounts.

IN fact I think she is the only one!?

Thanks for your reply Jez, much appreciated. 

If anyone knows of another please reply...!

I am about to start work on her. Let's see how it goes. Pretty interested in fatboy Merlin Rocket shapes.

Hi jez

Another quick question. Who is the Jackson refferred to in the c&p above?

Alan Jackson. Chipstow Boatyard and maker of superb carbon spars as well

As a boat builder, built fantastic boats and beautifully built. As far as I know, all still structurally sound and racing  Attension to detail is Jacko's thing. Working alongsiide him as client/assistant for 2 weeks finishing off 3547 Moondance Assasin, nearly drove me bonkers at times, but appreciated what he was doing. Shame he is now retiring and that the he did not get involved in building FRP moulded boats as they would have been on a par with the Winder or better if that is possible. Best of luck with the refurbishing.

"Drove you bonkers" Mark, I thought it was the other way round!  But you a right, AJ is a fantastic boat builder.  I had a new boat from him in 1990 and he was building Tales then, so I suspect his talks with Ian Holt for a heavyweights boat came to nothing.

Maybe an update: Jacko was seen earlier this day straddling a red Vespa at low speed from the Dog and Duck still in Essex, wearing an Adnams beer mat and cursing on burning Merlin boat parts in the dark, but all’s well  he has not set light to the building frames

Cheers guys

All much appreciated.

Bonkers, referred to the fact, that I have attention for detail, but Alan takes it to another level. It was the small amounts of epoxy that he insisted I mix when epoxying the inside/outside of Moondance Assasin. Having built many boats over the years prior to this, found it very strange, but followed the requirement even though I was also the client. Saying that, we got on well and have remained good friends throughout. I also believe that once the NSM4 run switched to the Tales, that all boats built thereafter up to Moondance Assasin where variants of the Tales.

First day sanding and sorting out TDM... So far not uncovered anything to frightening.

Hi Gareth, If you have time perhaps you could email some pics to Mags (web master)of progress as it is always welcoming to see how people approach various refurb projects.

Good luck with the boat

Richard

Hi Richard

I will. Hopefully a few forum members in the New Forest south Hampshire area will have time to pop over and take a look. We have a great workshop and some very talented lads there when it comes to building, restoring or repairing in Carbon/Composite or Wood...!

Terabyte is sitting there awaiting me splicing up the one string take system.

Pictures of her as i received her have been emailed to Mags...

Will find the ones of her after a few days work, stripping and sanding and send them on...

Jacko, that master of MR building and design tweaking, has generously given me all his Merlin Rocket plans. There are some gems in there! One set of unnamed plans by Ian Holt post-dates the Canterbury Tales plans and definitely has a deeper midship section, so they could be the plans for Niane. Unfortunately Ian is unable to verify that this is the case. 
I have the original Canterbury Tales frame drawings and overleaf are the pencilled frame drawings of the boat as built by Jon. Now that is some historic MR document. I think that story may be told in full in Dougal's pending magnum opus.
I also have the lines of Ian's last MR design - Steppenwolf, which I acquired last year, but sadly found to be in a bit of a state.

As far as I'm aware Jacko didn't have anything to do with Niane, Ron Hall built the boat. Jacko was involved with the HBR and WAPB shapes which were at the less slight helmsman.

Chris, the quote above from the MR design guide suggests that Jacko was involved at the initial stage of the development of Niane. How it got to be built by Ron Hall I do not know. Maybe Jacko has the answer.

I assumed that to be a typo to be honest, thought it's possible that they did the groundwork together but nothing came of it so it ended up being built by someone else - be an interesting phone call.

I am popping up to AJ soon to collect a rig. So I was hoping to ask if he knew of anything about the design.

The restoration is going well, unfortunately I have quite a lot of work coming up in the new year so I am hoping tht I get enough time to keep things moving along at a decent pace.

So far half the hull is stripped to bare wood and the decks too. 

I have sanded back some of the interior, should get the rest done quickly.

I chipstow carbon rig is being purchased, I am designing and building a carbon boom. The boat will be re-rigged with pretty much the same set up as the current Winder boats but I will make some mods and alterations.

I plan to adapt one of the aluminium masts to the new deck step. The boat was previously deck stepped but with a pivot contraption and I wood prefer to have a mast step than a pivot.

I will likely also fit halyard locks for jib and main to reduce compression on the tube. The forestay adjustment to go below decks.

I am planning on setting up the boat so she could race with an aluminium rig or a carbon one. I have all original sails and thought it might be fun to give the classic stuff a go too.

Gareth...do you ever manage to get to the boat during the day at all? Am expecting to be in Lymington sometime soon - middle of next week looking the best bet!

Dougal

Work has been progressing slowly recently. 

After stripping the paint from the hull I found the third planks garboards side had rotten wood. I removed the 250 mm length of rotten former ply with a feine saw and scarfed in a new section. All liberally coated in epoxy..

Very happy with the repair.

Now back to the long boarding. Almost there. Have boarded using a 450mm foam board for planks, a hard wood block for plank edges and polystyrene blocks for edging work. All with 90 grit.

The hull had originally been coated with plenty of epoxy so fairing has barely touched the ply.

Now have a reasonably well faired hull, another few lashings of long boarding then the first coats or Durepox primer will be applied, then further fairing.

Biggest conundrum at the moment is the port gunwale. It's had a few bad dings and one awful repair, I would love to trim them both off and fit new ones but time is becoming a big aspect in decisions... Might be a job for next year...

I have had some interest from an American Magazine called " Woodwn Boat Magazine"...

They want me to send them photos and words on the project... 

Americans seem to show a growing interest in the Merlin Rocket..

Hey Julio

Been having a few conversations about the restoration with them, just need to find the time to write up a number of words and edit the pictures... 

Last night I painted the first two coats of Durepox. 

Went for a fifty fifty mix of thinners/paint (4:1 with hardener) mix. The paint disappeared into the wood, by the time I was applying the second coat the wood was grey/silver not black like the paint... 

This is great as all that is going to stiffen the ply no end...

Plan to knock back very lightly tonight then apply more and more gradually reducing the thinners... 

Off to the Caribbean for work on Tuesday so will have Time to prep myself ready for the next stage of long boarding...

Hey Julio

Been having a few conversations about the restoration with them, just need to find the time to write up a number of words and edit the pictures... 

Last night I painted the first two coats of Durepox. 

Went for a fifty fifty mix of thinners/paint (4:1 with hardener) mix. The paint disappeared into the wood, by the time I was applying the second coat the wood was grey/silver not black like the paint... 

This is great as all that is going to stiffen the ply no end...

Plan to knock back very lightly tonight then apply more and more gradually reducing the thinners... 

Off to the Caribbean for work on Tuesday so will have Time to prep myself ready for the next stage of long boarding...

"Good work Julio.\r\n\r\nBy the way, I was meaning to ask. When you were prepping your planks, you coated them in epoxy. How well did the wood absorb the epoxy?\r\n\r\nDo it soak in or remain on the surface.\r\n\r\nI am just interested because when stripping my boat there was a huge amount of surface epoxy under the paint."

Great magazine and their forum has a wealth of information. You should send them photos and information about your project. Keith Callaghan has a couple of web pages on his designs and there are quite a few international members, including members from the UK. I subscribe to their digital publication.

http://www.woodenboat.com/boat-plans-kits?k=Merlin%20Rocket&ssrnd=1242

How is the write up and photos coming along? I'd love to see what you are doing and I'm sure others can benefit too.

"The marine plywood absorbed the epoxy resin very well, indeed. It was very noticeable. I also applied three coats of epoxy resin as recommended in the book on boat building by the Gougeon Brothers. Important is to properly sand the cured/smooth surface before applying the next coat of epoxy resin. Else, you may experience the scenario you described. Also, moisture, or application of epoxy resin over stained wood, dust or other contaminants (like the adhesive left behind by the round marine ply brand sticker) may produce the same poor bonding result or delamination of the epoxy layers.     \r\n\r\n""... there was a huge amount of surface epoxy under the paint."" What was left on the boat side? Bare wood?"

"Thank you, Gareth. Looking forward to seeing them. All going well here. This weekend I'm working on the inside details, filleting, epoxy coating, sanding, all good stuff. The weather is really nice so spending some time getting the garden ready. Also planning a couple of camping trips coming up in the near future.\r\n\r\nCheers!\r\n\r\nJulio"

Well D-Day is here. If I fair this boat anymore there will be no wood left.

Time to paint, I am climbing into a spray suit and prepping the compressor...
Me I'll let you know the results later...

Fingers crossed

The painting went really well...! She looked stunning with the fresh black paint glistening in the light... Still looked cool in the morning when the sheen had gone and the satin finish of Durepox without a clear coat lacquer...
 
The fairing is not too bad... Considering the state of the boat prior. 
 
Yesterday I started fitting the Keel band and slot gasket ready for more filling, fairing and painting... Managed to find the Mil-Spec to etch prime the ali keelband...
 
Annoyingly I have to go abroad for work next week and will have to finish her off in August... So close now.
 
 

Anyone know how to add photos to Posts on the fancy new site...???
 

Gareth, i've just added a couple of new icons to the editor, you should now be able to add images and documents as long as you keep the files to the requested sizes.

Great news thanks

I'll try and do an upload of shots tomorrow...

http://youtu.be/XOgFTynTdnw

Niane today

Just about to spray the centreboard with something, hopefully, a bit funky....!

Here is a slide show of the work so far... 

Few coats left to go on the clear coat top and bottom a brass keel band to shape and fit to the knuckle and stem of the bow, then the fit out and the splicing...

Building a carbon spiro pole launcher, carbon compass bracket, poles, altering the mast to add a main halyard lock and converting the old winder fixed rudder into a lifting rudder...

Lymington open Meeting on the 20th of September, boat has to be launched before then.

So today finally got the long awaited debut sail... What a great boat...

I have owned the boat for 18 months, much of that time has been in the shed with a full restoration. But there have been a good few trials and tribulations since she made it to the club too.

Still a decent job list to tweet, tune and refine systems but Magnus and me had a great sail with huge smiles.

Very happy

So fantastic to see one of my boats still giving pleasure. I may have some photos of this boat still around if you are interested. I remember building 1 or 2 of these . One certainly was for Nick Aubrey

Hi Ron

I would love to get any info or photos on the boat in her build.

Please get in touch with anything you have.

[email protected]

As you can see above she has had a thorough restoration, and sails beautifully again. Just needs her helm and crew to get up to speed.

Hi Gareth    I will have a dig into my old pics. I certainly have pics showing MR s on the jig and finished  hulls. Hopefully some of your boat.  Will email some in a short while. Regards Ron

Gareth / Ron,
 
If my memory serves me correctly I think that this was Sue Aubrey's boat originally. 

Yes that is what I heard...! It's has had a few owners since.

No at the Lymington Town Sailing Club after restoration and a re-rig

Hi Gareth, have been trying for sometime to E-mail photos. No joy so far. Please let me have another address.

Hi Ron

Try 

[email protected]

Would be great to see them.

Hope all is well

G