I have have been sitting on this RG project for quite some time. It was purchased as ready to assemble
RG with the usual amount of assembly. But I was so unhappy with the finish of the hull (it was a leaker)
from the start. I never put it in the water, and needs some work like an new clear coat to make it floatable.
I see other things questionable about it as it sits. Like the rudder that I think is not within the rule book
and the strange canting forward towards the bow at the bulb end of the main foil.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
It “looks” to be out of size with the kick-back rudder - but looks can be deceiving - only way to tell is break out a tape measure and check…
The bulb “may” have followed IOM thinking with the front of the bulb up 2 degrees or so - but it is also possible that the keel was adjusted to move the center of effort and center of lateral resistance to line up better once it was sailed. Hard to tell and a phone call to kit designer, builder or former owner might suggest other issues - very possible the keel is as designed - if you know the name of the design.
If I were you, I would remove electronics, fill hull with water and look for drips on outside of hull. A coat of clear might seal them, but if big or numerous, a thin coat of epoxy might be needed. If too much leaking, add resin coat to inside of hull to eliminate a lot of finishing work. Leaks could also be around keel trunk, rudder tube and of course the deck to hull seam or deck patched or bottom of mast tube if there is one.
Get it watertight for now (you can build new rudder and post later, and get it on the water to try. Give the guys at the model yacht club a heads up and perhaps we can convince them to add the RG65 as a local club class. Might be over-run with Dragon Force boats, (one design) but they really need some smaller but well performing club class boats.
Thanks, getting it watertight is a priority. But the keel angle and rudder jutting past the stern are
my main concerns. Before I do any finishing work I would at least like to have something that has a
good chance to trim using sails rather than later surgery on the hull.
The boat was purchased from the UK and is not used. The foils are by Dave Creed.
I would talk to the manufacturer, but I received it and right away was disappointed with the
quality of the hull. Allot of air bubbles in the carbon fiber and some were so big that I had to
pic away at the surface and reapply some new epoxy and then sand.
I guess in hindsight it would have been smarter to force the issue with the builder about it
but I didn’t. The pictures show the foils next to My Blue Splash ones. You can see on the white
foils (blue splash) that I have had to do some work to shift the keel aft. This was because there
was no way to move the mast placement and the boat need the shift in weight toward the stern
anyways. Results, a much better sailing RG. with out massive weather helm and benefit of not
nose diving down wind. However, I am moving on to this hull now if I can because the Blue Splash
of mine, named (reVision One) [there is a joke involved having to do with its builder]. It’s old
and the paint is peeling now.
Hi dick, just did some Internet searching about the DF, I was not aware of this boat, or the fact that they would like
to make it a one design. I say bring it on. My Victoria is a pig, even after numerous and expensive mods.
A well mannered and fast sailboat with a good price point will attract new sailors. And just maybe they will want to
modify things to get better performance. Rules can be adjusted just as with any other class over time. I believe there
are two classes of Victoria at this time.Victoria and silver fleet(stock). At a club level I can see DF sailors wanting
the same thing, stock and (better preforming)modified.
dave creeds foils are very nice, at least his IOM foils are…
I will second dicks idea of filling the hull with water and finding leaks that way.
I had a similar problem. I then thinned out some epoxy to solve the pinhole problem.
All victorias are pigs… but its still a cheap boat and very durable. and thebest part…a very active class. yes some clubs are building boats as stock to help keep the costs down. but if you want race with the “big boys” you gotta modify the boat.
I would also agree with dick that the canted bulb is probably from the iom thought. since the boat when under power will put the bow down this will cant the keel so it level with the direction of travel if it is tilted up a few degrees when mounted to the fin.
Thanks for your input, I am probably worried to much. I finished rigging my swing rig for the boat
today. Many changes from the kit including my own T-fitting and different out haul on the main
also a different way to adjust the jib gap. I will attach some pics of the hull, it is a bit scuffed up
From fine sanding. You can see the pin holes in the carbon fiber weave, if I wipe it with alcohol
most of them disappear. Now the question is what can I do to make it glossy. I did pour some
West Systems epoxy inside it and rolled the hull around, so it is water tight now.
I weighed it today with the rig and all (excluding electronics) 940 grams. Not bad.
Marc, I was thinking of wiping some lacquer onto the hull to fill the pores in the carbon fiber. But I am concerned
about how well it will adhere to the epoxy. K.
rattle can krylon. of course you could also thin the epoxy you used and brush it on with a foam brush as well. but I think it would be too easy to get it on too thick and get runs. whereas the rattle cans it much easier to do more thin coats.
Not sure what Marc will say - but I have a “love affair” for Krylon, and would use it (clear gloss - multiple light coats) instead of lacquer.
It looks like the rudder cross brace and rudder post hole in bottom of hull were not lined up properly, so they bent the rudder post and/or tried to get top of rudder to align with bottom of keel.
I would do the following to fix:
Insert a piece of 1/8" - or what will fit - brass rod or long drill bit from bottom of hull up and through the top cross brace. Use a long enough piece and see if it is vertical, or tilted fore/aft. If 1/8" is too sloppy, just try the next size drill bit that fits. Again, longer is better to see what kind of post alignment you have.
If post is vertical as seen from side and transom, just cut a new piece of solid brass rod and build a new rudder. Leave the top of the rudder square for now, and leave the brass rod long enough to stick up above the cross brace.
Slide rudder post up so top of rudder is as close to hull as possible, and scribe/draw a line that is parallel with the hull along the top side of the rudder blade. You want to cut this angle on the top of the rudder blade so it will match the bottom of the hull.
Once you have the rudder that fits to hull, and is still vertical, you can mark and cut the top of the rod to allow the steering arm to be attached. You only need about 30 degrees each side for steering, so don’t worry when back of rudder touches the hull when rudder is turned more than 30 degrees.
Worst case, if the rudder tube is quite a bit out of line so drill bit/brass rod isn’t vertical, you may need to cut out the cross brace, and install a new so rudder post is vertical.
I prefer my hulls to have about a 1/2 to 1 inch of bow above the water line and transom just touching the water. As Marc noted, when wind hits the sail, the bow will be forced down depending on wind strength.
The photos show two of my builds (red sail is grandson’s boat and black sail is son-in-law’s boat) The photo of the black boat sailing in light air shows a bit of the bow up above the water. Stronger wind will bring the bow down.
Disregard a lot of extra stuff hanging on or overboard on black sail boat. This was maiden voyage and winds were pretty light. The builds are hull numbers one and three (of 4) and boats can sail in the RG65 Class - except son-in-law isn’t a competitive sailor.
Hi Guys,
I’ve often found that when spraying anything that the paint will sit up around the pinholes. Maybe splash thinned down resin around the inside would be better. Or using automotive spot putty on the pinholes will also do the trick.
TF
Squeegee wall spackling over the entire hull. Try to squeeze it down into the holes.
When it is dry, lightly sand the entire hull with 100 grit paper to take all of the excess spackling off.
Mix some epoxy and then cut it about 50/50 with 90% rubbing alcohol (DO NOT USE the 82%). Rub it over the entire hull in a heavy coat and then wipe ti off with lots of paper towels.
When cured, if still a little sticky wash the hull with rubbing alcohol.
This method has worked for me. It gives a light, strong finish with minimum work. You will be amazed at how many white spots (filled pinholes) there are.
I wonder if that sparkling can be pigmented black? I would like to keep the look of the carbon weave.
Thanks for ideas all. I managed to tweak the keel a bit and now the leading edge of it is closer to
vertical.
Marc and Dick, just did some Internet searching on Krylon, and now my brain hurts.
Seems there are different formulations of the stuff. Which one should I use? K.
I’ve used the “plastic” stuff on both plastic ( poly rain barrels), model boats, wood furniture for my granddaughter, and metal (grandson’s bicycle) and not had any problems. Regardless of paint (even the $ 0.99 stuff from WalMart) the key is spray a lot of very thin fine coats to prevent runs and allow a faster dry time for re-coating.
This morning I found some more leaks in the hull, around the top of the mast tubes and at deck seam bow and stern.
Very hard to get at so I probably got more epoxy in there than I should have. I was working totally blind in these areas.
So now the weight of the hull and fins with rig is 253 grams. I guess I will have put a very light weight Finnish on it
and not worry about building a beauty queen. K.
I used a heat gun to thin epoxy. Pour your mixed epoxy into a small alumin. cooking tin. Heat it with a heat gun which also bursts any air bubbles you mixed in. You will see it thin out.
Brush it into the hull. It will get thicker again as it cools. after brushing into a hull, if not deck enclosed. Some heat will aimed into the hull will thin it down to almost water consistency.
If you heat the epoxy till it smokes, its too hot…
The heat gun is what I have used in the past when working on full size wooden boats, it helps the epoxy coating wick into the wood deeper. Also when using epoxy as a finishing sealing coat.
The heat thins the epoxy out so it levels into smooth level glass like finish. Less sanding of bumps, runs, sags, etc. Don’t get over zealous with the heat gun.
I have used the heat gun technique building RC boats as well.
you could probably add a wee bit of black dye or food coloring to the spackle… never tried it so a few test might be in order… or after spackling get the sharpie out…
but its still a cheap boat and very durable. and thebest part…a very active class. yes some clubs are building boats as stock to help keep the costs down. but if you want race with the “big boys” you gotta modify the boat.