A lot of carbon here
One recycled keel, and one new one
Done with clear coat now
just catching up on your build and does she looks amazing or what - congrats on a clean job so far.
I remember these shapes as I saw a few of them in port la foret where most of them are based (safran, macif and VM)
what did you use to get the chine of your hull and fins ? extra coat of epoxy or varnish ?
That is one mean looking machine!! - The carbon finish really adds to the overall look.
Out of interest, with the new fin you’ve built what was the core material & layup schedule? I imagine that for it’s intended purpose it really does need to be seriously stiff.
Keep up the amazing work,
Row
Fins
The one closer to the camera is recycled from previous project Safran. It is made of 1/4" Baltic birch play, and on layer of 5.6 oz carbon. I want to add another layer of carbon for safety, but there is no more room in the keel box, it I will do for now.
The new fin at the the fra end is 1/8" Baltic ply core, with 5 layers of carbon to start. Then I discovered that it is too thin for the keel box and too flexible compared t the Safran fin.
So I added 2 more layers; so now 7 total per side. Now it is the right thickness and it s now ven stiffer than the Safran. The downside is much more weight, but all down low.
Clear coat:
It is actually not as shinny as my older vintage boats. I use Varathane Diamond from Home Depot. Compared to Interlux from marine store, the Varathane Diamond is far cheaper; harder, and easier to apply. The Marine finish is softer(allows for surface expansion due to temperature changes), and give a better shine.
The trick here is to DRY sand between coats. Only 3M Noload sandpaper will work. Dry sanding allows you to see what you have sanded. I usually start with 220 grit, than work up to 600 grit by the 5th or 6th coat
Details of rough cut hardware.
Note: all clamp on style, much more work, but bullet proof.
First coat of white paint
Not my best paint job, rushing to finish when the weather is getting warmer and go play
who could blame you 
here warm days are rare so we need to make the most of them lol
Here she is; all done.
Test run shows she is stern heavy(good), ready to battle big winds.
The wind kicked up big time today so lets do a real test of the boat.
All or nothing, going for broke.
Compared t my previous 3 boats of this type, this one is the easiest to control in extreme conditions, even with a 30% more sail are.
Cant verify if she is the fastest or not.
New camera is not good.
Impressive sailing images showing very good stability.
When Off Wind points of sailing will be shown ?
Cheers
ClaudioD
Video for Claudio
Sorry- very short and shaky, but I will try to take videos next time with all points of sail
Thanks a lot, but “running” it is also possible ?
The video shown is a “broad reach” with the Main relatively closed !
Sorry if I ask for, but I’m curious to see how is sailing with strong wind while it is running !
Cheers
CD
Looks very impressive - will you be trying any runs with a gps on board? - Just need to wait for the seriously strong winds!
Cheers,
Row
On Friday afternoon, the wind was blowing 18+ knots, the boat was all over the place. Finally realized the rudder servo was useless.
Bought a Hitek 645 Ultra torque servo, and also adjusted the servo links for maximum mechanical advantage.
Now I can point her to where ever I want.
Very fast run here, about 12 knots of wind, the second downwind run the wind had dropped off a little.
Noticed that the back stay is interfereing with the sail, causing it to fold and probaly losing efficiency big time.
Will work on that next.
Meanwhile, here is the uncut video
Reworked my rig, back stay revised, main sail cut down a little to clear main sail
New Hitek servo works well
Close up videos sailing in about 12knots of wind. A lot of fun, but that water is so damn cold
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdLHZ1zWQeaPrR829ZxwLxB0KLmUHB7FS
Finally had all the bugs sorted out on this boat, and this s Open 60 sailing at is best! Big wind and big waves.
New smaller Jefa type rudders are very responsive t control; enable me to point the boat at any direction.
After 10 years of sailing RC boats, 22 boats built, including 7 open type boats. Here is the result. And there are still lots more for me to learn
Minor adjustments/modifications to the rig.
The boat behaves slightly different, and cannot say if it is better or worse
Mast is raked back another 3 degrees, trimmed foresail slightly to fit.
I’d be interested in a description of the standing rigging used on the boat. While the soft focus of the video’s make it hard to read the sails, there does seem to be a consistent overbend wrinkle from midmast to clew that may indicate excess mast bend in the middle of the spar. A single spreader with appropriately rigged lower shrouds would bring the middle of the spar back into control, and power up the mainsail by so doing.
Some of the reaching legs seem to show a lack of twist control in the jib, which seems to provide repetitive depowering of the jib on occasion. Fitting of a topping lift would put jib twist back under control.
Overall I get the impression that the boat is not inherently balanced under the current configuration, but seems to need continual rudder input to maintain a consistent angle to the existing wind.
I’m working up an HBRC Volvo 70, and have been dealing with some of the same issues that arose in the use of the originally manufactured rig. Most deficiencies have been cured, mostly by going back to a standard two shroud, jenny stay, topping lift configuration, similar to that used on the full sized Lightning.
Rod Carr, CARR SAILS.com