Hello all,
So today I had my first racing experience. I took my us1m, which is 23 years old, and raced a group of odoms. Well, I got spanked. The hull is the orco, and it’s balsa with probably 6oz glass cloth, a plywood deck, and leaks like a sieve. Apart from the obvious disadvantage of carrying around several quarts of water (which get in no matter what I seem to do) I just did not have the speed to be competitive. Now, I may not have had the best sail set in the world, but those boats were just plain old faster than mine. So, I was considering building a composite IOM to compete with them, but my question is, which is faster overall? Would I be better of building a different US1M? Arrow comes to mind.
The new boat will be more lightly built, and composite, I’d like to use my old rig if possible, but I’m up for making some sails if need be.
Thanks,
kurt
Hey kurt, Welcome,
the guys at MD, assuming you went to columbia. are a great group of guys. I sailed against them with my soling from time to time and have done very well, so long as the wind is up…
I am in the process, early stages , of building an IOM…Graham Bantrock Vivid, sold my odom a few years back when the MD odom guys went missing for a couple years.
looking forward to your progress. if your current hull is nice and fair, you could use it to make a mold and pop out a new hull that’s lighter…
Hello,
Yeah they are a great bunch of guys! In my experience, most modelers are, very friendly and helpful. Even though I got destroyed in every race, it was still fun. And hey, I had some really great starts!
The one meter I have was a joint project with my dad. It was built 23 years ago, and is the only real joint project my dad and I ever did. He now has alzheimers, so there won’t be any more projects with him, and I kinda want to keep the orco like it is. I’d have to cut the keep off to make a mold, as it’s permanently affixed, and I just don’t want to do that. So, I’ll build another hull. The real question is, which one?
Kurt
hit me up off-line mjs82 at georgetown dot edu
I’m working with someone to make a vac formed IOM hull, and the guys down in richmond VA are looking to buy several ioms at one time from another maker. More boats, more buying power potentially lower prices…
Well, I appreciate the offer, but I am the kind of guy who builds everything himself. I make my own turnbuckles for instance. I’m planning on doing this hull up with the female mold, epoxy glass, the whole catastrophe. I’ll probably be willing to part with a few hulls too, no profit, just the cost of the hull. Gonna mold the fin and rudder too, I think.
Kurt
I’ve built a couple of designs. The first was sailed as a balsa core, one-off. The second was a plug that I made a mold of, because there were 6 local guys who all wanted an IOM and liked the idea of one design. If you are not making SEVERAL hulls, it is way faster to NOT make a plug/mold. I am currently working on a hull that is a couple layers of glass/epoxy, that was laid over the outside of a balsa plug covered with mylar packing tape. It does not give you a finished surface, but is a quick, fairly accurate way to get in the water, without the extra weight of the balsa core (and other problems with balsa and water!).
I really like the looks of the Goth, if you are looking for a current design that is also a free set of plans.
http://www.frankrusselldesign.com/Goth%20IOM%20A4%20Free%20Plan.pdf
my first hull is going to a male plug method like hew describes… just means more sanding/primer to get a smooth finish…which is still faster than building a two part mold…
With the male mold method your talking about, how are you planning on pulling a hull like goths? It’s got tumblehome.
I tried that male mold thing once with a rg65, didn’t turn out to well, but it was done with polyester, which I have problems working with. I use west systems now, so maybe I should give it a whirl again.
Kurt
the transom will be a separate piece… so i envision enough flex in the glass hull with an open transom to not get “stuck” on the mold.
I use west as well. its very user friendly…
Okay, so maybe the goth. I’ve seen that triple crown seems to be pretty popular. How do the weights of the IOM relate to US1M? I’ve seen that the US!M can weigh as little as 5 or six pounds (I think mine has that much ballast!)
I see that the IOM has to weigh a little over 8 lbs, so I think I’ll go with a us one meter hull. That good, cause I already have the rigging.
Kurt
If you are going to sails against ODOM’s why not build a Mistral USOM … Odoms are mistral hulls with a weight limit and a fixed sail plan.
I would also make a new set of sails …
Gio
Well that’s interesting. I have the plans for the mistral, maybe I’ll build one this winter. Right now I’m building magic, very narrow hull, should be okay. I have the plug almost done, just a little more sanding/fairing, and then I’ll pull the first hull off of it. I started a build thread.
Kurt