Hi there folks.
I have recently acquired a second hand IOM hull, deck, fin.
To my surprise I found that it is about 250grams overweight. I´m sure that some of it is the liberal amount of paint that was applied. However, I doubt that anybody would apply 250g of paint. I´m sure that the fibreglass is too thick or too much resin was used.
My Question:scared:
After sanding all of the paint off, if I find that it is still overweight, how do I go about removing the rest of the fat?
Take into account that I only have access to the inside front of the boat. The aft section is completely closed.
regards from Sunny Portugal
Hi and welcome to this forum.
You might want to post your questions at the Windpower site, since there are more IOM and ODOM sailors over there that have weight concerns that are specific to this size and class of boat. A few participate in both forums.
The site is at: http://www.rcsailtalk.com/
If the deck is not yet attached to the hull, then one method would be to trim off a bit of the hull topsides, effectively reducing freeboard and lowering the deck. It may take a bit of effort to refit the deck.
Are there any cutouts in the deck? If not, then some cutouts, covered with film, will also reduce some weight and provide equipment access too.
Thanks for the info guys.
I´ll post this question on the Windpower forum and see what happens.
The deck is already mounted. The only access points are in the foredeck.
It looks like there is a lot of paint. I am going to use paint remover to take off the first layers and from then on waterpaper.
I´ll keep you posted on the progress.
Simple answer is you don’t. I manufacture the IOM ARES and when a boat is heavy, it’s just heavy. The good news is that 250 grams is not going to make a difference in your performance. I know that this goes against the popular belief that you can’t compete if you don’t have the best possible boat… well… it’s just not true. We have been testing boats for YEARS and a few ounces just don’t make a difference.
The ultimate proof is take two identical boats and put an 8 oz weight in one and sail it against the other and you will not be able to tell the difference. Ironically… the amount your boat is over, is the exact amount we have tested with. I have done blind tests for 2 years now, and no one has been able to detect which boat carried the extra weight. We routinely play the game of which boat has the weight, sometimes Red, sometimes Blue, and sometimes none… and it is hilarious to listen to the comments of the skippers “that can tell”. They are correct less than 1 in three which is the same results you would get just guessing… (actually you would be better off just guessing)
250 grams (8.8 oz) is not a death knell to the boat. There is a sign in the shop that says “If you can handle your boat, ounces won’t matter…if you can’t handle your boat ounces won’t save you.”
I recommend keeping your boat light, but don’t think that because your boat is lighter you are going to win races. Sail your boat, and often and you will see the performance increase and it won’t have a thing to do with how much it weighs.
:zbeer:
Thanks for all the feedback guys.
What I landed up doing was pulling a hull off of the original one, cut off the original and put the new one on. Saving of 65g.
The bow and transom were made out of some serious blocks of wood. I took out 35g and replaced it with ply weighing in at 6g.
The deck had so much crap in it!!!:scared: After scraping/cutting away excess fibre, I landed up removing 60g.
The boat is now at the painters, so lets see what the final weight turns out to be…
As soon as I get it back I´ll post some pics