Hi all my name is henry i am 15.
a few weeks ago i started to build a VO70 with the plans that i got from
http://www.velarc.it the plans are 1:17.2 scale so the hull is 122.7cm long.
Here are some pics of my progress so far. (sorry about the quality of some of the pics… they were taken on my phone)
Some more pics.
Henry,
Very impressive, nice work!! Keep us posted with your progress.
Bill K
Nice job so far Henry.
Where are you located?
Do you plan to use this as a plug to make a mold, or will it be your finished hull?
Do keep us informed of your progress.
Dick
A very impressive project indeed! I am sure it will sail well and give you a lot of pleasure.
If have one (perhaps one-and-a-half) questions. Are you trying to build a model of a V70 or a fast sailing boat inspired by a V70> They’re not the same thing. Producing a model of a 70 that will sail reasonably well is not THAT hard. However, there are inumerable factors (displacement/length, wetted surface area, lift required per m2 to plane etc, and particularly stability (no moveable ballast) that do not scale down directly. This means that the ideal shape of a fast model sailing boat 1.2 m long is not necessaruly that of a scaled V70.
You are obviously nobody’s fool and are taking this project very seriously. For your next one, buy yourself a book on yacht design (the best one available is by a pair of Swedes called Eliasson & Larsson and look a little more closely at the formal engineering/phyisc of what makes a boat sail.
Olease understand that this is not intended as a pat on the head to a clever kid. I was your age when I designed my first boats and I am genuinely impressed, whether you are 8 or 80. You will find that there are quite a lot of people round here who will be delighted to give you any advice or help you need to become a truly accomplished designer/builder. Welcome in!
Cheers
thanks for the the comments guys,
Dick, i live in tasmania (the island at the bottom of australia…) I am planing to use this as a plug to make the mold and i also want to make a plug and a mold for the deck.
angus, i may be wrong but i think that the plans (that are available from www.velarc.it) are somewhere between what you described, it is a scale vo70 but the plans have being modified to work as a model eg the draft on the model is 46 cm and the real boats draft is 4.5m which is not true to scale.
I am also hoping to make a canting keel system that was inspired by this website: http://www.dazzler.be/scale/vo70/page01.html and i feel that something like that would not be out of my reach because i have access to a lathe and other required stuff but something might change my mind in the future though and i will go with the fixed keel…
Henry, that looks brilliant. (It also is reminding me of a similar-sized plug that lies unfinished in my workshop… embarrassed grin) Keep up the good work, I look forward to seeing what you make of this project!
well it is about time for an update and i have finally got around to finishing off the plug and making the mould.
I am very pleased with how the mould turned out and it looks alot better than i expected.
first a coat of gel coat
fiberglass applied
the finished product
Impressive work Henry. We are pleased that a person of your age is such an accomplished craftsman.
The work that you are doing is even more astounding when one considers that you live at the bottom of the world and you are forced to do your work up side down. (A weak attempt at humor):lol:
Best regards and keep up the good work.
well it has been a long time since i have posted an update and i have made a good amount of progress in that time:
for the deck i turned the plug over and planked the top side with balsa wood then put a layer of glass over the top of that and and some sanding filler.
the deck plug after some sanding and panting and polishing
a coat of gel coat to start off the mould.
the final product.
and i also made a hull to use as a prototype to play around with different ideas and designs for the canting keel.
Hello Henry. that’s an impressive build, do keep the commentary and pictures coming.
well with school holidays i seem to have allot of spare time on my hands which has allowed me to produce another hull from the mould this time made out of carbon fiber.
the layup:
the boat in the mould
the boat out of the mould
Hi all, it has been exactly one year since i last posted an update and im sorry to say that i have not made very much progress in all that time however the last few weeks i have accomplished allot. i now have almost all the components for the canting keel system ready to install in the boat ( i seem to be missing the expensive parts like winch etc.)
heres a few pics.
the pivot with slot cut for the keel and bearing housings to create a barrier between the “wet” box and the inside of the boat
here i have the frames to hold the pivot and take the loads of the keel cut out of 3mm carbon
this shows 2 full frames to support and stiffen the hull in the area of the keel one of which will hold the winch that will cant the keel
thats it so far.
all types of comments and feedback are welcome and greatly appreciated.
Henry G
Very clean build man. Looks nice and complex…I likey.
well the canting keel is finally all glued in and fully operational!!! i have also made and fitted the canard and canard box
Heres a few pics
any comments/thoughts on the size of the canard? at the moment a bit on the large side so it can possibly be made smaller later.
Cheers
Just out of curiosity, have you been following a guide? If so, I’d be interesting in having a look myself
Fantastic build btw!
Any status update on this? Im working on a build myself and could use some more ideas.