I built two sailing boats, mainly from scrap ! I suppose this falls into the category of ' Coarse 'sailing boat construction.

In line with my philosophy of building cheap ( but to the best standard my skills allow ) I set out to build a boat that would replicate the manner in which full size boats sail, not whipping about at mad speeds as, for instance, some kit boats do.

Attached are some pictures of the construction and testing of the boat later replicated in a larger, sister boat which I sail on my 'Home ' water....Penn Pond in Buckinghamshire

The first essentials are a flat building board and a set of frames drawn up from the lines drawing. My technique here was to carve a small solid model then measure the key dimensions for the frames. These dimensions were transferred to scrap ply. The frames, are taken to a common level, that of the building board.

The boat framing really was constructed from kitchen cupboard . They don't make such knot free material any more ! It was cut down on my 45 year old bandsaw. The hollow mast was broomstick sawn and then milled out to provide the track, The keel is reinforced with stainless steel ( Concrete reinforcing steel from a friendly builder ) The bow and stern blocks were from redundant 'Queen Anne ' legs from a damaged piece of furniture. The rigging turnbuckles were from the wire wing stays of a Walrus flying boat...the turnbuckles being gifted to me years ago by a WW2, Naval airframe rigger. Rigging wire is model aircraft control line wire which is immensely strong. Lead ballast was from the local roofer ( Bought I have to add ! ). Sails are of Nylon / terrylene lining material intended for dress linings. Paint was domestic Dulux Gloss. Radio Control is in this case rudder only, Sail winch yet to be installed...rudder only control is more demanding anyway.

Apart from the sweat of the brow the total cost of the 1 Metre craft, , was that of the 1.5 mm. ply, lead, PVA glue, lining material and control wire was about £ 20..............not bad for hours of pleasure

Sheeting of 3/32" WBP ply is attached by drilling then pinning with brass pins. PVA adhesive is employed and the ply ihas to be ' persuaded ' round difficult curves by wetting the outer veneer to maske it supple.

A good supply of clamps is essential to act as spare hands.

At this stage the hull is firmly attached via the frames to the building board. When all has set hard the frames can be sawn free of the board and all trimmed to the bulwark level. The deck beams are already in place as an integral part of the frames.

The keel is attached using stainless steel studs, Araldited into the keel and passed through the keelson. Here the box for the interchangeable radio unit is in its early stages.

With the inside skin coated with primer and a coat of varnish, solid blocks can be added at bow and stern to enable the sharp prow and the tumblehome stern to be shaped and faired in with the hull lines.

With the fin installed and the bow and stern blocks faired in and all pins either removed or punched in, filler can be applied and the hull brought to a smooth finish overall. The streamlined fin is housed out for the subsequent attachment of keel weight.

With deck installed onto deck beams and a coat of Dulux wood primer added, the hull is dunked in the bath to establish the keel weights necessary to bring the boat to the ' Designed ' waterline, and to control heeling due to the wind pressure the sails

Deck and rigging fittings are fabricated from scrap and ' Monkey ' brass from curtain rail. , The mast is of prime timber from a broomstick ( the best knot free material avalable! ) It was sawn in half and the sail track milled out before re-glueing and shaping, avoiding adhesive in the track.

The bottle screws on the first model were rigging screws from a 'Walrus ' aircraft, gifted me by an ex WW2, Fleet Air Arm rigger !

The radio receiver, servo and batteries are housed in this case, set into a well. This is removable and can be used in either boat. The red tapes cover two terminals which allow a battery check without dismantling the case. ' Green' identifies the crystal installed.

Sailing with rudder only calls for some skill in choice of initial sheet settings. Whilst it calls for some application ' No. 1 Grandson ' experience little difficulry and could sail the first boat perfectly at the age of 8 .

The keel weight on the larger bost has been coated with fibreglass to avoid lead contaminating the water on which we sail.

Here the boat and mast were united fror the first time, courtesy of the lady of the house.

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The ' Near twins ' all ready to go. we need a good wind however. Snag! The larger boat has to be de-rigged to fit into the present car...I should have thought of that at the time of purchase......of the car that is !

The first model running before a light breeze on Penn Pond Buckinghamshire. For the record it's ' Vital statistics' are, Length 1m, Beam 0.23m Draft 2.5m the mast stands 1.25m Radio control is rudder only ! this makes sailing great fun and calls for real concentration( One day ( D.V ), a sail winch will be added )

As the first model met up to expectations the second model was constructed with dimensions scaled up by 20%. This proved to be a success both on the water and as a decoration in the home.

Apart from the radio equipment the all-up total cost of the two boats was less than £60, plus sweat of the brow. I consider this a great investment considering the many hours of pleasure they have given to both younger and older members of the family.

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