Leeboards and Trim

Click on any picture to enlarge it. Blog starts with the September 23rd post.

To make the leeboards, I butt-glued some pieces of mahogany and fir together. The two woods were chosen to provide some visual interest. Since the boards will be glass-covered, I don't see the need to use pins or biscuits for added strength.

The rudder will be constructed in similar fashion.

The blue pencil line shows where the boards will be cut with the saber saw. I'm making up the design as I go along here.

I'm choosing long, narrow foil shapes for better efficiency at faster speeds. I considered the trade-offs of using one board or two, and decided to go with two boards for the added flexibility it gives to make adjustments for speed, load, and weather.

After cutting, I smoothed out the cut line with the sander. I also ran the boards through the planer to smooth them out.

The handles and bottom edge were rounded over with a cove bit mounted in the Roto-Zip.

I cut the leading edge at 16 degrees per side and the trailing edge at 6 degrees, then rounded all the edges with the random orbit sander.

I ripped some 1/4" ( 6.4mm) thick strips from a mahogany 2 x 4 to form the coamings. They have to be high enough to keep water out of the cockpit and low enough to allow someone to sit on the deck. These will also serve as a surface to lean against, and hide the edge grain of the deck, and the deck stringer.

The piece lying on the deck will be trimmed to match the curve of the deck and attached to the upper edge of the rear bulkhead. This is a cosmetic, not structural, addition.

The third mast mount was glued to the underside of the front edge of the cockpit.


While the epoxy set up, I cut the hole for the rear mast mount.

A piece of ABS pipe helped to align the rear mast step with the hole in the deck. Each mast step has a piece of solid wood under it to take the load of the mast. The masts will have a six degree rake.

The cosmetic strip can be seen in place at the upper edge of the bulkhead.

View of the third mast step.

I made some trim pieces for the mast mounts out of 1/4" mahogany. I'm trying to keep the trim pieces as thin as possible to keep the weight down.

View of the front mast mount.

The hull is just about done.