Work continues on the new boat at a steady pace. I added carbon to the internal frames yesterday, and put the stem block and centerboard case in as well.

You can clearly see in this photo the advantages of doing all this stuff in the mould. There is a nice work surface around the top to clamp onto and measure from.

Other things that have changed since my last blog entry is I have tidied up all the edges and fixed a couple of areas where there were air bubbles in the outer foam.

Building boats is funny, you spend hours working to make what looks like very little visible progress.

For the stem fitting I decided to do it hungry tiger style, with the fitting poking out through the foredeck. Some trusty glue powder and some carbon later and she was in.

There are a lot more photos on my flickr site.

For the second time in two weeks we released another hull from John’s mould. This one however is mine . We learnt a few things from the first one, and including a spacer plate at the transom made release significantly easer, and with less than hour, she was out of the mould.

Once she was out, it was time to … put her straight back in again . The edge on the mould, combined with a trusty GMC laser level, makes things like accurately fitting the centerboard case a LOT easier than it was 12 years ago.

With the centerboard position marked, it was time to start digging out the foam so the case can be glued in. A couple of hours of fitting later and the foam for the front and centerboard case frames are in and trial fitted, ready to be covered in carbon.

Best thing of all, my total build time currently stands at about 20 hours over 4 days.