fairey hunt 18

cheers mate. i love it.

i will be making moulds for a small forward cuddy and centre console soon so i will then have 3 options if i want to start selling a few boats.

 

couple of pics of the boat sat on the trailer ready for the off tomorrow morning.

 

Garry - Could you summarize the layup schedule again?

I'm not naval architect, but it seems like a very light layup to me. The stringer grid looks exceptionally robust. If you have plans to sell a bare hull, I would verify that layup is adequate.

I love the looks of the old Hunt 18.

Ian.

 

the layup is very strong. in total the main layup is 11oz thick plus all over laps down through the centre of the boat which makes the layup around 18-20oz and the same up the bow section.

my layup is as follows

1. 2 gelcoats
2. 450gsm mat
3. 600gsm mat
4. 600gsm mat plus 1200gsm woven roving
5. 450gsm mat in grey

that totals an average thickness of 11oz layup and around 8mm thick. the centre of the keel is over 20mm thick and the bow is around 20mm as well.

i know for a fact it is a better layup than some of the small boat builders in the UK of which they sell hundreds.

my last boat was built to a 9oz layup and that was the manufacturers standard layup.

 

Yip the layup sounds about right for a boat that size plus internal framing .
8 mm of solid glass i cool with the type of glass that was used!!
please dont get me wrong its an old style lay up and quite robust the newer lay ups would or could be down about 6mm and use stitched materials like double bias close to the outside and csm in the middle with a triaxle on the inside and just a 225 csm to cover it !! but the other change for the hull only would be Vinylester resin !!

Im going to be out of bed at 4;30 in the morning searching for pictures of the boat in the water and all the smiling faces !!.

Dont ya just love the 11 oz (olde measurments ) and 8 mm (new metric measurments )!!!!

 

the woven roving i used is a stitched double bias roving. just didn't know its proper name.

i used that layup as its the same layup as a friend use's to build 24ft fast fishing boats and he's never had any problems.

i'll try and get the pics up tonight ok.

 

the woven roving i used is a stitched double bias roving. just didn't know its proper name.
sorry sounds like 1708 which is stitched double bias 45/45 !!!!with csm on one side ????


Woven roving is something absolutly and totally differant !!
Stitched the layers lay one on top of the other . Woven is just that its a weave !!

The thickness of the layers is not the important part !! its what is used and how its used that is the key . !!!! thick lay ups are not nessesarily strong !!

 

its not got csm on the back of it. i'll get a picture later and post it up.

i had to use a wet mat before i put the woven down to allow the woven to get a proper bond.

its bloody strong stuff once its layed up.

 

well got the boat in the water today and it looked good sat in the water and thats pretty much all it did.

i have 3 little bits to sort out and then it should be fine.

firstly the engine would only rev to 4000 at which the boat was doing 22.6 knots. will have to try another prop with smaller pitch to get the revs up and i need to lift the engine up by a hole or 2.

secondly the carbs need stripping and cleaning as when pushing the throttle forward it would cut out some times or splutter due to not getting the fuel through. im also going to change the fuel pump diaphragm as well.

thirdly the bow of the boat sits a bit too high so im going to put some ballast up front to bring it down a bit.

other than that it handled fine and when doing 20 knots you can turn the wheel and the boat turns nicely.

performance wise it think the 75hp lump will be ideal. once i get the revs up to where they should be i reckon i'll see near on 30 knots. im down on revs by at least 1400 rpm.

so fingers crossed next time out it will be all sorted.

for got to add that my fishfinder works a treat with the transducer in the little box i made and at 22 knots it was showing the bottom fine.

video. click on picture to watch

 

All you neede was a small flock of seagulls following and it would really made nice pictures . Sitting its good its high out of the water but by the time you get bodies and friend you never knew you had all wanting to go fishing plus full tanks and anchors and chain and rope etc it will settle a bit . its a bugger with motors sitting for long period and getting gummed up etc etc . Oh for fuel injection . If my boat sits more than a month i empty the pertol into the car and use it and refill the tanks with fresh fuel .
The boat looks good in the water !! i hope you are all pleased ,once the bugs are ironed out it'll be great .

My mouth is watering and will only be another 45 days and i will leave China and be back in nz and drag it out uncover and wash it down , refill my tanks Put the battery on charge and kick the starter . It fired up instantly last year and had been standing for a year covered up in a barn !.

Good luck and good fishing !!

 

yeah im happy mate. really chuffed with how its turned out.

like you say just by the time its loaded properly it will sit fine and handle even better.

engine will be sorted next week and lifted another couple holes as well.

i'll also fill the boat full with 90kg of fuel to get the weight in the boat ready for sea trials nuimber 2.

you must be gagging to get your boat back in the water after being away for so long now.

 

another pic which i really like with the local dredging boat in the back ground.

 

i've now had the carbs stripped and rebuilt.

one carb was full of crap , another had a stuck float and not getting the right amount of fuel and the last was ok so had them all stripped and sorted.

they are now back on and engine is running much better.

you can tell by the way the engine sounds and revs up. sounds awesome.

i've got a couple jobs i need to get sorted in the next couple weeks then i can get the boat back in the water.

im going to lift the engine up another hole as well.

 

Just becarefull lifting the motor make sure the water pick up dosent suck air at speed . so keep a eye on the water tell tail !!.
Best wat to tell of its to high is at speed graduallu turn the wheel hard to ont side and see if it gets airated then do the other side the same one side is usually ok but will airater the other side ,if it does just needs to come back down 10mm or so !!,it wont be much !!

 

will check all that out next time i take the boat out ok.

i reckon 1 more hole up will be fine as i have had a couple people say the engine looks like its dragging a lot of leg in the water so will lift it another hole.

still got lots to do on the boat before its first proper trip out yet.

i need to get some flood lights for the deck , fuel sender and gauge , mooring ropes , fenders , rod holders , radar reflector , catches to keep the hatches closed , horns etc and maybe more.

i want the boat as close to finished as possible before i start using it as once i start using it i probably won't get all the bits finished.