Flying Dutchman Restoration Project

Discussion in 'Wooden Boat Building and Restoration' started by Andy, Jun 21, 2005.

  1. Andy
    Joined: Aug 2003
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    Location: Edinburgh

    Andy Senior Member

    Here is my current project, an early FLying Dutchman. I bought the boat a few years back when it seemed to be unregistered. I got in touch with Tony Lyall of the GBR association ( I live in Scotland) as he is both UK boat registrar and something of a whiz at boat identitification, but it had even him stumped. I'm not even sure of the year, but would guess very early (late 50's, early 60's) as the boat has a number of distinguishing features, including a rubbing strake nearly 2 inches wide from bow to the middle of the cockpit, from which it steps down to maybe 3/4 inch for the remainder of the sheer. Other features include: single bottom, flat foredeck running into rolled sidedecks which terminate with a step at a long, gently cambered aft deck; laminated frames (which curve in a tight radius from the floor up the centreboard case) and deck supports; a large cutwater on the foredeck (which was removed a couple of weeks ago; a fully enclosed mast gate in the foredeck; no spinnaker chute.

    Tony suspects that the boat must have been measured at some time, guessing that it would be kind of senseless to go to the trouble of building something so elaborate with no intention of racing it in class. I guess it would have been better for the resale value for the builder to register it as well. A final clue has appeared in the last few days; while sanding back the keelplank and inside transom I discovered the number 13 etched in professional looking font. I have taken photos and wiil be emailing them to tony shortly, as my guess just now is that the number is a yard number (unless the boat was previously FD K13!)which would suggest it had been built by a yard which built a substantial number of boats in the late 50's. Im guessing the boat was British built, but have included some pre-restoration photos in case any of you can see otherwise?!

    The boat restoration is currently coming along well. I have stripped the interior back to bare wood, repaired a couple of areas of damaged veneers (the previous owners cruised the boat around the skerries (rocks) on the south coast of the island of Mull off the west coast of Scotland) so one prang meant a substantial patch... . Im currently laminating a couple of extra frames for the cockpit to reduce the movement in the hull floor through waves. Next will come diagonal struts under the foredeck and laminated beams running from mast heel to shroud anchorages, with a corresponding ply deck beam (allowing some of the old framing to go) and frame installed on top of the frame. This is to allow me to use the same rig tensions as the modern boats. I may use a little carbon unidirectional to help with all this.

    My idea is to see if an old boat (bought for £300 including a good trailer) can be brought up to compete with the new ones for a fairly modest outlay. This has been proven in the Dragon class, helping to swell fleet numbers and get new blood racing. The similarities between the history of the FD and of the Dragon makes me believe that this kind of approach might work in helping the FD fleet grow.
     

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  2. Andy
    Joined: Aug 2003
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    Location: Edinburgh

    Andy Senior Member

    And some 'in-progress' shots...I'm about to replace the aft deck structure and laminate the new ribs in place, plus a new (straight) mainsheet track beam. But on the advice of the FD association I may build a cradle to hold the boat in the correct shape before those new frames go in...

    andy
     

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  3. Andy
    Joined: Aug 2003
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    Location: Edinburgh

    Andy Senior Member

    Glow baby, glow....

    Finished interior sanding a couple of months ago and this is what it looks like with 3 coats of UCP clear primer and 2 coats conventional yacht varnish. I have completed another 5 coats of varnish since and its getting pretty glassy. Didnt get much else done over summer due to other commitments and then had to move the boat from the recently defunct boatyard to my parents home 90 miles away, but I'll be getting back to it soon with a vengeance!!!!

    Andy
     

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  4. PAR
    Joined: Nov 2003
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    Location: Eustis, FL

    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    Keep up the good work, it's looking doing great.
     
  5. Jeff
    Joined: Jun 2001
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    Location: Great Lakes

    Jeff Moderator

    Looks fantastic!!! I really enjoy seeing projects posted such as this - definitely an inspiration. Thanks for the excellent photos, and can't wait to see more!
     
  6. Kotick
    Joined: Jul 2005
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    Location: Zuidbroek(NL)

    Kotick New Member

    Very much surprised to see your project and your pictures. I think your FD is nurmber K13. An extra reason for being surprised is the project i started in july 2002. Also an old wooden Flying Dutchman build in 1958 in Paterswolde in the northern part of Holland. I enclose some pictures taken during my project. First three of the boat as i bought it. The last made in 2002, 2003 and 2004 during restauration. The boat is not finished. This summer I removed the last farnish from the outside of the hull. The whole boat is now coated with 3 layers epoxy. All wood reconstruction is done and when the weather is well i can start with farnish and paint.
     

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  7. Andy
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    Andy Senior Member

    Thanks for the interest guys! Kotick, I like the look of your boat - its great to see another Dutchman being restored! I'm hoping that boats like ours can help set an example to those looking for a classic racing boat at a modest outlay in terms of cost....there must be hundreds of old FD's lying in gardens and garages just waiting to be brought back to life. I genuinely believe that they offer real pride of ownership, something unfortunately lacking in many other more expensive (and invariably slower) boats, in addition to blistering performance for those who want it, and relatively stable speed for those looking for something that won't throw them into the drink at every opportunity. A lot of the old boats do need a bit of structural work to make them good again, but if I can do it then anybody can.... ;)

    Andy
     
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  8. Andy
    Joined: Aug 2003
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    Location: Edinburgh

    Andy Senior Member

    Latest update:

    Had to move the boat from the yard in Edinburgh as it was closing down. Have to say I didn't mind much, as the couple who owned and ran it were without a doubt the two most obnoxious people I've ever had the displeasure of dealing with in the marine industry (all the other small boatyard owners in Scotland seem to be very kind, helpful and courteous, but hey ho...its a story for another day). Anyhoo, the boat had to be moved back to my parents garden over on the West coast as there are no other boatyards left in Edinburgh now that have undercover storage. This presented a problem at home as the garage was at least 6 feet too short for the boat. So my dad and I waited until my mother went for a nap and then dug 2 large holes in the front driveway, poured a load of concrete into them, hastily removed a section of mum's prized garden border, then tried to cover it up and pretend that nothing had happened.

    We then built, over the course of about 3 days, a garage extension which has been really useful. Its mainly 4X2 timber with lots of half lap joints, screwed and bolted together and covered with 1200 gauge polythene stapled down. The front of the extension is anchored to the ground using 3X3 MET posts, so it shouldn't go anywhere in a storm. The whole thing is designed to be easily dismantled so that it can be used whenever needed, and still classed as a temporary building. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to anyone wanting to have easy sheltered access to boat, tools etc. Hopefully I'll have more progress on the boat itself to show in the next couple of weeks.

    Andy
     

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  9. Andy
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    Andy Senior Member

    A detail of the bracing structure; one of the sawhorses I made; view from in the garage...the front driveway is a lot more tidy now than when the photos were taken...
     

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  10. Andy
    Joined: Aug 2003
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    Andy Senior Member

    Heres the latest as of 6th July:

    Laminated up new ribs at aft end of cockpit. These I did in situ, using the hull stringers as a form, but the strips were twisting this way and that and needed a few staples to keep them in place. I left the top laminate until later so that the staples are covered. Due to the configuration of the ribs, laminating them on a form and fitting them wasnt possible without removing the sheer clamps, so they were glued in place from the get go. I used brass woodscrews to finish as thats what the existing ribs have. The photos show the ribs still surrounded by masking tape and needing a bit of finishing, but the whole area seems much stiffer and stronger for only 500 grams weight.

    For the ribs in the middle of the boat, I decided to try a jig. This was partly to educate myself in these things, and I learnt a lot with the first rib (which is still in it curing). Due to the very tight turn at the centreboard case, my Dad and I steamed the laminates and pre-formed them before gluing them up and putting them in the jig. Making an accurate pattern of the shape at that point in the boat was the first crucial step though. We decided to use wooden blocks screwed to a sheet of MDF for the jig, with the blocks on the outside of the laminate due to the tight bends (although I suspect that having the blocks on the inside - allowing for the thickness of the laminate - would mean that each successive layer of laminate would help spread the clamping pressure better, leading to a more consistent bond and requiring less clamps?

    The aft end of the deck structure has also been re-assembled and now just needs a bit of tidying up. The deck beams etc. will all be white bilge paint as I reckon it helps with the light under the decks and is a lot quicker to do than varnish - and they won't be seen much anyways!

    Next up is a ply ringframe at the mast. I was going to place this on top of a laminated frame (making an inverted T section) but the aft sweep of the frame and the curvature in the hull make this impractical. This frame will be cut from 5mm ply with 2.8mm Khaya veneer laminated on top.

    Andy:cool:
     

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  11. Andy
    Joined: Aug 2003
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    Andy Senior Member

    Been a while (weather has been too cold and wet for epoxy and paint) but progress is being made again. Made up the last of the laminated ribs (this time laminated in a jig made from patterns taken from the hull - much easier than laminating in situ) and they are ready to be fitted. Removed the aft portions of the old rubbing strakes too, but they had been glued on and they took parts of the outer hull laminate with them...plan is to fill with epoxy and cellulose fibres before gluing on the new strakes. All this will happen after the deck skin has been fitted, as the top edge of the rubbing strake will protect the end grain of the ply. Bought a new planer thicknesser today and ordered some mahogany for the struts under the foredeck and the trim, whilst im also deciding on deck layout before putting it all together. Ive also been painstakingly sanding the old deckbeams back to clean wood as ive decided to varnish them (the deckhead will be painted white) as it will look soooooooo pretty.

    Pics in the next couple of days.

    Andy
     
  12. Andy
    Joined: Aug 2003
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    Location: Edinburgh

    Andy Senior Member

    Last few areas of damage in transom fixed and old transom bolt holes plugged. Aft deck beams faired and more sanding of deck beams and longitudinals...
     

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  13. Andy
    Joined: Aug 2003
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    Location: Edinburgh

    Andy Senior Member

    Not a huge amount achieved this weekend...the mahogany arrived so I milled the strips which will become the struts under the foredeck, and milled a new mainsheet beam. Photos show the strips and the mainsheet beam dry fit in place with the new ribs. A notch was cut from the middle of each rib to accomodate the ends of the beam, although a slight measuring boob meant that the beam is a few mm short now at either end...will either fill the gap with thickened epoxy or a shim. Next up is to get the whole glued up and then carry on moving forwards through the boat. Photos are a bit naff as they came from my phone...:p
     

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  14. SamSam
    Joined: Feb 2005
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    Location: Coastal Georgia

    SamSam Senior Member

    Very nice work! It looks fast, do you have any photos of what one looks like with the sails up? Sam
     

  15. Mike Bridgwater
    Joined: Feb 2015
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    Location: Somerset UK

    Mike Bridgwater New Member

    Looks lovely! Can see the posts were a long time ago, so, a long shot, did you finish the restoration? If not, would you consider selling? I'm looking for an FD to restore but difficult to find one....
     
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