fireball restoration

I don't see anything but I'm not familiar with Fireballs. Maybe along the rub rail but that could be the way the partially scraped off paint affects the eye. Lots of shadows too.

 

No PAR, it's not you, there is a definite light concavity on the bottom plank. I'd put it down to being built like that, and here's why. Quite a lot of plans from that time (60s' in this case) were paper (dyeline prints) and mostly had full size half frame drawings and dimensions. However, there are often small discrepancies which mean some stations do not give a fair shape. It's common on things like Enterprises and others too btw. So combine this with say an amateur builder who makes the frames exactly as per dimensions (if concientious) and the unfairness is built in.
It's not intended, and easy to scoff now, especially as we have tools such as surface modelling which can highlight such things. You can be sure the original boat (Peter Milne design) would have been fair, but that would have been checked and had battens run over it etc as we do today to check. It also does not mean the original is identical to the 'drawings' published, just within allowed tolerance.

It probably shows most on single and double or triple chine hull shapes. Oddly enough it seems less common on clinker (lapstrake) builds. It can be that the builder has not put enough support under the chine/stringer area or maybe got carried away with the plane! I'm sure we have felt the spring in a soft stringer sometimes....

 

Wow, thanks for so many replies!
What is a hook, what is shroud tension and what is a hog? A hog is a pig but there is no pig so what do you mean in this context?
My dad is now taken by this idea of epoxy after two guys told him it would be good. Says it will seal, waterproof and stabilize the whole thing. PAR, you said "it will provide a plastic covering of which the broken and rotting mess can be contained", so what would a better alternative be? And if the rotting bits are removed, is it then still so wrong to put epoxy over it?

 

Hog is a reverse curve where it shouldn't be. You are not racing, so it is no problem. Enjoy the boat, that is what it is all about.

 

A hook is an upward curve usually near the transom. It is not quite the same as hog but is similar. It is merely a curve in the bottom that does not belong there. Ignore it on a play boat as Gonzo says.

Shrouds are the wires that hold the mast in place. Shrouds are the ones on the side. The one on the front is a stay. Some boats have a stay going aft and it is called a back stay. That is just sailor talk but if you are to hang around the sailing club you need to be able to use the jargon. Shroud tension is how tight you make the shrouds. There are usually some adjusting mechanisms for all the wires.... which are collectively called rigging.

 

Okay, thanks!