youngbarnacles, Author at youngbarnacles

Finishing the Stanchion Sockets: Load Paths, Peel Ply, and the Vacuum Bagging Process

Finishing the Stanchion Sockets: Load Paths, Peel Ply, and the Vacuum Bagging Process The last of the starboard side stanchion sockets went in during a genuinely hot stretch — air temperature around 32°C, laminating inside the hull with a portable air conditioner running flat out just to make the space workable. Not the most comfortable […]

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From Scrap Foam to Flying: Building a Custom Pump Foil Board

From Scrap Foam to Flying: Oliver’s Custom Carbon Pump Foil Board Four days of pump foiling on a kiteboard was enough to identify the exact problem: too long, and the bow kept slamming into the water on every pump stroke. The commercial fix would have cost around €900. Oliver’s fix cost a pile of scrap

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Engineering Lighter, Smarter: Why We’re Replacing Paikea’s Wooden Doors with Composites

Beyond the Slam: Engineering Composite Doors for a Performance Catamaran Author: Shayne & Anna Key Message: The choice of material is never about what’s “best,” but what is most fit for purpose. For our performance refit, that purpose is extreme weight reduction without compromising on strength, safety, or functionality. Introduction: The Weight of the Problem Walk

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Engineering a Lightweight Door: The Value of 350 Grams

Topics: A detailed look at the design and fabrication of a structurally efficient composite door, highlighting the techniques for managing complex geometry and the performance philosophy that values incremental weight savings. Author: Shayne & Anna In the context of a performance refit, weight reduction is not about single grand gestures but the accumulation of many small, calculated

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Re-Engineering a Structural Bulkhead | Cutting a Doorway Adjacent to a Carbon Chainplate

Author: Shayne and Anna Key Message: Major structural changes require professional composite engineering expertise. This project demonstrates what is possible but should not be attempted without a deep understanding of load paths and advanced laminating techniques. Introduction On a boat, space is a premium. To improve the livability and accessibility of Paikea’s narrow hulls, we undertook one of our

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Building Carbon Stanchion Sockets

Building Carbon Stanchion Sockets Stanchion sockets aren’t the kind of thing anyone gets excited about — until you’ve spent years kicking your toes on stainless steel bases bolted proud of the deck, catching lines on them, watching them collect salt and grime in every corner. The fix on Paikea was to move away from that

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