Building Carbon Fibre Chainplates: Part Three — The Starboard Side The rudder project running through this same stretch of time wasn’t happening in isolation — there was a lot going on aboard Paikea at once, and this starboard chainplate rebuild was one of several things competing for attention in the same tight window. It’s worth
Building Carbon Fibre Chainplates: Part Three — The Starboard Side Read More »
Carbon vs. Fiberglass: Building for Performance and Reliability People ask often enough why some parts of Paikea are carbon and others are plain fiberglass — the rudder blade being the clearest example. The honest answer isn’t glamorous: it comes down to fit for purpose, what was actually available in the Caribbean at the time, and
Carbon vs. Fiberglass – Building for Performance and Reliability Read More »
Making a Composite Rudder Part Two: Laminating, Fairing and Getting It on the Boat There was a deadline on this one. Shayne had accepted a job as rigger for the French America’s Cup team and we needed to get to Barcelona. Five days to finish two rudder blades, get them installed, and be ready to
Making Composite Rudders – PART 2 Read More »
Making a Composite Rudder Part One: Shaping the Foam Blank This footage starts mid-Atlantic. We’re three days without a port rudder, still four or five days out from land, watching the rudder angle readout and trying to keep it between two and five degrees in normal conditions. The breeze is light so we’ve got the
Rudder Evolution: Shaping the Ultimate Foil Read More »
Engineering Paikea’s Rig: Adapting America’s Cup Technology for Cruising Taking an IACC mast and making it work on a cruising catamaran isn’t a matter of cutting it to length and stepping it. Every system on the original rig was designed for a grand prix racing programme with a full crew, unlimited budget, and a single
Engineering Paikea’s Rig: Adapting America’s Cup Technology for Cruising Read More »
Catana 42 Boat Tour: The Deck Last time we covered the back end of the boat and the cockpit. This time it’s everything in the middle and up on deck — what this boat came with, what’s stayed, and what’s already changed. The Hardtop and the Moonroof Starting at the back of the hardtop extension:
Catana 42 Boat Tour: The Deck Read More »
