This one’s for members Our members library is where the real work lives: original technical content from the people who did the work, using materials and methods from the highest levels of the sport. Inside our Membership Site: Extended video walkthroughs from Paikea’s refit and our professional jobs New members videos uploaded regularly Downloads and
Vacuum bagging carbon fibre laminate Read More »
The Benefits of Using Peel Ply Peel ply is the layer that never stays with the boat — and it’s doing more work than its five minutes of fame in the lamination stack would suggest. It goes on as the first layer against the laminate, and it comes off before the next layer goes on.
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Removing the Vacuum Bag: What Good Consolidation Actually Looks Like The bag came off well. The breather felt was saturated with bleed-off — more than ideal, which means slightly more resin went in than necessary, but it also means the laminate was fully wet out before the vacuum did its job. The frog’s tongue had
Removing the Vacuum Bag: What Good Consolidation Actually Looks Like Read More »
Rudder Winglets, Saildrive Fairings, and Getting Paikea Back in the Water Shayne had a bad knee. The splash date was fixed. This is what a refit looks like when you have a deadline, a crew of three boys, and one parent on light duties. The kids stepped up. Ayden and Harry got the engine lifted
Rudder Winglets, Saildrive Fairings, and Getting Paikea Back in the Water Read More »
Vacuum Bagging Complex Geometry: Joining a Carbon Beam to a Hull Vacuum bagging a flat panel is straightforward. Bagging a structural carbon tape that has to bond a beam to a hull — transitioning from vertical to horizontal, over compound curves, into tight internal corners — is where it gets interesting. The prep comes first,
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Recutting a Spinnaker Staysail into a Code 0 Tucked in the back corner of a sail container at the yard, there was a spinnaker staysail nobody wanted anymore — built by North Sails for the Swedish Victory Challenge’s 2007 America’s Cup campaign. Over fifteen years old, worn in places, and exactly what we needed. What
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