Saving Old Seagulls

A couple of people have messaged me asking about the boat I posted a picture of when I was pulling Charles's leg last week .
So here is the story behind it . the boat , not Charles Large's leg .

In New Zealand some of the organised seagull races have no class distinctions for motor or boat type , you turn up , pay homage to safety ,a small event fee and away you go . In others including the premier race on the calendar there are classes , divided by motor type , level of tune or non seagull components and boat type .
with out going to explain all history and the politics behind it , boat classes are divided into a number of groups and must meet a small number of criteria .
1 dinghy .must have at least 3.5 length to width ratio and be over 10 feet
2 Classic Bermudian .minimum length 12 ft with 3.5 ratio two person 150kg minimum
3 New Bermudian . minimum length 12 ft Max 20 ft one bow no out riggers two persons 150 kg minimum
4 Open .( any hull )

Racing dingy class as I did in my first year was fun , but being on the heavy side with body weight I was giving away to much to be really competitive , plus I was hoping to stay dry and after often admiring my friend Tinkers boat , I thought 20 footers were the way to go .

One of my other seagull buddies Adrian built a his first 20 footer out of bendy ply , a ply with the grain running mostly in one direction , makes it very easy to curve , and snap I might point out .
below is his boat .

I had other ideas for a 20 footer ,and that design will be brought out for another day , but I wanted it to be dry , capable of cruising with a number on board . stable , fast and able to turn.
Adrians build method sowed the seed and with limited time I rushed together a boat of similar proportions to tinkers . these are some pictures of how it came together

the bow section is soaked in water and folded and left to dry

bow section

bow section aft view

Just join the sheets

I then screwed timber to stabilize the gunnel and worked out the transom .

the reason the boat is so wide is because it then meets the 3.5 ratio rule and complies as a dinghy or a classic bermudian as well as a new bermudian class so I have flexibility as to which class I run in . Though it floats on a narrow water line at rest or moving it is very inherently stable and dry

turn the boat over and tidy up the joins with filler

lay cloth over the hull

ready to wet out

wetting out under way

turn back up right trim rails and fix fore deck and side decks

side decks