An inspiring city for Duracell
As from time to time in his videos, Matt and Janni step aside to talk about the context of the refit of Duracell, their former racing yacht. Settled in Port Townsend for the occasion, on the north coast of the United States, they are delighted with the maritime environment, and in particular the Northwest Maritime Center, a sort of living conservatory of wooden boat building. The port city is also the home of the 100% sailing adventure race Race to Alaska.
Mould for planking
Back at the boatyard, Matt starts making the planks that will extend the hull aft. After putting in the bulkheads in the last episode, he starts by cutting flexible horizontal and vertical reinforcement battens. He then places and screws a thin wooden board as a support for the lamination. The shapes are now visible.
Laminating and double curvature
In the next episode, he begins the composite construction. After saturating the wood with release agent, he applies a tear away fabric and the outer skin glass fabrics.
Because the shape has a double curvature, it is impossible to use a simple flat foam panel for the core. He therefore chose to cut foam slats, glued in an overlapping manner. Once impregnated, they can be sanded to a smooth shape.
After laminating the exterior, Matt can't resist the urge to unmold. A tricky operation, as the tear away fabric is of poor quality, but seeing the new shape is worth all the effort for Matt.
