Queenie SJB vs. Everest 1

[Neil C.]

FAO Jim Champ:

Hi Jim, I spent some time reading through your web pages on the construction of Queenie SJB yesterday evening. The level of innovation and quality of craftsmanship was obviously state of the art for the early 1970's.  www.devboats.co.uk/qsjb/   It's interesting to compare and contrast with Clive's design and build which is equally innovative, and shows how much the technology has moved on in 40 years. (See "Everest 1 build" on this forum) Obviously, with a full carbon foam sandwich build the Everest 1 is much stronger and lighter - correct me if I'm wrong Clive but I seem to recall the bare hull weight was under 30kg. My question for Jim is whether Queenie was ever weighed. Do you think the builders managed to get her under 50kg new, and what do you think she weighs now?

[roland_trim]

To add...

Jim, Pleeeease can we see Queenie at Mumbles 2015. Would be epic to have her on the start line.

[JimC]

She's under 50kg now I reckon, but wth no decks on. and some beams missing. Unfortunately she's got major glue failure and some other problems and needs heroic levels of rebuild, especially after I ******* up big time by attempting to get the interior soda blasted clean.  Goodness only knows when I'll be able to find the time to sort her out, and in some ways itought to be the sort of rebuild where you retain the builders nameplate...

Yes, I think it fairly likely she was down to weight when new, but it was partly done by using ply thickness on the topsides that was illegal in the late 70s and 80s.

[Neil C.]

I think I was going somewhere with the original post, but can't quite remember what it was now! I think something along the lines of: although the boats have got wider and longer since the '70's, the hull volume has gone down a long way and epoxy glues have improved. So I guess it's not beyond the realms of possibility that somebody could design and build a new boat to the '05 Rules built largely out of plywood, with a bit of composite reinforcement around the main bulkhead / spaceframe area and still get it down to the weight limit. It would never be anywhere near as stiff as a full carbon foam sandwich boat, and would be quite a labour-intensive way to build. I guess it would also require pretty good woodworking skills, but could potentially be a lot cheaper and possibly prettier in the end of the day. I am aware that the foils / sails / spars etc. constitute a lot of the expense in a new boat, but if you had a worn-out old 80's / 90's Cherub with reasonable spars and foils, might be a low-cost way to upgrade to '05 rules. 

Just a bit of a left-field idea really. Feel free to ridicule.   

[JimC]

The boats are so much smaller than they used to be that I agree, especially given carbon racks, that it ought to be fairly easy for a competent builder to get one down to weight. The odd pound or two doesn't make that much difference anyway.  But I think the main reason there was such a major switch to foam sandwich after Bill Deeley showed the way with Amber Dragon was simply that its so much easier for the semi skilled amateur to build a foam boat that's strong enough. Go back to the not so good old days and windy races often used to finish with a boat or two out of action with splits along the chines or centreline, all that sort of thing, which is pretty much unknown now.