Step 1 − Set up section formers on a strong-back, making sure everything is level and aligned.

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Step 4 − This is the most difficult point.  The twist needed in the strips becomes too great and a hollow is developing which will need to be corrected.  Sellotape strips hold the strips together. Wooden pegs, made from waste wood strip, keep the strips aligned between formers and the Sellotape keeps the epoxy off the pegs.

Step 5 − Eventually the twist becomes too great an it is necessary to make a join in each strip near the rudder post. 

The wooden clamp has been removed to show the herring-bone joint and the positions marked for the rudder tube and post.

Step 7 − Add the first two planks that come on to the rudder post, then fill the triangular hole below these planks with short pieces, trimming the ends to butt against the hull.

Step 8 − Continue planking until the hull is closed.  There is now considerable curve in each plank and the elastic cords are needed to pull each plank hard against the previous one.

Step 9 − Plane a flat along the keel and add the outer keel band.

Step 10 − Now do an initial fairing of the outside surface to remove all glue runs and major steps between strips. Then run a coat of epoxy over the whole surface using a plastic spatula to force the epoxy into any crack or open joint (there should be none).  Note the decorative line above the waterline, made by pre-sorting the strips into light and dark colours, and the floatation mark.

Step 11 − A router jig is strapped to the hull in the correct position to cut out the hole for the keel.

Step 13 − Then the jig is removed. The hull is faired again, until all the shiny epoxy is gone, sheathed using fine woven glass cloth, then lifted off the formers.

Step 14 − The formers are removed from the strong-back, the keel-hole jig is secured on the strong-back and the hull placed on it, right-way up.  The hull now tends to sag open under its own weight and temporary beams are needed to hold the shearline to the correct shape.  The inside surface of the hull is rough-faired to reduce steps between strips and remaining steps filled with microlite filler.

Step 15 − Now to make a start on the keel.  100mm-thick strips of polystyrene foam insulation board are cut just larger than the inside shape of the keel and glued together.  These are sanded to shape of the inside of the keel using a long-board between shape formers at each end.

Step 16 − Next the rake of the keel is formed by slicing the foam off the bottom of the keel at the correct angle and gluing the cut piece to the top.  A release coat is applied to the keel blank using PVC self-adhesive film, then two layers of biaxial glass cloth are laid up on the blank.

Step 17 − When properly set, the keel blank is offered up to the hull and properly aligned.  A floor plate has been placed exactly 1m below the immersion point and the keel blank is sitting on this.  The keel blank sticks up about 100mm into the hull.

Step 18 − Expanding builder’s foam is used to mould the shape of the inside of the hull.  Polyethylene sheet is used to stop the foam sticking to the hull and heavy lead weights are needed to stop the keel rising as the foam expands.

Step 19 − The keel blank is removed from the hull, a sharp wooden trailing edge added, and the keel laid up with biaxial glass cloth to its final thickness, with the cloth laid over the foam mould to make a flange which will fit against the hull. 

Step 20 − The foam inside the keel is removed using a suitable cutter on a power drill (e.g. a 35mm hinge cutter) up to about 10mm from the glass in about 100mm-deep steps.  The final 10mm breaks away from the PVC release film with the help of a large wood chisel.  When offered back into the hull, the flange sits against the hull. The centre of the keel rises into the hull and will later form the floor of the cockpit.

Step 21 − Now, because it was built outwards from the inside, the keel needs to be faired, and this takes time and patience.  Allow several days for the epoxy to harden off, otherwise the sandpaper will clog up quickly.  Use a long-board to find the highest spots then work on them with a powered sander.  The final fairing to shape needs to be done by hand with a long-board.  Here a final layer of fine woven glass cloth has been applied using a graphite filler in the epoxy, followed by two coats of epoxy-filler applied using a roller to protect the surface for the final stages.

Step 22 − The keel is fixed into the hull: (1) by bonding the flange against the hull surface; (2) laying strips of biaxial cloth from the hull, over the flange and up the protruding part of the keel; (3) filling the “V” shaped void up to the level of the top of the keel with medium density polyurethane foam block, cut to shape, to form the cockpit floor; (4) glassing again from the hull over this floor and into the top of the keel, and (5) adding a wooden floor forward of the keel on which to step the mast.

Step 23 : Now apply biaxial glass cloth to the inside surface of the hull.

Step 24 − Fabricate bulkheads from 6mm thick foam sheet, reinforced with wood where necessary and covered both sides with biaxial glass cloth. Glue these in place using epoxy and heavy-duty filleting filler.

Step 25 − Remember to leave a large drain hole in each bulkhead, as water will get in every deck-hole and needs to drain into the keel.  Note the two wooden strips which, when glassed over, will form part of a ring-beam taking the stresses from the main mast stays.

Step 26 − Now a triangular-section stringer is fixed along the shearline to support the deck.  Note that the stringer is sawn part through at intervals so that it bends without twisting.  These cuts are filled later with epoxy filler.