Deck and fairings

With the foam moulds finished for the main hull components, it was time to do the layups and pull parts off. I did the smallest part, the foredeck first to test the process using a few odd-shaped bits of carbon and some 3mm Nomex inside the curved section.  It was a bit of a half-assed job and when it came out, it was a little bit heavier than I'd hoped - just under 500g - but in the end I decided it was god enough to use. I did the deck and fairings next, one at a time as the vacuum pump was sounding a bit sick and I didn't want to loose them all at once. Meanwhile I made an effort to track down someone who sold vacuum pump oil. 

The fairings were simple to lay up except for the sail track that picks up the lower skin of the tramp. That ended up being a 9mm ID tube that I glued into the monolithic carbon part, and then reinforced a bit more on the inside and cut the groove at the end. 

the deck gallantly holding a vacuum

Laying up the carbon tube for the sail track. The mandrel was a bit of clear hose
fed over an old yacht sidestay. Because the hose getts thinner when you stretch it,
you can just pull it out.  It worked really well.

The back of the sail track, showing the bit of reinforcing on the inside.

Anyway those four major parts are now ticked off. The deck weighed in at 1.6kg with the fibreglass rods glued into the sides, the fairings / sail tracks ended up being a bit under 1.4kg for the pair. That's a bit of a weight penalty, but it's a trade off - add a bit of weight, subtract a bit of drag. It's hard to know where to go on things like that, but I'm committed to the design so im going with it. I can always cut them off again if the boat's slow. 

The last image is of the four parts post-curing on the roof. It was easily 50 degrees up there so I thought why bother with the oven!

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