Spin launcher Bar

So just a few updated shots of the spin launcher bar. I sanded down all the excess epoxy and now it's ready for paint.

Foot Chalks and Spin Launcher Bar

So my second full day of renos was very productive. I was able to install the forward foot chalks that Ben Steinberg made for me (Excellent work BTW!). They were very easy to install. I just followed Ben's instructions which he wrote on the inside of the chalks with a sharpie. Have a look at the picture to see my handy work.

From there I decided to try to tackle the spin launcher bar. Now keep in mind my boat work skills could be described as "intermediate at best", so I was a little scared to start the install. Anyway, with the instructions that Jeff Jones wrote on the Viper forums, the intstall wasn't too bad. The hardest part was trimming the bar to the right length to fit. I didn't want to trim too much off and ruin the part, but if I didn't trim enough it wouldn't fit. I just took my time and would trim a little, then test fit, then trim a little more, and test fit, and so on until finally I was able to rubber mallet it into place. From there I started with some thickened epoxy to hold it in place. That's where she stands now until tomorrow after work when I can fill the rest in and fair it out.

So she's really coming together after good weekend worth of work. I'm just about ready to get the boat flipped over to start working on the bottom. That should be fun!

I hope you enjoy the pictures of the work so far.

Darren

Radical Restructuring

For those of you who don't know, I got the title of this post from the movie Ski School...if you haven't seen it, you haven't lived!

Anyway, so today I thought I'd try to tackle adding the new rudder post to #29. Something that took some serious courage because I was ripping the old rudder post off, and once I started, there was no going back!

It was the perfect day to do the work on the boat too. Adrienne was away at her wedding shower, there was a nice breeze in the air which kept the dust flying down the driveway and away from me.

So anyway, here's some pictures of the Radical restructuring. I'll be doing more work on it tomorrow, and hopefully installing the spin launcher bar as well...and if I'm really lucky, the forward foot chalks.

A special thanks to Ben Steinberg for making me the rudder post. You do great work!

Enjoy the pics, and check back tomorrow to see the rest of the progress.

Just a few more pictures

Making some more progress

So a few weeks ago, I took the viper to Sarnia to get some work done with Lee and Kelly. Brad Boston was nice enough to let us use his garage to work in as the weather wasn't cooperating with us.

A list of things we got done:

1) New chain plates installed

2) New Guy installed

3) Removed old hiking strap hardware and filled holes

4) Removed old jib cheek blocks and filled holes

5) Added new inspection ports

Since then I've been working away on the boat. Here's a list of things I've done since:

1) Sanded down filled holes for Hiking strap pad eyes.

2) Added pad eyes back onto cockpit

3) Sanded down filled holes for jib cheek blocks.

4) Added new jib cheek blocks

5) Added Gnav hardware at base of mast, forward cockpit, and back at the helm position

6) Added two 4" inspection ports at the back of the cockpit to get at the Gnav hardware

7) Filled in the area where the old spin launcher roller bar was and sanded it down smooth

8) Got the carbon rig (no standing rigging yet)

9) Got hydroturf. but not installed yet.

10) Took keel to T&M Marine to get weight added.

So looking forward, the next steps are to install the forward foot chalks, the new spin launcher bar, and the new rudder post. Once that's done I've got the top of the boat complete and then it's onto removing the old drain plug in the bottom of the boat, filling in that area, and sanding it smooth. From there the boat is ready to race! It's coming along very well now!