Notes for F-32 Builders

Here's a collection of tips and advice for builders.  Most of these are simply my own opinions about how to do certain aspects of the building, and presumably nothing here contradicts anything in the plans.

1. My first and more important piece of advice, if you're firmly committed to spending the next several years of your spare time building this boat, is to go sail on as many different Farriers and Corsairs as possible, to form your own ideas about what works for you and what doesn't.  For example, my boat has a long cabin and aft cockpit, but most boats have a short main cabin and an aft cabin.  I felt that the aft cabin would be like sleeping in a coffin but I'm definitely in the minority because most boats have the aft cabin.  I also decided to go with the X-model, which is about a foot wider, but be absolutely sure that you won't be towing the boat long distances, or more than a couple of times a year, before you opt for the slightly roomier cabin.  Figure out what works for you before you commit yourself in fiberglass.
2. Space.  I built my boat in what is probably the absolute minimum space: a 24x30 foot garage with a temporary 10x16 foot extension.  Even that was tight, and there wasn't anything unrelated to the boat in the garage except an old motorcycle and lawn tools.
   
3. Ian emphasizes that it's important to get the eyes of the mast raising loops in line with the pivot point on the mast raising yoke.  However, you might not get it exactly right the first time.  In my case, the loops were too low (probably because I built the "high cabin" option with over 6' headroom in the main cabin).  This meant that the temporary mast raising stays had little tension when the mast was down and too much tension when the mast was up: exactly the opposite of what you want, since it's when the mast is a few inches above the aft support that it's most vulnerable to crosswinds.  I recommend having many large washers, spacers, or shims to adjust the height of the mast raising loops the first time you raise the mast, and extra long bolts with lots of thread.  I eventually raised my loops 1" off the deck with plywood pads.
   
   
4. Keep in mind that the boat doesn't have to be assembled to raise the mast.  When I raised mine the first time the floats were hanging from the rafters of the garage and the beams weren't even started yet.  You can work out a lot of details like wiring and running your halyards while you're waiting for those beams, or in between sanding sessions.  The temporary stays would probably keep the mast up in moderate winds but I attached my cap shrouds to my trailer.
   
5. It's not specified in the plans, but I recommend installing the beam bolts before final assembly of the floats and beams.  It's much, much easier to fold and unfold the beams when there are no floats attached.  Make sure you've got everything lined up correctly, as if you were about to attach the floats to the beams, and use a large boring auger to mark the exact center of the bolt holes.  Then mark your beam bolt pad holes using this reference hole and install them.  It might also be helpful to use hardware-store shims (for installing windows and doors) to line up the beams fore and aft in their pockets and keep them in place while you're drilling.  The other benefit to doing it this way is that you can bolt your beams in place before installing the floats so they don't shift if you have to manhandle the floats into position.
   
6. If you are building a single spreader rig, you might run into the situation where the spreaders hit the aft mast support rollers before the foot of the mast is lined up with the yoke.  My solution was to build carbon brackets at the top of my mast support poles that put the roller about 6" aft, and a few inches above, the tops of the poles.  If you are building a double spreader rig, you are going to have an interesting time rolling the mast back without having it bounce off the roller, since you won't be able to put lawn mower wheels next to the roller.  Be careful.
   
   
7. If you are building your own beams (which I don't recommend: the ready-built beams are expensive but save a whole lot of time), attach your lower folding strut to its brackets while bolting the brackets to the beam.  This will assure that everything fits correctly.  You can do this and still use the spacer jig between the LFS and UFS.  (Not sure if this applies to the new F-32 beams with integrated brackets).  I lined up my brackets with 3/4" tubes but still had a hard time getting my bushings in.  If this doesn't make sense now, file it away because it will when you get to that step of the plans.
   Second beam recommendation: make the compression boss inside the beam (through which you eventually drill the beam bolt hole) oversize by quite a bit.  This allows you to drill the hole larger on the bottom.  I had lots of trouble getting my beam bolts into the pads, even after carefully lining up the pads directly underneath the bolts.  There simply isn't enough leeway because the bolts are almost as big as the holes.  So drill the hole the proper size (I think 7/8"), then drill from the bottom up 1" diameter, for a couple of inches.  If that doesn't work, drill 1" a bit further up and then drill 1 1/8" in the bottom inch of depth.  You end up with a sort of cone, large end at the bottom, so you can wiggle the bolts around quite a bit to get them into the pads.  I got this idea when I saw a picture of a Corsair beam.  The bottom of the beam bolt hole must have been 1.5" diameter, so obviously they figured this out long ago.
   
8. Boom ends.  There's a lot of leeway here, since nothing is specified in the plans.  I built composite ends but replaced both after the first set started to break.  The mast end is simpler.  I used the Corsair stainless steel universal joint and a load-rated eyebolt for the mainsail tack.  See the haulout page for more pictures of the reefing lines and gooseneck.  The three sheaves in the end of the aft boom end are for two reefing lines and the outhaul.  I will probably be replacing them with a triple block because I can't keep the lines on the proper sheaves.  I tried installing pieces of plastic wrapped around the back of each sheave but that's not working.
   There's now a cam cleat at the aft end of the boom as well as the forward end.  The mainsail outhaul is double ended, which means that if you forget to release it before dumping the main, when rounding the weather mark and heading downwind, you can still go to the mast end of the boom and release it there.
   
9. Mast slot.  This is a problem area for Corsairs and Farriers.  I use slugs, which make the mast easier to raise (once it's on) but are a pain to insert into the slot.  Most owners who use the boltrope report that their sails are extremely difficult to raise (on the larger boats), requiring a lot of hard winching or a 2:1 halyard whose tail is a hundred feet long when the sail is up, and constant lubing of the track.  You also have to have a running topping lift to use roller reefing, because I found that the end of the boom needs to be 8+ feet above the cockpit sole to furl properly.  On the other hand some Farrier owners swear by the boltrope and roller reefing so do your own research. 
   Slugs also mean that can't use roller reefing, meaning you have "slabs" of sail next to the boom when you reef.  It's difficult to feed the slugs into the slot under controlled conditions when you're motoring slowly into the wind; any worse conditions and it's impossible, which means that if you decide to use roller reefing with slugs, you're most likely not going to be able to shake the reef out until you're at anchor or at the dock.  I tried to use both slugs and roller reefing but gave up after too many frustrating things went wrong, like having the boom end practically sitting in the cockpit after reefing (because my topping lift only had about 4 feet of range).  You can still drop the slugs out of the slot to roller furl the sail for storage, but you have to be really dedicated or have extremely expensive and fragile sails to use this rather than flaking because it's tedious to get them back in each time you sail.  If you use slugs, get a couple of small-boat halyard shackles from Duckworks to use for the top slug, so you can disconnect it easily and lay the diagonal batten down on top of your flaked sail.  You might also want to try a one on the bottom slug so you can tie in your second reef without unscrewing (and losing) your mast track stopper.
   Think about "stack height:" the size of the sail when it's flaked or rolled around the boom.  You want to make the boltrope slot low (i.e., close to the gooseneck) and small, but if you make it too low you won't be able to roller-furl your sail without dumping the entire sail out of the slot and onto the deck before rolling.  If you make the slot too small it will be difficult to feed your slugs into the mast, but if you make it high and long you have a much higher stack if you decide to flake your sail (because the track stopper has to be above the slot, or your sail falls out when you flake.  So you should probably decide which way you're going to go before cutting the opening in the slot, and then actually roll or flake the sail before cutting the slot full-size.
   
10. Lazy jacks.  If you're not using roller reefing and furling, you also have the option of installing the luxurious Lazy Cradle or some other sail stowing system.  Mine is from UK Sails and I love it.  You have to think about what you're going to be doing with the boat.  If most of the time you're racing with experienced crew, then you probably don't want to flake your expensive racing sails.  If you're sailing single or double handed, it's probably more important to be able to raise the sail by yourself without extreme effort.  Plus the cradle is a lot bigger than a normal sail cover so your flaked sail doesn't have severe creases.  The lazy cradle keeps the sail from dumping all over the cabintop when you release the ties (in fact you don't need sail ties at all).  You can leave it deployed if you're singlehanding and you are ready drop the main at any time, or reef with the extra sail neatly held above the boom.  (You usually see pictures of the big charter condomarans sailing like this).  Or you can roll it up and stow it against the boom where it's out of the way.  The only thing I would do differently if I had to do it again would be to make the lazy jacks from 12-strand instead of 1/2" dacron for less windage, but again I'm not as concerned with windage when I'm singlehanding and I can get the lines out of the way if I want to take the time to do it.  You can see how unobtrusive the cover is when it's rolled up in the picture below.  The lazy jack lines emerge from the forward end of the roll and go up along the mast.  (Also note my 7-months-pregnant wife in the picture below, who was at the time disinclined to grind the main halyard from underneath a pile of mainsail while I attempted to sort the sail).
    
    
11. I think the retractable bow pole is a bad idea.  It takes a big chunk of space from the v-berth, eliminates the anchor locker, is a pain to glass into the boat, will inevitably leak, and doesn't retract all the way anyway, which means an extra couple of feet to pay for at the dock.  It has to be several feet longer  and heavier than the hinged pole, and requires a lot more reinforcement in the bow.  Since you lose your anchor locker, you now need a wing to hold your anchors, which adds even more weight.  And since even the retracting pole requires a bobstay, it's a pain to extend all the way because for the last bit you're pushing against the loaded bobstay, which is a lot stronger than you are.  Ian Farrier suggests that you might need whisker stays anyway if you're going to race with a big downwind sail, so the sole advantage of the retractable pole is now moot (although I have to admit they look cooler than the hinged type).  It might be useful on a sportboat where you're in serious danger of falling off the boat if you're on the bow, because of the monohull's extreme pitch and roll, and where you can't support the pole from the float bows.  You will save a hundred hours of work by using the old "hinged" bow pole.  Your bow will be lighter, and you will be able to stow more than dirty socks in the v-berth.  If you think you want a retracting pole, build the simpler non-retracting one, wait 5 years for the fad to fade, and think about it again.  Note that almost none of the ORMA 60s in the 2007 Transat Jaques-Vabre had retracting poles, and if they did they were deck-mounted and off to the side, which makes a bit more sense, although it contradicts the aesthetics of symmetry.  My bow pole has a simple 3/4" diameter carbon fiber tube sticking out of the inboard end; this tube bumps the lip on the bow roller when the pole is down to keep it from falling in the water if there are no halyards attached.  You can sort of see it in this picture, but it's black and in shadow.
    
    I always keep a halyard on the pole as a backup to my headstay.  Look up Rod T's F-32 Pax on the web for a much nicer looking pole bracket.
    
12. You don't need bow eyes for trailering, bow poles, etc.  If I were to do it again I would use a 2" dia. fiberglass tube through the bow for the trailer winch.  I used a 1" dia tube through the bow just above the waterline for the bow pole tie-down.  It has a boom bail attached.  The line doesn't move enough to chafe.
    
    I would also put 1.5" dia. tubes through the float bows for anchoring since I've discovered that you always anchor these boats from the floats and never only from the main hull bow, so you don't sail around the anchor as much.  I currently anchor from a cleat on the float but occasionally the anchor line gets wrapped underneath the float, so I usually use a bridle to the main bow.  This keeps the anchor lines clear of the bobstay.
    Figure out where your trailer roller is going to contact the bow and add a layer of 18-oz reinforcement, or use a silica-based putty to fair here, since the roller will crush and crack your lightweight fairing mix.
    
13. I recommend using two half-weight laminate layers instead of one heavy layer, at least in areas that require several layers such as around the beam mounts.  You end up with more overlaps, but they are much easier to fair.  Instead of a single thick layer you use two layers of slightly different size so that the overlaps form a nice step.  It's sort of the equivalent to scarfed joints rather than butt joints in wood.  An alternative is to use 18oz for the base layer and 2x9oz for all additional layers, but then you still have a lot of overlaps to fair.
14. I would consider letting the cabin top and sides run a few inches aft of the main cabin bulkhead.  This would provide a place for handholds, as well as a place to bolt on hardware like cam cleats for sheets and mast rotation without worrying about leaks into the cabin.
15. Simplified main hatch took approximately 10 hours to build as opposed to possibly a few months for the molded hatch in the plans.  Mine doesn't leak and doesn't preclude building the "real" hatch in the future.  I have already built a hood but haven't gotten around to installing it yet, and since I've never taken a wave over the cabin top (and I tried in the Bahamas), it's pretty low on the priority list.
    
16. Every flat/horizontal surface should be painted with nonskid, preferably white.  Even light gray surfaces will burn bare feet in the sun, and you will inevitably step on every single horizontal surface on the boat.  If it's not non-skidded, you will slip right off, since most of these surfaces are going to be wet most of the time.  I tried several different types of nonskid.  If you don't have the luxury of a special nonskid sprayer, it's probably easiest to use something like Skid-Tex, mixed in with your paint, and rolled on with a foam roller.  You can then go back and sprinkle on more in areas that need it.  I put nonskid in the primer so I could do several coats for more even coverage.  Having several coats didn't seem to affect its ability to keep your feet planted, because it's very coarse.  Paint that's designated nonskid or deck paint is pretty much useless.
    
17. Rudder.  I built the kick-up rudder because the daggerboard-style rudder plans were extremely complicated.  It turns out that I underestimated the utility of the daggerboard rudder.  Because you can sail the boat in extremely shallow water, you most likely will.  But the kick-up rudder is mostly useless once it's kicked up.  So one of this winter's projects will be building the daggerboard rudder, OR adding weight to my existing rudder to keep it mostly underwater even after it's kicked up.  I might build the simpler non-kick-up daggerboard version, and just put a mark on it at the point where it's down far enough to be protected by the hull bottom.  For me it was another choice between getting the boat on the water or spending more time building.
18. Mainsheet.  Even if you're not going to use roller furling, it's helpful to be able to attach the mainsheet to the end of the boom.  This reduces load on the boom and allows the clew of the mainsail to travel freely along the boom.  When I moved the mainsheet to a strap around the boom, it interfered with the sail.  If the mainsheet strap was aft of the clew strap, the outhaul couldn't pull the main foot taut because it was pulling the mainsheet back as well, and the mainsheet and outhaul are tensioned at the same time, upwind.  If the mainsheet strap was forward of the clew strap, it tended to run forward along the boom, which increases the load on the boom and mainsheet by a whole lot.  At one time I used only 1 strap for both mainsheet and clew but found that once you tensioned the mainsheet you could no longer tension the outhaul, so unless you remembered to do the outhaul first before you headed up, you had to luff the main.
    The triple blocks are also hard to get to run freely.  The line must reeve in a fashion where it crosses itself once which tends to bind.  I want more purchase on the main but going to a quad block is only going to worsen the binding.  I may go with a coarse/fine setup using fiddle blocks on the bitter end.  I really like the spinlock cam at the center of the traveler but it does mean the mainsheet gets tighter as you drop the traveler to leeward.  This isn't an entirely undesirable effect.  It's useful when sailing upwind because you can almost use the traveller as a fine-tune on the mainsheet: as you pull the traveler to windward it puts more tension on the mainsheet.  However, if you want to drop the traveler in a gust you also have to ease the main or it doesn't go down by itself, when close-hauled.
    
19. Bow nets: you don't need them.  Some people like them for anchoring but I never had a problem anchoring from the bow, near the locker.  One of those things that you can launch without and see how you do.  I added bow nets after a year and I don't think I'll put them back on next spring when I launch again.  You do need wing nets, but mine are used.  Just remember that if you're building the X version, your wing nets will be narrower than stock nets, so they will sag if you buy somebody else's nets used.  F28 nets might fit widthwise but might be too short fore and aft.  I thought I would be clever with my net hull attachments and use half a PVC tube buried in glass tape instead of an entire tube.  True, I needed much less filler than if I had used whole tubes, but I have a lot less space for the net lines and retention rods.  My rods can be no larger than 1/8" fiberglass, which seems to be working fine, and the lines are 1/8" amsteel.  Pictures here.
    
20. Interior.  While the new F-32 interior has a nice open and airy feel, there are a couple of aspects I don't like.  First, why force crew to take a u-turn around the daggerboard case to get into the head compartment?  The only reason why the head compartment opens forward instead of aft is that the forward opening allows a nice-looking u-shaped dinette aft of the head.  If the compartment door were next to the daggerboard as it is on some of the old Corsairs, you wouldn't have room for the dinette.  However, having the head open into the v-berth means that the v-berth can only be 5-feet long so it becomes mostly useless (but yours was going to have a bow pole sticking into the middle anyway, wasn't it?)  So now you've dedicated the entire forward end of the boat to the head and getting in and out of the head.  Plus, to get into that nice dinette, you have to step up at the same time as you duck.  Thomas F. Jones had a funny comment about how samurai in Kirosawa movies could do it, but the rest of us are going to be whacking our heads.  I haven't figured out the dining table configuration on by boat yet, and I will probably move the head from the bow compartment to the port side of the daggerboard, to get a usable v-berth.
21. Diamond tension.  How much is enough?  Mike L, who supplied my mast, says hand tight.  The other tip from the F-boats list is that if your mainsail is difficult to raise when the battens are tensioned, you might not have enough diamond tension.  The spreaders are swept back, so the more you tension the diamonds, the more you bend the mast back.  Since the luff of your main should be cut with some forward curve built into the middle, your mast should be bent slightly to accomodate.
    

You might sense a theme here.  While I never cut corners, if there were two potential ways of doing something, I always chose the simpler method.  Anything optional, I left out.  It got my boat on the water a year sooner than if I had decided it had to be perfect before it sailed.  The other benefit is that my list of things to change or add is sorted by priority so I get to the most critical changes first.  The downside is that projects completed after the boat is launched are often done in conditions far harsher than inside your workshop, and seem to take much more time.  You might be able to build a wooden boat outside or under a tarp but it becomes very hard to get work done in fiberglass, particularly in a climate like Ohio's where you have perhaps 10 total days per year of no rain and ideal temperature for working epoxy.  You become accustomed to mixing and wetting out in the basement, then either glassing and waiting a few days for your "fast" epoxy to cure or running out to the boat to slap the glass on before your "slow" epoxy kicks.