Building the walk through cockpit version of Harrigami.

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The Last Report!!, Week 18: Monday 31st Mar - Tuesday 8th April 2003

If you are wondering what this boat will look like once completed then look at the CAD images in the Walk through cockpit version of Harrigami Gallery.

Yesterday we waved goodbye to the boat. It was loaded onto a truck which has now taken it to a Brisbane shipping company where it will be loaded into a 40’ container bound for Maine, USA.

This week was spent on all the final details that seem to accumulate towards the end of a project. The boom needed a jib sheet track just forward of the mast so I made up a spaceframe truss holding a solid glass rod for a stainless ring to slide across. The truss was made out of carbon strips left over from our earlier mast experiments and glued and glassed onto the boom. It could just as easily been made out of timber strips with uniglass reinforcing.

The leeward hull was faired then the walkway brackets and trampoline net fixings were glued and glassed into place. Final fairing and finishing was carried out completing this hull.

The last few days seem to be a rush of small fiddly and time consuming jobs. We made long tiller extensions by wrapping glass tape around a pvc tube, slitting while still green, removing the tube then winding a final layer of tape. These turned out to be very stiff and light. A stainless steel swivel was fitted to the ends so the boat can be steered from the cockpit.

Two cradles were made out of 19mm plywood to fit the custom made trailer. These cradles hold the ww hull, the leeward hull, the beams and the mast. Walkways fit under the boat on the trailer and the boom lashed over the cockpit. All other bits and pieces are stored inside the ww hull. Getting the boat out of the shed proved to be quite a challenge as the approaches are quite steep and the door quite low. We overcame this by removing the wheels and axles from the trailer and dragging the ww hull out while leaning it sideways on the trailer base. The trailer was then jacked up and reassembled and the cradles fitted under the hull.

Once all the various boat parts were loaded onto the trailer we towed it to a flat grassy area to be assembled. This was done while leaving the ww hull on the trailer. The beams were attached, the leeward hull slotted on and the walkways and seats put in place. Everything fitted beautifully with just a bit of tweaking to get the main walkway to sit properly. As we had to get the boat to the truck that day we quickly packed it all up again and prepared it for it’s long journey. Towing the boat 15km to the truck showed what an easy load it is to trailer. The Toyota Landcruiser hardly noticed the extra load and allowing for the 40’ of length on corners it’s was a breeze to tow.

Once at the truck depot we slid the leeward hull and mast forward level with the tow hitch as the full length couldn’t exceed the 40’ container length. It was all lifted onto the truck in one bundle with a 1 ton forklift then driven overnight to Brisbane to be ready for shipping on Thursday the 10th.

The Project:

We have been asked by a number of people why the boat has taken much longer to build than Rob’s original Harrigami prototype. The main reason of course is quality of build. When building a custom boat for a client we build to a very high standard. Every part of the boat is prepared for a 2 pack polyurethane finish, the most time consuming part of boatbuilding. This can easily take twice as long as a boat built for oneself with the primary aim of proving a concept with very little regard to how she will look. Rob builds very quickly as he knows it will probably undergo several changes, being added to here and cut away there, as he modifies his original ideas. He has very little regard for it’s finish because it’s a test bed for ideas and will probably never be sold.

This boat differed to the standard Harrigami in the following ways; the leeward hull was 12m metres long instead of the standard 10.5m, the ww hull has a much more complicated cockpit and there are three walkways and two extra seats which the original boat didn’t have.

The work hours as the project progressed indicate that most of the boat was complete within 1000 hours. The mast took longer than would normally be the case as we were developing a new concept. The new boat concept with building ideas and techniques developed along the way are with amateur builders in mind. All these techniques will be included in the plans. Both the boom and the beams will be redesigned to make them quicker and easier to build. Fairing a boat is always a long process which can go on forever if you let it, so you have to balance quality of finish with cost.

Another factor the amature builder need keep in mind is the shed size. If on the small size the shed can get very cluttered and some projects have to be put off for a while until more room becomes available, especially when it is raining and you can’t spread outside. Building the leeward hull in one section would also save time given the space. Having said that it is possible to build in even a smaller area particularly if there is only one or two people and you have a flat area outside.

Overall I think we could shave several weeks off the build time for a standard Harrigami. A home builder may be able to save more time if not fussed about a professional finish.

We would like to thank the owner of this Harrigami for having the faith in both the design and our ability to build it. He has shown remarkable patience and generosity as the project went over time and budget as he had a number of commitments to fulfil. We are confident however that he will be very happy with what will certainly be the most unusual and fastest sailboat in Rockland, Maine.

Mark

hours : 1630

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Click on the images to enlarge.