The building of a Fenwick Williams catboat: The Big Flip - January '10

After a few weeks off for winter break, the boatshop is humming once again. Unfortunately the once plentiful red cedar planking stock has run out, so there are still a few more planks to hang. But with more red cedar on the way, there's plenty of other work to be done.

In the picture you can see the sheer clamp almost fully installed. The sheer clamp is a structural piece of the boat that will strengthen the hull and help to define the shape of the hull at the sheer. On the catboat the sheer clamp is yellow cedar, an excellent choice because of it's clear, even grain. The sheer clamp helps define the shape of the hull, so while you want a strong wood, you also want a wood that will bend easily and evenly to create a nice fair sheer.

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IYRS and the Museum of Yachting lectures series begin

An evening with Lloyd McCaffery, one of the world's leading marine model artists, kicks off a five-part lecture series organized by IYRS and the Museum of Yachting on Artists and Authors. McCaffery's talk, "Art in Miniature"-which takes place February 23 at 7:30 pm-will focus on the art of model making, an endeavor that McCaffery himself states requires "a balance between the analytical approach of a technician and the intuitive feeling of an artist."

The remaining four lectures in the series include:

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Inside IYRS: Ready to flip!

Written by: Tom
1/28/2010 9:12 PM

The 12 1/2's hull is faired, painted and ready to flip.

The 12 1/2 is looking like a real boat these days. The waterline is somewhat swoopy when you look at it from above, but it's clearly flat when you get down to the level of the water.

Getting a line to look flat across a curvy surface is just one of those things you learn when you work with boats.

Click here to read the entire IYRS Blog.

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