Launching Didi 40cr2 Stargazer

I wrote last year about the Didi 38/40 projects being built by XS Marines in India. The posts are at Didi 26 and 40 Projects in India and Update on Wide Stern Versions of Didi 40 and Didi 40cr .

They built the new wide-stern version of the Didi 40cr, now named the Didi 40cr2, from plywood for a customer. (Sorry, we don't yet have a web page for the new version, that will come soon.) During the build, they took moulds off the hull so that they can build this series of designs in sandwich GRP. They will be able to build the Didi 38, Didi 40 and Didi 40cr from those moulds.

Last week they launched the first boat, named "Stargazer". She is the second Didi 40cr2 to be launched, after "Passion X" in Sydney, Australia.

"Stargazer" being built from wood and plywood.

"Stargazer" covered with the GRP mould.

Didi 40cr2 "Stargazer" about to get wet.

She was launched on Friday, sailed on Saturday and raced (not seriously though) on Sunday. She had no spinnaker, which was to be added to her wardrobe this week.

"Stargazer" under sail.

After their first sail, builder Sheri Bamboat reported on her sailing qualities. "We sailed Stargazer from the Moorings near my yard to Mumbai on 23 March .  It really was a great moment. I need to thank and congratulate you on one of the most well balanced boats that I have sailed."

We wish Sheri Bamboat and XS Marines every success with building these boats for the Asian market. We also wish the owner of "Stargazer" happy sailing and successful cruising and racing on her.

To see our full range of designs, go to our main website or our mobile website.

Longboarding on a 26ft Sportfisherman

Kevin Agee has been longboarding the past two weeks. This is not the type of longboarding that I do, surfing the waves on the longest of my surfboards. The longboarding that Kevin is doing is with a flexible board about 1m long, with a pair of handles on one side and coarse sandpaper on the other. This involves application of much elbow grease, removing any surface epoxy glue oozings left after initial cleanup when fitting the strip cedar skin, as well as high spots in the timber surfaces.

As part of the process, low spots are filled with lightweight epoxy filler, thereby reducing the amount of material that must be sanded off surrounding areas to smooth out the surface.


Boat with the pox. The grey patches are areas where hollows have been filled and then sanded flush. 

After that comes more sanding and more filling and more sanding and so on, until you are happy with the surface. A side benefit is some weight gain in arm, shoulder and trunk muscles.

The chine is also faired as part of fairing the hull sides. This is done by first trimming off the overlapping side planking at the chine, then planing them flush with the planks of the chine flat. Any unfairness in the chine flat must be faired by sanding/filling, the same as for the side planking. The hull will be glass-sheathed, so the hard corner of the chine must be rounded off to a radius suitable for the glass fabric.

Also forming part of the fairing process is filling in the holes where temporary screw have been removed. This is normally done by injecting or squeezing filled epoxy into the holes, then sanding smooth. Kevin used an alternative method that is quicker and easier. He used wooden golf tees, epoxied into the holes. After the epoxy has cured the tees are cut off flush.

Another job that is going on is fitting the keel runner. The runner is laminated in place on the hull from two 20mm (3/4") thicknesses but it needs a flat surface on the hull centerline onto which it can be bonded. This flat is rough-formed with a power plane then finished with a hand plane. The flat is continued all the way to the tip of the stem. In the forefoot area the runner tapers off and fairs into the hull to become a laminated stem capping. The stem capping must follow the tight curves of the stem profile, so it has to be done in much thinner strips than can be used for the keel runner.

The keel runner being glued in place onto the flat that has been planed on hull centerline. The chine flat is also being faired.

The stem capping is being glued up one layer at a time from stock that is 1/3 of the thickness used for the keel runner. This slows the process because the epoxy glue must have initial cure before the temporary screws can be removed and the next layer glued on. Multiple layers will build up the capping until the timber can be shaped into the bow profile that we want. The shaping is most easily done in stages, after every two or three laminations.

First layer of the stem capping has been glued on

He has been trimming the sheer as well. All of these features coming together are now giving the hull more definition, so the final hull shape is starting to show.

Final shape starting to show due to crisper lines to catch the eye.

The drawings for this design are still in progress and the design is not yet on our website. To see our designs, go to our main website or our mobile website.

Sportfisherman 26 - The Whiskey Plank

At my last post, the first layer of the chine flat had been fitted and the side skin was progressing. Since then Kevin has glued on the second layer of the chine flat then planed the outer edge for the intersection with the side skin. The side skin fits outside of the chine timbers, so the outer surface must be planed off flush with the frames. That is easy enough to do for most of the length but in the bow it becomes a bit more complicated.

Forward of Station 1 Kevin was unsure how it should be shaped because the chine flat tapers off, to disappear, with the side skin finishing flush with the bottom skin at the stem. That means that the forward end of the chine flat must be recessed adjacent to the edge of the bottom skin. It needs a tapered rebate that is deepest at the stem, tapering to nothing at the point where the width of the chine flat equals the thickness of the side planking. It was visualizing the details of this area that was troubling Kevin.

We shaped this area with a router and a straight bit of about 10mm diameter. The way to get the correct taper on the rebate was to set up a length of timber the same thickness as the side planks and broad enough to guide the base of the router. We clamped this timber to the frames to set the correct curvature and angle for the cut. Running the router along this board and deepening the cut in 2-3mm increments, we gradually worked down to a rebate surface for the side planks to fit into.

Timber strip set up alongside the chine as a guide for the router base, to set both the transverse angle and the fore/aft curve for the rebate.

The completed tapered rebate. 

With that rebate done both sides, the next task was to complete the side skin. The strips that fill in the rebate are neatly trimmed against the edge of the bottom skin. Further aft they can overlap slightly and will be planed flush later.

The last step in completion of the skin was fitting the whiskey plank, done with friends and family in attendance to celebrate this big occasion.

Kevin and Michelle celebrate completion of the hull skin after gluing in the whiskey plank.

Closing in the last of the gaps has made the boat appear considerably bigger than when we could see through it. Now the full shape can be seen and it is looking good. The skin will be planed flush along the chine this week and the sheer will be trimmed later, after turning the hull upright.

Hull skin completed 

The hull sides are now being rough-sanded prior to fairing. Next steps will be gluing on the keel runner, bow capping and planing strakes.

Sportfisherman 26 Strip Cedar Skin

The strip cedar topside skin of the new 26ft sportfisherman is progressing. The tactic of starting at the level of the aft sheer and running that first strip along the path of least stress seems to have worked out. The strips above and below the first one have been relatively easy to fit, each epoxied and nailed to the previous strip with plastic nails fired in with a pneumatic nailer. A few temporary screws with fender washers were used to hold them at bulkheads and ends until the epoxy had cured.

Fitting the strips is a two-person job, in the interests of getting each strip neatly into position with the glue in the joint where it is needed rather than creating a mess with it where glue is not wanted. Kevin's help came from his dad for a few days and from wife Michelle whenever needed.

After working upward to where further work had to wait for construction of the chine flat, they  continued down to skin the flare, from the bow through to the break in the sheer.

Port side of the flare skinned

My job was to prepare the outer edge of the plywood bottom panels to match up to the chine flat. For most of the length this is a simple matter of shaping the edge to a vertical surface for the rectangular chine strip to butt up against. In the bow this detail has to change because of the much steeper slope of the bottom panel. The vertical edge doesn't work, so a rebate must be formed for the chine strip to fit into, with the bottom skin overlapping over the top of it.

I chose to cut the rebate into the edge of the plywood with hand tools. I could have formed it with a router and edge guide, then planed the edges of the chine strip to fit but I wanted the rebate to have horizontal and vertical faces to match the square edges of the chine strip. Each side took a few hours with chisels, mallet, Shinto saw rasp and a bit of help from a rip saw to cut the top edge once the basics of the rebate had been started with the chisels.

Rebate to receive the chine strip, from bow to Station 1. The bulkhead in the photo is at Station 0.

The vertical edge of the plywood bottom, changing to a rebate in the bow.

The first chine strip dry-fitted to check the fit.

Now the hull flare has been skinned both sides, and the first strip of the chine flat glued in both sides. The chine gives more definition to the hull and it is starting to look really good.

First chine strip in place both sides, giving more definition to the bottom shape.

The cleat that will form the landing for the wet deck was fitted next. It fits into pre-cut slots in the edges of the bulkheads and the hull skin will be fitted over the outside.

The strip between the chine and the top of the cedar strips is the landing for the wet deck, slotted into the bulkheads.

The flare all skinned. The sheer won't be trimmed until the hull has been turned upright.

The second strip of the chine flat must be fitted and trimmed, then the skin will be completed by my next post. Watch for it after next weekend.

This design is not yet complete, so is not on our pricelist or website. See previous posts on this blog about the 26ft Sportfisherman for more info. See our full range of designs on our main website or our mobile website.

Cape Cutter 19 News

The Cape Cutter 19 design was commissioned by Nick Voorhoeve, for GRP construction from moulds in South Africa. From there they were exported to UK, where they sold very well. After a few years they sold the company to Honnor Marine and production was moved to UK.

Two fiberglass Cape Cutter 19s waiting for the tide.

Honnor Marine has recently been sold due to the retirement of the owners. The Cape Cutter 19 moulds have changed ownership to a new company, Cape Cutter Marine, which has moved production to new premises in Driffield, Yorshire. The website has been totally redesigned, offering the same services plus a lot more. The new owner has plans to improve production and expand marketing to reach buyers world-wide.

Under Nick Voorhoeve we were able to sell CNC plywood kits but Honnor Marine took away those rights. Now we have reached agreement with Cape Cutter Marine that we can sell CNC plywood kits worldwide. This will be done through the same companies that currently sell kits for our Cape Henry 21 design.

"Tiptoe", Cape Cutter 19 beautifully built by Ian Allen from a kit supplied by CKD Boats, our South African kit supplier.

Included in the expansion plans of Cape Cutter Marine  is the introduction of a GRP version of the Cape Henry 21. That should happen once all is sorted out with the Cape Cutter 19 production.

"Elvee", Cape Henry 21 built from a kit supplied by Big Pond Boat Shop, our Canadian Supplier.

We look forward to a long and mutually satisfying relationship with Cape Cutter Marine.

The Cape Cutter 19 Association is based in UK and has an annual rally. The 2018 rally will be in Scotland in May. More info.

See our kits page for a full list of our kit suppliers, with contact links.