This is the fourth part of the tips and tricks selection to manage easily your epoxy works ; in this chapter we will focus on glass taping works glass fabric strengthening works : here we will talk about all that glass fabric works which aims to strengthen the structural joints, we will not talk here about areal lamination works like laminating the whole hull surface (this aspect will be the subject of the next chapter) work ALWAYS “wet on wet” : that is to say, wet the joint area with liquid resin, make the required thickened resin radius and then laminate the glass fabric over it, in a sin ..read more

This is the third part of the tips and tricks selection to manage easily your epoxy works , here we will talk about using thickened resin to make bondings and the so called “liquid joinery” that is to say make thickened resin radiuses to strengthen joints Bonding with thickened resin : it is a quite straightforward work: you mix the resin, add the thickening powder , mix , put the bonding compound on the area with a spatula or a trussel , put the parts in position and clamp them or fasten them with screws until the resin sets; just few tips: remove the resin flowing out of the parts immediat ..read more

One of the most common fear of newbie boatbuilders involved in our projects is related to the use of epoxy resins and glass fabrics. Since this is a very important part of our projects to achieve a strong, light and long lasting boat, we will give some tick and trips on the subject; the following tips are mostly based on my experience as a boatbuilder, so they are not the bible, but at least every single tip has been personally tested. Let us start form our main protagonist : the epoxy resin ! learn your resin system: each resin system has pro and cons but the most important thing is to “lear ..read more

Good news from Brazil : the first Hirundo 750 has been launched ! As you can see form the pictures, this boat pushed the project in the direction of a small but capable cruiser, with a sheltered cockpit, transom beach platform , very rational and roomy interiors , keeping the boat trailerable ! A very good quality construction with several modifications that has now been integrated in the last version of plans; you can see the Hirundo 750 features here . A great thank to Jonas the builder-skipper for the huge commitment to this project . Now we wait fot the first sailing pictures and impressio ..read more

Hi everybody, I just got back form Germany, where Milos is building his own Idea 21, cruise version;   first thing,  I have to super thank him for inviting me to take a look at the boat during the hull rotation. The construction is going really fine, neat and clean, hull is sturdy and light , Milos is doing an excellent work blending different kind of wood with superb results even in merely aesthetic terms.  Okume plywood, mahogany plywood, larch, meranti, oak (for the keel) . Milos is currentlu speeding up the construction process, so we can expect upgrades soon. Hull rotation ..read more

Petrel 33: widen your horizons     I just published a new page in the project section of the website; the page dedicated to my new project: Petrel 33. Basically Petrel 33 is a sturdy comfortable fast paced 33 footer cruising sailboat suited to be built in a very smart way from home builders or small boatyards; most of rthe building is made in marine grade plywood panels , all the structural bondings are made with epoxy resin and stiffened with glass fabrics layers where required. This projects fits perfectly those sailors who want to commit themselves in a high level construction tha ..read more

Hi everybody !!! We have currently a lot of boats in the building stage all around the world ; here are the links if you want to follow the progresses of some of them on the social media, and several pictures —Idea21 built in Sweden : https://www.instagram.com/mycklekajakvarv/?hl=it —Hirundo 750 built in Australia https://www.instagram.com/kenfhoare/?hl=it –-Hirundo 750 next to the launch in Brazil : https://www.instagram.com/veludopelomundo/?hl=it   and we have others idea 21 being built in Asia and south america , a crispy 660 cabin in Eastern Europe , a small Crispy 520 in Australia, a ..read more

In the last months I answered to a wide array of e-mails that were all circling around these two very big chapters for an homebuilder : Time and Budget. So I decided to think back about my more than fifteen year of career as boat designer for DIY boatbuilders, and I will try to squeeze out several drops of wisdom from both the blatant successes and the mostly silent failures that I witnessed. KISS: Keep It Simple (and ) Sail . Building a boat is a part of the process; the subsequent part is launch her, sail her, improve her, and get back to sailing, and enjoy in both the part of the process ..read more

Prova in acqua di “ALCEDO” IDEA21 cruiser   La prova della idea21 cruiser n.1 “Alcedo” di Milos e Kirstine si è svolta su un lago nel sud della Germania, per un totale di circa 8 ore di veleggiata distribuite su due giorni ad inizio estate 2020; le condizioni dei due giorni sono state pressochè identiche, con un vento ben steso compreso tra i 6 ed i dieci nodi , senza grandi raffiche, giusto qualche salto di direzione vicino alle rive del lago; onda praticamente inesistente.     La barca avevo già visto la barca durante la costruzione e avevo riportato sul blog gli avanzamenti d ..read more

First Sailing of “ALCEDO” IDEA21 cruiser The test of the idea21 cruiser n.1 “Alcedo” of Milos and Kirstine took place on a lake in southern Germany, for a total of about 8 hours of sailing distributed over two days at the beginning of summer 2020; the conditions of the two days were almost identical, with a well stretched wind between 6 and 10 knots, without great gusts, just a few shifts of direction near the shores of the lake; waves were non-existent. The boat I had already seen the boat during construction and had reported on the blog the progress of the work, the boat was almost ready for ..read more