The new 16m Elite we started building in the last newsletter has progressed rapidly. The hull build has been completed, she has been flipped over and the interior bulkhead installation started. The owners, very kindly, put on an afternoon tea for the whole factory the day the hull was flipped over…. which made the team very happy.
Keel fitted and all faired up
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Sven & the team spend a lot of time sanding to get her very fair
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Brent and Josh starting the undercoat
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Brent teaching Josh the fine art of painting
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Three coats of undercoat & then back to sanding. The grey paint is a guide coat; it helps identify high and low areas while sanding
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Top sides completed
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The balsa core being glued on
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Fibreglass lamination over the core begins
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Filler applied, ready for fairing You may have noticed some oval shapes on the starboard side. These are sacrificial blanks that fill the window holes, they make fairing the topsides much easier; once all the fairing is completed they are removed
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High build undercoated, guide coated and more sanding to get her as fair as she can be. The sharpness of her lines is a testament to the high-quality work by Sven and his team
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Remember the sacrificial window blanks. Here is Sven removing them
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The big day has arrived; hull flip
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Turned over and back in the shed
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Now the real work can begin; starting with the temporary frames being removed
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Keel fitted and all faired up
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And for those of you who stuck with it and got through all those photos, here is a little reward. Serim put this video together. Six months of build in 3 minutes 43 seconds.
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