PDRacer Hungary; Egyszerű vitorláshajó építése Magyarországon

[Boatmik]

Howdy,

You might remember Csaba from when he built his Eureka Canoe in Budapest.

http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v309/209/95/689366794/n689366794_788168_8604.jpg

Csaba's thread on building the Eureka Plywood Canoe in Hungary is here. (http://www.woodworkforums.com/showthread.php?p=783446#post783446)

Now he is building a PDRacer and it putting the info up in a blog .. he is doing a very nice job too. Foils are shaped ... he used fingerjointed kitchen benchtops by the look.

http://hajoepitok.freeblog.hu/files/swert_mat1.jpg

And transformed it into (gasp .. pretty!)

http://hajoepitok.freeblog.hu/files/swert1.jpg

There is quite a lot of timber where fingerjointed is fine. And a few places where you should NEVER use it because it is not very strong.

He has a blog (in hungarian) that details more of the building of the OZ PDRacer, but the pics are pretty interesting!

Építek egy PD Racert (http://hajoepitok.freeblog.hu/)

Best wishes
Michael

[Boatmik]

This puts the Central European Championships into a good situation for next season!

Csaba has started building a PDRacer in Hungary. He will be able to fight out the Central European champs with Koala and Theodor with a boat each in Slovenia and Gyula in Romania (who will have a whole sailing season's advantage on the others!!! He looks very fast in this video (http://www.woodworkforums.com/showthread.php?p=806006#post806006) and this video (http://www.woodworkforums.com/showthread.php?p=832864#post832864))

Gyula is an interesting character. He has sailed model boats a lot but has rarely sailed full sized ones until now. The thing that is interesting to me is how the skills are immediately transferable. Sail trim and boat handling look pretty good for someone who has only sailed a couple of times.

However ... Koala and Theodor have gone in the opposite direction ... they have started with full size boats but Koala has started building models!

However they are building all the bits for the full size boats; masts, rudders, centreboards because they are moving house soon and don't want to cart part complete hulls around.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_sjywK3U7Ew0/SNO1L4sgxzI/AAAAAAAAAR8/QbDoPtt75XQ/s576/PDR_GIS%20012.jpg

[Gyula]

He has sailed model boats a lot but has rarely sailed full sized
Rarely? Never.....
The PD was the first sailboat I ever put my feet on :U

[animatedsnail]

Central European!!! I'll be up and running by then!! This could be in the 2012 games in London!!!

[Mezix]

Thanks for the thread Michael,

Just to avoid misunderstandings I am sitting behind my wife Edit on the first photo - when we launched our Eureka. :D

Now I am building my PDR - but as it gets colder in our hemisphere the epoxy loses its fluidity (and I am getting cold as well :() - so I have to look for an indoor place to go on.

I will update you about how I go on with the building.

Bests
Csaba - Mezix

[Mezix]

Dear Boat-builders,
Let me sum up what I did so far on the way of having the first Hungarian PD Racer.
As you could see I started with the foils. Yes, I bought a piece of finger-jointed kitchen board – it was a leftover in the woodshop but quite good quality. It cost a few dollars only (I paid with Hungarian Forints but I will always tell the prices in Australian dollars).
I used a simple electric planer to do the rough job and then an orbit sander – then my hands and fine sandpaper. It was about 2 hours when I got the final shape.
Then I glassed the tip, then the body – see photos.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mezix_boats/2991170281/
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Now I have to do a final coat and ready for varnishing.
As I told you the epoxy is not that fluent in cold weather – now I found an intermediate solution until I find an indoor place – I put epoxy on the top of radiator before use so it warms up a bit – then it is easier to work with. The epoxy I bought in Hungary is called SR8100; 5 liters with hardener cost 112 AUD.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mezix_boats/2992020614/87470

Okume plywood is very hard to find in Hungary – I can find similar plywoods but I wanted to follow the plan as much as I can. One sheet (6 mm) for the bottom cost 85 AUD – is it expensive comparing Australian prices?
Bests regards
Csaba – Mezix

[Gyula]

I found the Okume ply for my boat in Hungary:U at Finnforest http://www.finnfa.hu/termekek/index.php?item_id=160&method=show_item
The 4mm ply were somwhere around 40 AUD and the 6mm around 55 AUD a year ago

[Boatmik]

Okoume, occume, gaboon, gabon ... is nice for the bottom of the boat. Because the rest of the boat is so thin .. a cheaper ply is OK for the two 4mm sheets.

It is good if you can find something good price and good quality for the 4mm. So long as it is not an unusually heavy species. The required hull weight to fit the rules does assume a cheaper species will be used for the 4mm ply.

Best wishes
Michael

[Boatmik]

By the way ... I would LOVE to have a list of material suppliers for each country!!!

They can just be documented in this forum.

Michael

[Mezix]

Hereby I list up a few suppliers which I use in Hungary:

Plywood and other wooden parts:
http://www.finnfa.hu/ - Okume plywood is available here
http://www.zatik.hu/ - good quality wood supplier

Epoxy:
http://www.alvin-plast.hu/
http://www.novia.hu/

Boat parts (rope, sail, inspection port, etc.)
http://www.maritime.hu/

All the shops are located around or in Budapest (capital of Hungary)

That's it for the moment.
Have a nice shopping.
Bests
Mezix

[Boatmik]

Cheers Csaba!

No doubt this will be useful.

Michael

[Mezix]

Howdy all,
Centerboard and rudder finished - next challenge is spars.
I decided to buy timber of full length to skip joining procedure. I found good quality rough Finnish spruce - 520 cm long, 22 mm thick - which cost almost nothing. I doubt if it would be strong enough but Michael assured me that it would be okay.
Wide staves seemed a bit too big challenge to work on with hand-tools - so I asked my brother to help me out with his industrial machine.
Which looked like this:

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Then I started to work on narrow staves - which was a long and fun job.

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As I made a dry run at the end it felt already how flexible but strong this mast will be.

[Mezix]

As I found a nice indoor place for working on my PDR (thanks to Greenpeace Hungary - Budapest office) - I went on quickly. I glued the "ladder shape" together.
Cutting the internal blocks was a great fun with hand tools
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I did my best to make the ladder as perfect as possible then I just used it as a sample after it was assembled and the glue dried. I drawed its shape onto the wide staves then I just cut them - the cut was not perfect but it will be corrected with a plane afterwards.

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It is funny that Greenpeace activists who see me working on this boat in the evenings are getting enthusiastic about it. We even visualize a Hungarian Greenpeace wooden boat fleet - so the boat-building-community builds itself on.

[BobWes]

Wow, Mezix - I am impressed with your work and your resourcefulness.

How did you find that great space to work on your boat? And how do you deal with the dusty mess of boat building in that space? Or securing your tools and supplies? Did you or do you have any question about insurance or liability(This may be a typically American question - particularly coming from a former lawyer... :) )?

My prospects of purchasing a place of my own are dwindling every day. Not that I'm giving up, but I am running out of time. An apartment may be my best immediate housing option but it won't be suitable for building a boat! If I could find space in someone else's place - be it a garage, shop, warehouse, office, or whatever - I could be happy.

So, continue the fine work you are doing.

Bob

[Mezix]

Thanks Bob,
I am very lucky because I work for Greenpeace - so I know when its warehouse is free to use - because normally there are dozens of activists running around preparing actions, painting banners or just hanging around. We often exchange tools - sometimes I use GP hand machines - and I offer mine to them if needed. So far we have never thought about insurance.

Having lots of people here is also great because Hungarian wooden boat building community grows quickly and many environmentalist join to the group because they like wooden things especially if they build them on their own, for small money.Nevertheless I had to check where the plywood comes from (not from ancient forests) and how toxic the epoxy is (the type we use seems to be OK - skin irritating but low danger on environment, protection equipment needed)

I nearly finished spars. Centerboard and rudder finished. I will start building hull in the Xmas holidays.
In the summertime when the weather is OK I build my boat in a dusty yard of my home. Many people owns boats here in Budapest - and it is normal that they do the renovation work and varnishing just at the riverside - next to boathouses.
Cheers
Mezix - Csaba

[Mezix]

Hello guys,

After the xmas holdays I regained into boatbuilding again.
The mast is now ready, however a final varninshing is still to come. :2tsup:

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Yesterday I spent 5 hours in the workshop with precoating and assembling bow transom, stern transom, cockpit bulkhead, side panels, centercase frame 1-2

I did the chine logs for the side panels a few days ago.

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Next time my little PDR will go 3D. :U

I have to find a name quickly.

Bests

Csaba

[Boatmik]

Howdy Csaba,

The name is not essential ... you can add that detail later. They will accept a link you your website too as it has PDR info on it.

MIK

[Boatmik]

Howdy,

Csaba has been a bit quiet on the boatbuilding front recently ... but for a very nice reason.

He is translating the Eureka, PDRacer and Handy Punt plans into Hungarian!!!

He already has a great website but will be making plans for all storerboats available in English and the most popular ones will be available in Hungarian.
http://hajoepitok.hu/kezdolap.html

This is a pretty big job ... and he is flying through it all - Eureka done, PDR mostly done (everyone who has built one knows how much text and pics has to be translated) and will be ready to set up his site for plans sales in the next weeks.

Cool!

MIK

[Mezix]

Oh, yeah, that's true. Translation job is not that easy - especially translation of shipping expressions like transom, headlogs, chinelog lamination, mast step, centerboard, and so on. I have some friends who helped me with that so now I have almost all the vocabulary.
Many Hungarians are interested in building boats but English language is not that spoken here (or at least not on a high level) - that's why I received lots of questions and interest (even some plan pre-orders) through my Web-page.

[koala]

Hey Csaba

This is fantastic that people are interested in these boats.
And the work on your web site is great - though I don't understand much:U but looks like you have a lot of info there.

Hope to race you some day on Balaton.:D

Peter

[Mezix]

Howdy boatbuilders,
I'm happy to announce that I made the most stupid mistake on my PDR that is ever possible to make.
Look at the photo::doh:
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Michael raised my attention when looking at my blog - yes the side panels are the same and not mirror images. I don't believe it.
The big question is what to do now. Shall I try to dismantle the panel or should I just make a new one - which would mean buying a whole new plywood and making a new chine log - nono I don't want this. I will try to solve it without much invesment.
I will inform you about my experineces.
Cheers.
Csaba

[keyhavenpotter]

Do you have a hot air gun? With heat applied it might be possible to soften the epoxy holding the cleats to the ply and gently separate them, re-using all components.

One of these saws will possibly cut cleanly between items with no marking, if anyone you know has one.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-Ice-Bear-Japanese-Kumagoro-Flushcut-Saw-364268.htm

Much more expert people should be along shortly.

Brian

[Boatmik]

I think the wood will insulate too well for a hot air gun to work.

I think I would jigsaw as much as possible off - you will have to leave some so you don't damage the ply. then plane most of it off before moving to a sander.

But someone might have a really nice idea (like build another PDRacer so you have two!!!!).

Actually I mean they might have a better idea than me!

I am trying to remember which boats where I did exactly the same thing. I have done it twice in my boatbuilding career. Oh, um, one was a Eureka where I coated the panels on the "inside" and had half the epoxy on the outside. Ah and the same thing with the Duck Flat PDRs!!!!

Now I always lay the panels out together when they are a pair so they appear as mirror images to remind me.

Michael

[Mezix]

Hi,
Just because of this repair-job I ordered a Japanese pull-saw (which turned out to be useful for other woodworks too).

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The saw worked fine but I had to be very careful not to damage the ply - well, I damaged it a bit at last but will survive.

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I decided to plane and sand it down entirely when the body is in one piece.

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So I was ready to start 3D-ing :U

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This is the result:

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Yesterday I built in mast step. No pic yet. It is a delightful everyday practice - when I return from work every day I spend a few hours on my PDR during the warm summer evening. My wife is still happy with it... :;

[m2c1Iw]

:2tsup: Well done when it's coated sanded and painted nobody will know unless you tell them..........we can keep a secret here on the forum. :D

Cheers
Mike

[MiddleAgesMan]

Since you have the problem sorted out this is coming a little late but might be useful in the future, when you need to remove a piece.

When I was doing some repair work to a guitar I learned to use a piece of heavy metal warmed in the oven. Lay the hot metal bar along the joint that you need to open up, cover it with a blanket, and let the heat work through the wood. In your situation you would put the bar on the thin plywood, not the thicker chine wood. After 15 or 20 minutes the glue joint should be soft enough to pry apart with a chisel.

I used this technique to remove the fretboard from the neck of the guitar. The glue was either a hide glue or white woodworking glue but both respond to heat similar to epoxy.

[Rick_Tatum]

The fact that your wife is happy with it may be the most important factor in the entire project :D

I've enjoyed reading about your build.


Hi,
Just because of this repair-job I ordered a Japanese pull-saw (which turned out to be useful for other woodworks too).

110312

The saw worked fine but I had to be very careful not to damage the ply - well, I damaged it a bit at last but will survive.

110311

I decided to plane and sand it down entirely when the body is in one piece.

110313

So I was ready to start 3D-ing :U

110314

This is the result:

110315

Yesterday I built in mast step. No pic yet. It is a delightful everyday practice - when I return from work every day I spend a few hours on my PDR during the warm summer evening. My wife is still happy with it... :;

[Boatmik]

:2tsup: Well done when it's coated sanded and painted nobody will know unless you tell them..........we can keep a secret here on the forum. :D

Cheers
Mike

Nobody reads this forum so your secret is very safe! (hehe)

MIK

[Boatmik]

Since you have the problem sorted out this is coming a little late but might be useful in the future, when you need to remove a piece.

When I was doing some repair work to a guitar I learned to use a piece of heavy metal warmed in the oven. Lay the hot metal bar along the joint that you need to open up, cover it with a blanket, and let the heat work through the wood. In your situation you would put the bar on the thin plywood, not the thicker chine wood. After 15 or 20 minutes the glue joint should be soft enough to pry apart with a chisel.

I used this technique to remove the fretboard from the neck of the guitar. The glue was either a hide glue or white woodworking glue but both respond to heat similar to epoxy.

Howdy, the hide glues work very well like this. I've never found it works with the 'pox though.

Have you tried it? How did it go?

MIK

[Mezix]

As the summer evenings are long enough and warm recently I have advanced much with my PD. I glued the bottom on, then assembled the centercase structure.
When I glued in the tank face I realised that launch is getting close.

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Today I sent an email to Shorty to request a hull number. The name of the boat will be wasserTRABI - I think the Eastern Europeans would know where this name came from. :U

[Gyula]

Great choise for the name, haha :U
Just for those non eastern Europeans, the Trabi is among cars lake a PD among sailboats. Small, cheap, bit ugly, but very good for the purpose, and a great love for most of the owners.

http://www.euroavia.epf.fr/web/data/photos/Fly-in%20Budapest/Trabi.JPG

[Daddles]

Great choise for the name, haha :U
Just for those non eastern Europeans, the Trabi is among cars lake a PD among sailboats. Small, cheap, bit ugly, but very good for the purpose, and a great love for most of the owners.



:oo: He's defending the Trabi :oo:

First time I've ever seen it happen :cool:

Richard

yes, I watch too many British car shows :rolleyes:

[Mezix]

The most important fact about Trabi that it is partly made of wood.

[Gyula]

:oo: He's defending the Trabi :oo:Not me, they...... :U:U
YouTube - Trabi show JÃ#vka 2007

sorry for off.....

[Boatmik]

One Really, Really exciting thing is that Csaba has almost finished translating the PDRacer plans into Hungarian!

He will sell them as my agent. He finished the Eureka plans a few months ago.

I did not realise Hungarian was quite so widespread with many speakers (15 million) and readers well ditstributed outside the borders of Hungary, i guess partially because of history.

Here is the AustroHungarian Empire in 1867

http://www.teara.govt.nz/NR/rdonlyres/010969A7-ABE4-40EF-BE1A-588674577324/211971/m967enz.gif

MIK

[Boatmik]

By the way, fantastic name for the boat!

At least the blue smoke will be less in the PDR!

Does this mean there needs to be a picture of WasserTRABI on a trailer behind a Trabi?

From the internet (apologising in advance for any incorrect information).


Since it could take years (usual waiting time 15 years) for a Trabant to be delivered from the time it was ordered, people who finally got one were very careful with it and usually became skillful in maintaining and repairing it. The lifespan of an average Trabant was 28 years.

Used Trabants would often fetch a higher price than new ones, as the former were available immediately, while the latter had the aforementioned waiting period of mostly at least ten years. The street neighbouring the factory where lucky owners collected their new cars was called die Strasse der Sieger (Avenue of Winners) signifying that a delivery of new Trabi was a small victory over the Communist regime

The car took 21 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) and the top speed was 112 km/h (70 mph). There were two main problems with the engine: the smoky exhaust and the pollution it produced—nine times the amount of hydrocarbons and five times the carbon monoxides of the average European car of 2007. The fuel consumption was a modest 7 L/100 km (40 mpg-imp; 34 mpg-US)

The Trabant was a relatively advanced car when it was launched in 1958; with front wheel drive, a unitary construction, composite bodywork and independent suspension all around.

In 1997, the Trabant was celebrated for passing the "Elchtest" ("moose test"), a 60 km/h (37 mph) swerve manoeuvre slalom, without toppling over like the Mercedes-Benz A-Class infamously did. A newspaper from Thuringia had a headline saying "Come and get us, moose! Trabi passes A-Class killer test"

This was the Mercedes
http://www.60xdeutschland.de/wp-content/uploads/1997_elchtest.jpg

This was the Trabi (you can tell it is a specially prepared race version by the driver's helmet)
http://pix.sueddeutsche.de/automobil/492/327355/image_fmbg_0_5-1146220339.jpg

MIK

[Boatmik]

Of course the PDR handled it fine

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2196/3743714725_3bdd9923f9.jpg?v=0

[Mezix]

Haha, thanks. :2tsup:

My first car was a Trabi and it was very handy, easy-to-repair and reliable. Once I made a complete regeneration of the engine in my backyard.

The Hungarian translation of PD Racer plan is ready - I am working on Handy Punt right now. (Michael, I sent you a link where you can download the plan, just to have a look)

Cheers
Csaba

[Boatmik]

The plans look great Csaba.

I was a bit worried about how the pics and diagrams would work out, but they are really quite good.

The punt is a good choice for the next translation. I think a lot of people will like a small motorboat.

MIK

[b.o.a.t.]

Well done Blokes !

[Mezix]

Dear Boatbuilders,
The time is coming - my PD (hull number 338) Racer is almost ready. After I had coated the inside of front buoyancy tank I cut out the slot for mast and the inspection port.

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I made a dry try before assembly - it was useful because I had to modify the slot a bit.

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Later on I cut the slot for the centerboard as well, but it did not want to fit in. I sanded the centerboard a bit but it did not fit until I sanded the inside of center-case. Now it is still a bit tight - I am afraid if I give another coat it will stuck in again, and I don't really want to sand too much either from centerboard nor from the case.

If I solve this the next is assembly of rig, rudder, painting the exterior - then lunching day.

By the way I have a question. I have a paste that I bought to color the epoxy - the guy in the shop recommended it for the type of epoxy that I am using. What do you think about it. If I coat the exterior with colored epoxy - will it give enough protection? Or should I varnish it as well?

Thanks
Bests
Csaba

[koala]

Hello Csaba

Congraulations on your soon-to-be-completed PDR.

That was smart to do a dry test fit as you can fix any problems while deck is not yet glued on.:)

Regarding you question. As far as I know the epoxy doesn't have UV protection so you really need to paint and/or varnish the boat with paint or varnish that has UV filters.

On my boat I coated everything with epoxy three times (as per Mik's recomendations) and then I painted the outer hull and decks with base paint and then with 2 pot paint (2 coats).
Inside the boat I just varnished everything (3 coats).

So make sure that varnish has UV filter (as some don't have it).

In this part of the world Hempel is a good option (not too expensive) www.hempel.hu ;
Iridia marine paint and varnish (normally 2 pot, moore expensive) and others.

Greetings and all the best with your finishing work.

[Gyula]

Szia (Hi) Csaba

I used TRINAT primer on the outside, and SADOLIN YACHT warnish on the inside, I think these are available in Hungary too...

[Boatmik]

Koala's reply is perfect.

Adding colour to epoxy has only a limited effect as it can't protect the surface of the epoxy very well. It can protect the deeper layers quite well.

So best to paint or use a varnish with UV filters (spar varnish). Hempel or the Sadolin Yacht varnish sound like good products for exposure to sunlight.

Thankyou for the brand names too! One day I will do a thread with summaries of material brands and shops for each country. That would be a great resource. Just need to dig it out of the different threads.

Best wishes
MIK

MIK

[woodeneye]

As others have stated, there are not many epoxy coatings that are UV stable in their own right. Some have additives that increase UV resistance but generally, epoxy will always need a UV resistant topcoat. The problem with using an oil-based varnish over epoxy is that the epoxy surface needs to be extremely carefully prepared with wetNdry paper or stainless steel wool. It has to be matted out thoroughly or the varnish will quickly peel off the epoxy substrate. A marine polyurethane coating is preferable to something like a tung-oil based spar varnish when overcoating epoxy.

In relatively recent times, some epoxy/polyurethane compatible products have become available and come to the market as epoxy base coats and polyurethane topcoats that are chemically compatible and achieve a significant degree of bonding. These are ideal for wooden boats. There are even some single pack water based epoxy coatings (no mixing!) now that are extremely tough and easy to apply and have minimal fumes. Ideal if you're building in your lounge room! One such "combined" product in Australia is Aquacote, but your local coatings specialist in your country might also have a similar product? These types of products really do take all the guesswork out of deciding how to finish our boats.

[Mezix]

Hello Csaba

In this part of the world Hempel is a good option (not too expensive) www.hempel.hu (http://www.hempel.hu) ;
Iridia marine paint and varnish (normally 2 pot, moore expensive) and others.

Thanks for ideas - I decided to use International - Perfection undercoat and paint

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We'll see.
I tried to contact HEMPEL but they do not have marine paints. The guy said it is because Hungary doesn't have lots of water. Hmm.
I will keep you updated about how I advance.

Cheers
Csaba

[koala]

Your experience with paint distributors sound like my problems here. hehe:C

I also wanted to mention International (could'nt think of the name before).
It's more common brand in Croatia than here.

I think this is very good choise.

Peter

[woodeneye]

Thanks for ideas - I decided to use International - Perfection undercoat and paint
Cheers
Csaba

A perfect choice. Haven't used it myself but I have heard good things about that product, so glad you can get it!

[Boatmik]

Yes the perfection is a two pot so will give excellent durability.

Make sure you get some of the "brushing thinners" if you are using rollers and brushes and do the light finishing strokes vertical on vertical surfaces.

If you are spraying you need really good masks with carbon filters (new ones - they stop working as they get old) or an external air supply.

I usually use their "Brightside" which is a nice single pot which goes on nicely with a special soft foam roller.

MIK

[Mezix]

Last night I coated the cockpit of my PD.
I worked until late night because I did not calculate with the time inbetween the coats. So the work ended around mid-night.

I 'poxed the rudder and some other parts that were waiting to to be coated for a while.

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Probably because of late night job - I forget my brush on the side panel. See the result next morning:

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Supposedly I and wasserTRABI will survive it - but it was a good lesson.

Nevertheless I cleaned the yard afterwards

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Cheers
Csaba

[Mezix]

Dear boatbuilders,
Last weekend I tried to speed up things because the summer will be gone so quickly - and I really wanna try sailing wasserTRABI this season.
After sanding the whole exterior I applied the base-paint - I was not too happy with the results - I have to agree that two pot paint is not the easiest to work with.

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To have some delight I assembled the rig and rudder.

The sail is a second hand one - that we used in an exhibition for renewables as a banner - we also asked people to sign it - I had to modify the sail a bit so the text is a bit shortened - it used to say: clean air and renewable energy now (now it is: clean air ... energ..) - which is kind of funny - people might think I am completely crazy.

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The rudder is partly from the sailing-shop. I am curious how it will perform.

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At the end I finished the foredeck. I have some painting to do on the deck and it is ready.

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[Boatmik]

Very much like the Uber-recycled sail - a recycled environmental sign! Both funny and environmentally sound ()for the second time).

The paint will protect the hull well. Later you can sand it smooth and repaint - each time it will get better.

Did you use the brushing thinner in the mxed paint.

MIK

[Mezix]

Thanks Michael,
No, I didn't use thinner - maybe that was the problem. I will try with the top-paint.
The color of the boat at the end will be blue.
Cheers
Csaba

[Mezix]

Dear Boatbuilders,

I am happy to report that wasserTRABI, my first PD Racer is ready.

Launch will happen on the next nice and slightly windy day.

Bests
Csaba

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[Boatmik]

Looks very nice Csaba! Another European PDRacer!!!

MIK

[Mezix]

I am happy to report that I had the first launch of wasserTRABI the first Hungarian PD Racer. The wind was not too strong at the nearby lake yesterday - I was pretty nervous at the begining. I had to make efforts to keep the boat moving but after a few minutes I started to feel it. It was a spectacular feeling of success and satisfaction - Thank you Michael!!!

People around were amazed, asked many questions and all noted the name of my website - painted on the side of the hull. I wouldn't be surprised if more builders from Hungary introduced soon.

The first video shows the moments right after launch.
YouTube - Launch of the first Hungarian PD Racer 1 - vÃ#zretétel PD Racer

The secound was made half an hour later when I managed to manouver better.
YouTube - Launch of the first Hungarian PD Racer 2 - vÃ#zretétel PD Racer

Thank you again for the great boat-plan and all the comments boatbuilders made to help building process.

More videos will come later.

Bests
Csaba

[koala]

VERY NICE Csaba

Gongratulations :2tsup:

It sure is very rewarding to finaly sit in a boat you've made.

Good work,
Peter

[Boatmik]

Fantastic!

It is just like a Trabi but without the smoke

MIK

[Boatmik]

Hey, I have watched the videos now ... looks great. Have you sailed much before Csaba?

Looks like you have at some time.

A couple of little adjustments.

Always put the rudder right down if you can ... it prevents the mainsheet from catching on the rudderhead.

Also shorten the traveller so it is lower and closer to the top of the transom.

Do you see the gap between the bottom of the sail and the mast? Use the downhaul rope around the front of the mast one time to keep that gap closed. The gap flattens the sail a lot.

But you should be please .. the boat goes really well!

MIK

[Daddles]

Go to about the 1:30 mark of clip 2 (the one linked to above). You'll see him bang on the rudder ... then lean over to apologise to it :D

Richard
okay, I might be misinterpretting what's happening :rolleyes:

[Mezix]

Thanks guys. This week I will sail again trying those adjustments.

Yes I did some sailing in the past with 21 feet boats, and once I sailed on the Metiterran Sea as well - always with an experienced captain.

The rudder did not want to go deeper - later I found that the rubber cord was a bit too tight - that's why I was banging it :U. No apology.

Bests
Csaba

[Mezix]

Dear Friends,
This weekend we had good wind finally. (not unusual in Hungary but somehow there was no breeze at all last month).
I traveled down to Ráckeve (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Somly%C3%B3sziget&sll=47.114883,18.981371&sspn=0.039544,0.077162&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=R%C3%A1ckeve,+Somly%C3%B3sziget,+Hungary&ll=47.11489,18.979332&spn=0.004943,0.009645&t=h&z=17) where I have a little land with caravan next to the Danube river.
It was an excellent adventure to explore the limits of this little boat and the speed it can easily gain if the wind blows with about 20km/h (11 knots).
Sometimes I heard cracks - probably the mast base and mast partner, I checked them afterwards and everything seemed to be in one piece.
I almost flipped over a few times - but I managed to avoid capsizing with some lucky maneuvers. Once I had about 50 litres of water coming in the cockpit but it was OK to sail with.
I have two videos taken by my wife, she was not strong enough to use the camera when the wind was stronger. She was a bit worried.

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This photo was taken 2 weeks ago when we had almost no wind but much fun sailing together with my bro.

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YouTube - Learning to sail with PD Racer - Vitorlázás az els? magyar PD Racerrel 2

YouTube - Learning to sail with PD Racer - Vitorlázás az els? magyar PD Racerrel

Cheers
Csaba

[Boatmik]

Hi Csaba,

Did you change the sail? The boom is a lot higher

It looks like it works OK which is the main thing!

Well done!
MIK

[Mezix]

Hello Michael,
No, I did not change the sail. I only fixed the boom and the sail a bit higher. It is more comfortable and did not cause loss in performance.
Bests
Csaba

[Gyula]

Hi Csaba

Just an idea for next year... What do you think of a PDR meeting in Hungary? At this moment I know about there boats in Eastern Europe, you, me and Koala. I travel often to Hungary for model boat races, I just have to find out what papers I need to take the PDR abroad.

Gyula

[Mezix]

Szia Gyula,
I definitely agree. This idea had already been mentioned before. We could go to the Lake Balaton or Velence, but I am also happy to host such a meeting in Ráckeve where I have my weekend house caravan.
By the way 2 other PD Racers are under construction in Hungary. Let's hope if they will manage to join us as well.
Cheers
Csaba

[Mezix]

Dear boatbuilder friends,
after the long winter break I decided to check and clean my PDR.
The mast was stored under a roof where I keep my Eureka and car (see first photo).135344

Maybe because of bad construction, bad weather and because I used it once in rough wind in October the mast looked very awful.
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135341

The staves were torn apart, there were longitudinal cracks all around and some epoxy layers ripped off despite the fact that I used UV varnish.

The question is what to do. Should I just redo the whole mast? Or can I repair it?
Nevertheless, I cleaned up the cracks with a V chisel, and I filled up with thickened epoxi.
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Do you think guys that I should also glass the whole thing? Or just sand, epoxi and varnish again?

Thanks
Csaba

[Boatmik]

Hi Csaba,

I don't know which is the best as it is hard to know what was the original building and what was from the storage over winter.

The boat has been sailed OK - so if most of it is from the original building it will continue to be OK.

But if deterioration over Winter it is difficult to predict if the strength has changed and how much.

Do any of the joins move or are they all still glued to some extent?

I would probably remove all the varnish. Sand all the cracks with fresh sandpaper - no rougher than 100 grit, then use the epoxy with glue powder to fill the cracks. Use masking tape so you only get the epoxy mix where it is needed as much as possible - it will save you heaps of sanding.

Sand it smooth

Then I would take care of the highest load area of the mast - where it goes through the deck - and glass the mast (6oz - 200gsm) from the base up to a metre above the deck.

Then I would check that the glass tape at the top of the mast is OK. Replace if necessary.

Put a piece of 2" tape wrapped one time around the mast. every 400mm up the part of the mast that is not glassed. This reduces the risk of the long glue joins splitting the full length of the mast. Any splits will stop.

Epoxy mast, sand lightly and varnish.

MIK

[Mezix]

Dear Boatbuilders, dear Michael,

I am planning to try my OZ Racer with lugrig. I have sewn the sail which is made of spinnaker sailcloth (it is top quality - that's what I had at home) - I made some extra-reinforcement knowing that the sailcloth is not exactly made for being a mainsail. I think it will work fine; Would you agree? Do you think some more reinforcement needed?

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I plan to have the sail loose footed - would it make any difference in performance?

[Boatmik]

Howdy Csaba,

If you got the sailcloth for nothing it is worth the experiment.

Generally spinnaker cloth is both too light and also too stretchy for jibs and mainsails.

What size boat did the spinnaker cloth come from?

Loose footed is fine. Main thing is the boom needs to be a little stiffer - this is contrary to the advice of sailmakers, but it has been shown to be the case in reality with these boats.

Best wishes
Michael

[Mezix]

Thanks Michael, yes, I got the sailcloth for free. I will report about my experiences.

Have a look at my photos that were taken yesterday during my spring clean-up, where I removed all my boats from the winter storage and got ready to list up the to-dos.
Cheers
Csaba

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[Gyula]

Just found new videos of OZ Racer on lake Balaton


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8zbwxsuhcE


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDczQDHteL4

Happy New Year!
Gyula

[Mezix]

Thanks Gyula, the photos were made by the most enthusiastic Hungarian OZ Racerer Jenő. Lake Balaton is not an easy place for sailors but he made it.

With this photo I am also wishing you a Happy New Year. The new spinaker sail works fine.

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Bests. Csaba