The Restoration of 12362

The Hull

We were brand new Fireball sailers, and were the only actively raced boat in Ottawa. The work described below was done based on what we had read and advice we had recieved over the 'net. Take it with a grain of salt - there are probably better ways of doing things. We are simply relating our experiences.

Restoration efforts began early in the spring of 1996, with heat lamps installed in the garage ceiling to keep the hull up to temperature while it was being worked on. With the boat up on supports, after completely gutting it of all lines and fittings (except the mast step) we started sanding down the topsides. Since the deck was in such poor shape we decided to take it down to bare wood (removing all varnish and epoxy). A belt sander was used for most of this, starting with 50 grit paper then cleaning up with 80 grit. This is fast but requires a light touch - we went through the top plywood veneer in two spots.

Due to our sanding mistakes, we decided to stain the deck mahogany to hide the damage we'd done. We used a water-based gel stain, and let it cure for a full week. Later we heard that it isn't recommended to epoxy over a stain, but so far we haven't seen any problems. After the stain cured, the deck was sealed by rolling on two very thin coats of epoxy, washing and wet-sanding between coats. Wait a couple of days between coats so that the epoxy is firm enough to sand, but not completely cured so that you still achieve a chemical bond between layers. Use a very short nap roller (like the one sold by West System) and follow it with a foam brush to remove air bubbles.

While the stain on the deck was curing, the cockpit was sanded down. I peeled off FI Registration stickers dating back to 1984, so that gave some indication that it had been a very long time since this boat had had a proper refinishing. The cockpit wasn't in as poor a shape as the deck, so we just sanded with 80 grit until the paint was translucent (we could clearly see the wood grain below it), then we rolled on 1 coat of primer, sanded with 120 grit, rolled on 1 coat of top coat, sanded with 120 then 220 wet, and rolled on a second and final top coat. We used a short nap roller, and followed it with a foam brush to remove air bubbles. The result was very smooth. [Photo - cockpit painted]

The boat was then flipped over and work was begun on the hull. The self bailers were removed - they were bent and needed replacing. The centerboard slot gaskets were also pulled off, and the many old layers of contact cement were scraped and sanded off. The aluminium protection strips were also removed. The current paint on the hull was very tough, and there was a layer of some kind of fairing compound below it. We started with 36 grit paper on the belt sander, then 50 grit, and finally 80 grit. We took off as much of the fairing compound as possible, and tried to leave the epoxy sealing layer below it. A layer of epoxy was rolled on, and while still wet was followed by a liberal coating of fairing compound (West System epoxy mixed with microlight filler). We used the slow hardner to give plenty of pot life to the epoxy. After curing for a week, the fairing compound was hand sanded using a 4" x 8" sanding block (like the ones sold for drywall). Care was taken to keep all panals flat, and the hull was sanded until we hit wood on the high spots. We sanded to 120 grit, then rolled on 2 thin coats of primer, sanding lightly between coats. The first coat seemed to really soak in to the fairing compound. This was followed by 4 thin coats of the final colour, wet sanding between coats. All sanding was done with sanding blocks. The final coat was wet-sanded to 1200 grit, and then rubbed with rubbing compound. [Photo - hull sanded]

One tip we had been given was to hang the boat from the ceiling for painting - this will result in less dust settling on the surface. We didn't go to that level of effort, but it likely would have given a better result. We did hose down the floor before painting, and this kept the dust to a minimum (its also rumoured to give a harder and faster cure to the linear polyurathane paint we were using).

After the paint had cured we decided to coat it with VC 17 Teflon "Liquid Speed". This meant that we had to scuff up the hull in order for it to stick - Doh! The teflon is suspended in a really nasty solvent that ate our plastic roller pan and melted a foam paintbrush, but it did seem to help protect the hull during the season. We rubbed the teflon down with rubbing compound after it dried to smooth out any roller marks.

We found the final finish to be rather soft (even with the help of the teflon) and had to touch it up in a few spots prior to heading for the Worlds in August. I would not recommend this particular brand of paint to anyone, although it did give a nice finish it was too prone to damage.

The final step in our refinishing was to flip the boat upright again, and varnish over the now-cured epoxy on the deck. 3 coats of urathane varnish was applied with a foam brush, with a 360 grit wet sanding between coats. This varnish must be applied sparingly or drips and sags will develop.[Photo - foredeck half varnished + mascot]

Bill of Materials

1 litre Interlux "Brightsides" polyurathane (green - hull; used most of the can)
1 litre Interlux "Brightsides" polyurathane (white - cockpit; only used half the can)
1 litre Interlux primer (hull & cockpit; used about half can)
1 small can Interlux flattening agent (mixed into cockpit paint for low gloss)
1 litre Interlux "Clipper" varnish (deck, thwart, centreboard trunk)

Lots of sandpaper, paint rollers, foam brushes, dust masks, and latex gloves.

Putting it Back Together

Foils

The centreboard was sanded with a small sanding block until the wood grain was visible, then any scratches were filled with fairing compound (epoxy + Microlight filler). The bottom and trailing edges were packed with a thick mixture of epoxy and Microfibres held in place with tape and celophane until it cured. This is very strong stuff - sanding down the edges (with a sanding block) took quite a while, but the result has been very strong. After fairing, the centreboard was given two fine coats of the leftover cockpit paint, and sanded to 1200 grit and then rubbed with rubbing compound. We did NOT put teflon on it, as several people warned us that we'd never be able to stand on the board after capsizing.

A similar treatment was given to the rudder before we headed to the Kingston Worlds.

Protection Strips

We tried a couple of unsatisfactory ideas (no - the stick on automotive trim does not work) before hearing that the hot tip is to use long strips of batten stock ordered in the correct dimensions. We got Tof to order ours, and they are stuck on with thickened epoxy, with screws at the stress points (bow end, transom, and centre where the boat sits on the beach dolly). The screwholes were countersunk, and the screwheads faired over - these strips aren't coming off again for a long long time.

Slot Gaskets

We've also had problems getting slot gaskets to stay stuck on - we sand both the surface of the hull and the back of the gasket, and use Lepage's better quality contact cement. We're still looking for a better solution, but don't want to resort to epoxy for sticking them on.

Fittings

Upgrades

Our Protor Beta mast was sold locally to someone with an even older spar, and we upgraded to a used Stratus 1. The bendier new spar should be a better match with sails available today.

Our boom was a massive rectangular section, with an end fitting that would not have matched the gooseneck in the new mast. We heard of a deal on new "overstock" booms available from Jamie Valence (Proctor Canada) for a hundred bucks, so we picked up one of these. It is a round section, which means you can't get the main out quite as close to the shrouds as you can with a rectangular boom, but the weight savings is probably worth the tradeoff. Besides, its shiny and new and I wanted it.

The Test Sail

We spent our spare time in the evening and weekends in April and May refinishing the boat (plus a few vacation days) then we threw it on the trailer and headed for Toronto the first weekend of June for the Tarts&Balls regatta. Thankfully there was a postponement, as we were still busy with screwdrivers in the parking lot on Saturday morning. But the boat floated and we made the starting line of the first race. Naturally once we were sailing we found a few fittings that needed reversing and what not, but nothing catastrophic. But I would not recommend that your first sail after a major refinishing be at a major regatta!

Measurement

Prior to measurement the centreboard has to be removed and all lines and fittings that aren't screwed down must be taken out - allow a fair bit of time for this if you haven't done it before.

We were in luck - our hull turned out to be a legal, somewhat conservatively built Fireball. We were shocked to see that it weighed an even 200 pounds, but it was pretty wet at the time. When measured at the Worlds it was a mere 195 pounds - still 20 pounds over the minimum, but better than 200. A similar boat went right off the scale at Kingston. The difference can probably be attributed to the fact that we sanded off a lot more stuff than we ended up putting on again. Paint is heavy.

Weight Reduction

The following reduce about 5 pounds from the "official" weight of the boat:
Deck cutouts - 7oz
Deck Jib Fairlead extensions - 2oz
Bulkhead - 2 lb, 4 oz (to be replaced with lightweight struts)
Spine - 2 lb

That 5 pounds is about the same as sailing with half a gallon of water in the boat - and that's not very much water.

It might look drastic to remove the spine, but general opinion has it that most of the stiffness in the boat needs to be in the foretriangle, and that the box sections formed by the side tanks provide sufficient stiffness to the hull that the spine is not required. I've seen "classic" Fireballs that were built without a spine, and they have lasted just fine.

What really matters is not the officially measured weight (the hull, without foils, and with any bolted/screwed down fittings), but the actual all-up sailing weight. We'll be trying to simplify our rigging to remove any unnecessary lines, and switching to smaller blocks, cleats, and fittings where practical.

As an example, our mast ram is a stainless steel square section that weighs a whopping pound and a half. We'll be replacing this with a light-weight aluminium tube. Our boat also came with two large mainsheet rachet blocks, one on the boom and one on the centerboard cap swivel. We'll be replacing the one on the boom with a much lighter bullet block.

[Photo - our foreman Chester watching over us]