Brands Hatch 1970 Hillman Imp

George Bevan Imp Racing.
Just check those round stickers on the roof,there are seven first places there!
left click the picture to view in a larger size.

Didi mini cruise rudders

John in the UK bought a Didi mini cruise kit from us about a year back,he has now built the hull and recently turned it over,so now he has placed his order for the two rudders and the drop keel foil and 400kgs cast lead ballast (we have the moulds) plus the engineering parts such as tiller,chain plates,deck stantions,push and pulpits,this is a regular event and a welcome part of our daily works.
We can only glue up one rudder blade per day due to the space taken on the traveling table saw we use as a base,its perfectly flat and ensures the blank glues up the same way,the glue is water proof phenolic,the same glue that is in our marine and water proof plys.

Clear oregon pine (no knots) ready to be thicknessed in the planer,our planer has a four cutter blade head,it gives an exceptional smooth finish.
The clear oregon has been ripped on our circular saw,then planed to a uniform thickness and is ready to laminate.

Yacht Melody FBYC

Melody sank on moorings,rather than raise her,she was towed to one side as she is in this picture.With a little luck she may still be saved,anyone want a classic yacht?

The original of the photo below is said to hang in the Algoa Bay YC,on the back of it is writen the boats owner and builder,who was a retired british naval officer.The boat is plank on steamed frames.She was sold in a bar one night in Graaff Reinet for the sum of R1.00 only,the buyers were David Price and Brian Hoskin (david later married Fiona Chisham,who was wed to the late Brian Lello)this was around 1959 when the boat was (we think) sailed down the coast to Cape Town and the RCYC club waters.

Price later gave the boat to Phil Nankin,he was then the senior officer in charge at Grainger Bays General Botha training facility,this was where Phil kept the boat,later on and when the site was closed and taken over for residential use,Phil gave the boat back to David,who seems to have passed it on to another owner, who took the boat to Simonstown and the FBYC,where she sank and still lays today?
All information kindly given to me by Colin Farlam,the RCYCs historian,Colin knows the boat very well as he used to sail on her.
We now need a nice person with a back pocket deep enough to restore Melody,any takers out there.

This boat is still under the water in FBYC I had a diver check her hull out about ten years back when I restored the Tumlaren,Astra,the hull was said to still be good,it still be today?

Mark collects his Argie 15 kit set

This is Mark with his Argie 15 kit,its always a great day when we get to meet a customer,some who we never meet as they live so far away,Mark lives close by so in his case it was an easy fetch.His kit includes the two extra sheets of plys which are cut to give him the optional side seats.We will feature Marks build as he progresses and sends us his pictures.

The Red Road to Cape Town

You may well ask what has this concrete engineering got to do with boats and our company? well for one thing it will allow both staff and customers to access our premises without their own transports from the city and towns as far west as Atlantis on the west coast.The red strip thats being laid right now,goes right into the city center under Table Mountain in the distance,there will also be a cycle track following the same route.This is all part of the cities commitment to Fifa World Cup 2010,which starts in 112 days only.We sure have a lot of highly trained men on the ground now,whats in store job wise after this year?

Green Stuff

We have moved to source sustainable timbers when we can,why sell mahogany,meranti,oregon when we can sell poplar that is both fast growing but comes from a managed plantation,its the same with marine plywoods,the Ockume veneers are also from managed plantations.

Having just machined some SA Pine (radiata species)which has been CCA treated (tanalith) which is a copper based solution in water,the treatment turns the wood to a green colour as you can see,I then stacked it next to some machined poplar for an Argie 15 kit,I realised that both are green in colour and also green in a management sense,the pine saves imports and its high costs as well. The poplar machines up in a pale straw colour,sometimes with green and brown streaks,that later changes to a light brown when it is exposed to the air,it looks very nice,far nicer than the metranti we used to supply in its place.

Kidz's Stuff chair kit

The perfect gift for your children,a chair they can assemble from a flat pack themselves,supplied either unpainted,or in a range of bright colours in a high quality paint finish,the range will include a table,bookcase,bed side unit,bed and anything else we can think of.

Traditional Atkin 34.7 ft Vixen arrives

This boat arriving in Hout Bay from Simonstown,was drawn in 1950 and built in 1952,more pictures of Vixen in another blog later.
Left click the pictures to view them full size.


VIXEN is a 1950 design by John Atkin; 34’7” on deck, 32’ waterline, 43’ overall, 13 tons, gaff cutter, 1950. She was built by Joel Johnson at Black Rock, Connecticut in 1952 of eastern white cedar on oar frames. Her original owners, James and Jean Stark, circumnavigated 38,000 miles taking five years. William and John Atkin based the hull shape on the Colin Archer lifeboats from Norway.
An Atkin Double-Ender

Plans are still available,we can CNC cut a set of bulkheads and intermeadiate stations for you,plus supply all materials,including the correct glues,caulking cotton and copper rovings if required,contact:
Roy@ckdboats.com

No how-to-build article on Vixen was ever published, so you will have to be satisfied with the blurbs from the yachting press below. Vixen measures 34 ft. 7 in. on deck, with a length of 32 ft. 6 in. on the waterline. Her beam is 10 ft. and draft 5 ft. Freeboard forward is 4 ft. 10 1/2 in., 3 ft. 11 in. at the stern and the least freeboard is 2 ft. 11 in. She displaces about 26,000 lb., with a 9,500 lb. external lead keel and 1,500 lb. of inside ballast. She was designed for Jim Stark, specifically to make a circumnavigation. He had a suc­cessful trip taking five years, as he liked South Africa and Tahiti so much he stayed there several months each.

New Didi Mini Transat Mk3 version

DUDLEY DIX YACHT DESIGN

Didi Mini Mk3
Radius Chine Plywood Mini 6.5

One of Dix Designs most popular designs has just been given performance facelift,check those chines aft.



From the Dix Design web pages.
In the 10 years that we have offered plans for the Didi Mini, we have sold plans for 90 boats. Apart from a redesign of the aft deck and a continual expansion of build options, it has remained the same basic boat sold as the Didi Mini Mk2. Now we introduce a major redesign, as the Didi Mini Mk3. It has some major changes from the earlier versions while retaining the same basic structure and detailing. It remains suitable for amateurs to build economically but performance will step up a notch or two.

Introduced in the Didi Mini Mk3:-

~ Updated hull shape with broader stern and topside chine

~ Extended cabin roof, forming protected cuddy over front of cockpit

~ Easier access between cockpit and interior

~ More power from broader and flatter stern

~ Water ballast of fixed keel version further outboard

~ Bow and stern ballast tanks in canting keel version

~ Tacking daggerboard in canting keel version

~ Redesigned foam flotation, cleaner interior

~ Inboard chainplates for tighter genoa sheeting

~ Larger square-head mainsail

Overall, these changes produce a boat that will be more powerful, faster, more weatherly and more comfortable to sail.