Today I was finally able to get back to work on Long Shot. First work got very busy and I was so tired that I just didn’t feel like working. I should have recognized that as a warning. I have been through this so many times!  I was coming down with a sinus infection and for almost 2 weeks  I barely felt like getting up and fixing something to eat, much less going to the shop to work.

As I mentioned, this boat was a prototype and the frame was very flexible.I have wanted to do something to stiffen the frame for a long time. I decided to try the Geodesic Boat method of using Kevlar roving wrapped around the frame. Platt’s boat frames were so extremely light he used the Kevlar to give them enough structural strength not to collapse. OK, I don’t know that they would have collapsed but I strongly suspect some of his designs would have failed without it.  He took light weight to the extreme!

This morning I started with the Heat n Bond tape and ironed it onto the frame along the gunwale and the keel. I tied off the Kevlar to the frame and started wrapping it around the boat and then clamped the end to the frame. Starting at the front I pulled the Kevlar tight working toward the cockpit. Once the roving was tight all the way down the boat I secured the end.

Using my heat gun to warm the tape where the Kevlar crossed I took a dowel with the end rounded over and pushed it into the tape to ensure a good bond.  Latter I found out that it was easier and quicker to just use the iron with some of the paper backing between the iron and roving. This kept glue from getting on the iron.

After giving the tape time to cool, I removed the clamp and was impressed with how well the tape held the Kevlar. I could lift it up without a lot of effort, but in tension the grip was strong that this where the stress is.

I started on the bow wrapping the roving around the boat.  I now realize I was spacing it way to close together. On the rear of the boat I used a much bigger spacing and it is just as stiff and it was much faster to apply. And it looks much better.

I kept testing the frame by flexing it and at first I was disappointed. There just didn’t seem to much improvement. But once I got everything in place I could tell that the frame was much stiffer than before. Not stiff like a plastic boat but miles ahead of where it was. 

When I put the skin on I am going to pull it tight and bond it to the tape with the iron before sewing. Once the skin is shrunk I am very confident that this boat will be at least as stiff as the rest of my designs and I will be a bit surprises if it is not stiffer. Either way it will much improved over what it was.