Star 45 RC Sailboat Build Blog

The standing and running rigging is now installed!! We can now see what the boat will finally look like. However there are some adjustments that need to be made before the maiden sail (hopefully this weekend). First, the jib needs to be recut. Rod Carr is meeting me this weekend and will make the adjustments. You can see in the picture that the jib boom is virtually laying flat on the foredeck. That just isn't right. Until I get the jib dialed in this weekend I will wait to trim all the rest of the rigging and clean it all up. I've also got to work on the mainsheet control. I've got toooo much movement at full-in and hardly any at full-out. Might need to reverse the drum or something as I'd much rather have the subtle adjustments on the full-in side. Hmmm... will need to read the RMG booklet for this one... However, I did take some pictures of the boat outside as-is and it looks pretty good! More pictures once I get the rigging all dialed in. ...

I've been away from this blog for a few weeks. Went to Paris! And then when I returned I completed the finishing but was so upset about it that I didn't feel like blogging over it. Ugh... The finishing was very frustrating. For whatever reasons I just couldn't get it right this time. My first two boats look better than this one. Just can't get a glossy finish. There are pits too. Just not my best work. But I had to finally just stop trying to mess with it and move on to the rigging. This part so far is going better... phew. Here's the backstay arrangement I came up with. Also finished the mast by installing the spreaders (they're crooked though! Ugh... not doing well lately!) and the upper tangs. Then today I installed the shrouds onto the mast and left them extra long so I have something to work with when I install the bottom hooks to the rack. You can see that I've also glued on the neoprene to the underside of the hatch. We'll see h...

I've been fighting a terrible cold this week and haven't done much at all on the boat. I did manage today though to sand the hull and to add some markings. The sanding went fine and was needed to flatten out some spots where the clear epoxy had some runs and such. Now it's all ready for a second round of clear epoxy. I also added some markings though and I'm now thinking it may have been a mistake. I'll mark it up to delirium brought on by the cold. Ugh. I used transparency film that we used to use for overhead projectors. Just ran it through the laser printer. I made one for the hatch that numbers the holes and gives some measurements. I like the numbering but I'll forever be able to see the transparency sheet under the clear epoxy. I used real epoxy underneath and on top of the transparency and will very lightly sand it when it's dry. But I would need to add a million layers of clear epoxy for the edges to be flush. Also added a name on the tran...