DIY - Fins - Making a Mould - Step 1

There are many reasons why you may want to mould your own fins - you may want to save money, to make a shorter copy of a favourite fin or improve the performance of a fin in certain conditions. In my case I want to experiment with Twist, Flex & Fin Rake. By making a durable mould many fins (10+) can be made with little or no damage to the mould itself. If you are wanting to make 1-3 fins, there is a quicker and cheaper method I will cover in DIY – Fins – Making a fin Mould – Quick Mould. 

If you have a range of fins from the same family use the longest to make the mould from.  I am making the mould using a Select 39cm SL7.  These are great fins and 39 is the biggest you can buy.

Materials and Equipment

You will need and Epoxy System(resin & hardener) for making fins and this same system can be used to make a durable mould. By adding fillers such as Talc, Carbon Black and Aluminium powder you can make a variety of gelcoats, putties and fillers that can do just about anything related to fins and moulds. I buy 500ml PP(polypropylene) cups from a health food shop to use for mixing the resin and fillers together. They are cheap and can be re-used if not damaged and are the perfect size for the resin quantities required.

To mix the resin and work with the filler you will need to make some spatulas. Power hack saw (& plain hack saw) blades work well as they are thin and stiff and can be ground easily with a variety of fillets on the tip for mixing and filleting. You will need to grind the teeth off of the cutting edge to make cleaning easier.

The powersaw blades are also great for making a blending stick, stick sand paper of different grades to each side using double sided tape and you have a flexible sanding or blending stick.  These are handy for doing board repairs when you have to sand down filler flush with the surface of the board. 

For making the mould you will need some scraps of MDF of melamine coated chipboard.  I prefer the melamine as you dont need to seal the surface and therefore save time when building the mould. MDF will allow a finer edge when cut with a jigsaw. 

Plastic putty or Car Bog is required when setting up the fin on parting plane. To clean-up the putty put some metho in a detergent squeeze bottle and label it!. Another useful tool is a scraper or chiseled end on the filleting tool or spatula to use for shaping and cleaning of partially cured(green) bog.

Here is the first stage of making the fin mould...

DIY - Heel Crack & Dent Repair

Heel dents or cracks are much less common these days with the advent of foot pads on all boards. In the old days(before pads were standard) it was obvious if a crack had started. These days you may not even know you have them until you see water dripping from the bottom edge of the pad. On slalom boards they usually only occur on the back foot heel area.

The last board I made had some cracks appear. It was not because the layup was too light, it was just sailed a lot in chop. I have lots of offcuts of the materials used in board manufacture so I could keep the repair light. If you dont have access to these you could fill the foam region with polyurethane foam but some have a lower than required density and can crush more easily than the eps core.

I use the West Systems 105 epoxy. You can buy a pump pack that dispenses the exact ratio of resin and hardener to take the guess work out of mixing the correct ratio.

Here is how I went about repairing the damage.

Step 1

Remove the pads with minimum damage. This can usually be started from a curved or pointed corner. If the pad starts to tear you may need to slice the area that is not peeling with a sharp blade to help it along. If the dent or crack only affects a small area under the pad you may only need to peel the local area of pad away.

Now that you have cleared the pad away from the affected are proceed the press the deck around the crack or dent to identify where it has softened. Mark with a pencil the border of the affected area. This is the area you wil be removing as the material is damaged and needs replacing. With a sharp chisel you should be able to carefully shave the laminate away. Work from the pencil line in and try to angle the cuts so that the laminate on the edge will have a large bonding area.

The pvc sandwich foam should now be exposed. I then use a dremel tool to grind away all of the damaged pvc and eps core foam in a smooth concave shape.

Step 2

With some tracing paper copy the outline of the pvc foam and transfer the shape on to a cardboard template. Cutout the template and copy it in pvc foam.

Do the same again only this time copy the eps foam outline onto a piece of eps foam.

Cut out each of the pieces of foam to the outline with a snap off knife. Now you need to sand the eps foam so that it neatly fills the void in the eps. It is not a problem if you go too far, it is a problem if it sits high though as this will be reducing the amount of pvc foam you can apply. Now with the eps sitting in place do the same with the pvc foam and fill the void. You do not need to get the top of the foam sitting below the skin as we will sand this down after the foams are cast into place. Use 6mm foam as you will have to sand it down to blend with the board. If you use 3mm you don't have as much freedom and the fit of the foam cutouts needs to be more exact.

Use the pvc foam template to cut out 2 layers of 6oz glass cloth.

Step 3

Mix up some resing with microbaloons to a cream consistency, that is with minimum sag. Butter up the polystyrene block and the hole it is going to fill. Place the block in the hole and push it in so that it is level or just below the line of the existing eps foam. Now spread the excess filler (that is squeezing out around the block) over the top of the block and the edge of the pvc foam.

Pre-wet the glass patches with pure resin and place them on the block making sure that the edges of the glass finish on the pvc.

Now butter up the back of the pvc blocks and push them into place just enough so that filler is squeezed out evenly beneath the block. Tape the block into place starting from the center and working out with vertical strips. Leave the resin to cure overnight.

Step 4

Once the resin has cured remove the tape and fair the foam with the body of the board. Work with a block and coarse paper of about 40 grit until nearly flush and then go down to 80 grit. A surform is the best tool to use if you can get your hands on one.

With the foam flushed off cut out a glass patch slightly bigger in size than the outline of the pvc foam. Cut out about 6 patches or so for heal repairs with each patch slightly larger than the last to feather the edge of the final laminate. Mask of the area outside of the largest patch to stop resin running over the board.

Mix up some resin and a small amount of microbaloons to butter up the pvc before laying up the patches. Allow to cure and then sand back smooth in preperation for a final primer and topcoat. If the layup has low points that wont be filled by paint fill them with microbaloons and sand flush.
Paint the repair with primer and then top coat to match the colour of the board. Polish to blend the top coat and re-apply the pads(and non-skid if required) using contact adhesive such as selly's quik grip.

JP Slalom VI 92

After much anticipation my new "real world" speed board has arrived - the JP Slalom VI 92. I previously had the Slalom V 92 which was a good board that planed early and gybed like a dream but I just felt that is didn't have quite the top end off the wind that I was looking for.

Design
The new board is 1 cm narrower than the V at 59 so this was a good start. There is a nice double convave that runs until 50cm from the tail and washes out into a panel vee. What suprised me is that there is 1.5mm of tail kick, this combined with the overall width might reduce the early planing capability a bit but the wider 41cm tail probably negates it. Once up and planing though the board feels looser and softer over harsh chop than the V. First time into the straps the wedge under the toes is really noticible and care needs to be taken not to over-commit to an upright stance. I found that it was easier to hook in when traveling a little faster and when the body was more out-board rather than hooking in too early when the body is more upright. This is because the toes have to point a little more upward when placing them in the strap and is only a problem on lazy hooked in starts. The ride is also softer with 5mm pads, I think the old ones were about 3mm.

Sailing
I have only had 1 session so far on the board but will add to this section when I have more TOW. Initial feel is that the board will need a little more than the 31 cm fin I was using with a 7m when conditions are choppy. I found that the board got a little rolly and even though the nose didn't really lift a little more tail lift would help the ride. I am getting a 34 Venom and hope this will suit the 7m EvoII when well powered up. I have a JP Sallom III 36 for gustier days and to also try out the 7.8 RS Slalom on lighter days. I feel that the board will take the 7.8 slalom easily as it is quite a light yet powerful sail.

Construction
The 59 has a timber deck and hull which gives it a more robust and slightly heavier feel. Last years 92 had a timber hull and carbon deck and even then you could feel the veneer dampening the ride and softening the feel of the board through chop compared to the full carbon slalom IV's. The veneer is just visible through the silver paint and is well sealed from drying out, a problem that some of the more "visible" veneered boards have. It does feel heavier than the V but I think the robust feel is more of an advantage. I have heard that the bigger boards are still full carbon but am unsure of when the transition in construction occurs.

Video

Reconditioned HMR S66

I have finally finished repairing the last board I made, a 66cm slalom board in timber veneer with CF tail cutouts. There was some water in the board from heel cracks caused by sailing 1000's of km in Boggy Lake chop. I wanted the core to dry out as much as possible and have had it sitting in the roof of my shed for a year ( I also had a JP68 to sail as well...). Here is the finished result.

I wanted to hide a bit more of the timber veneer on the deck and went for the primer with the timber just peeking through. Non skid is always a problem to source, I can't get hold of the re-dek system that I have used in the past. I tried a spray on non-skid product that some guys are using on SUP boards but is just too fine and is really meant for tiles on steps and slippery areas. In the end I went for the old sugar deck on epoxy which will yellow a bit with age but provides extreme non skid grip.

DIY Enclosed Trailer

After years of loading and unloading station wagons enough was enough. I needed an enclosed trailer so that I could simply hitch up and head of for some TOW. I looked at what was available on the market and nothing really suited my needs which were...

• Take all of my gear each time I go sailing.
• Fit everything inside rather than the boards being on top racks.
• Allow the possibility to sleep inside.
• Have a low drag body for minimal fuel consumption.
• Have the same track as my sedan.
• Not sit too high above the roof line of my sedan.
• Have a long drawbar for towing stability and ease of reversing.
• Transport building materials when doing jobs around the house.

Here are some shots of construction and the finished product.

I have a lot of experience in composites and have made 10 or so boards so building a trailer was the way to go. After looking at several different fabrication type construction methods such as steel and aluminium I decided I would use a similar contruction to that used in wooden boats. This method was also different to anything I have seen(in trailers) so I wanted to give it a try. An outer shell would be glued to a wooden framework that was to form a self supporting structure that would be bolted to a welded steel chassis. This was going to be more labour intensive but would give me the seamless result I was after.

I started sketching and modelling forms that were aerodynamic, utilised the materials strong points and maximised internal storage volume. I also added a few features such as "frenching" the tail lights and pumping the guards. I will post each stage of the build process seperately. The stages are...

1. Design
2. Chassis
3. Body Frame
4. Skin
5. Finishing

Gear for Sale - 10-11-09

1 X5 Boom Head $50 (new)$30 (used)
2 Hydrodynamix Boom Head $50 (new)
3 North Pro Comp Boom Head $50 (used)
4 NP carbon boom tail 2002 $125 (pinless, new)
5 X6 Carbon Tail $70 (new)
6 North Pro Comp Tail $40 (used)
7 Pryde Harness Lines 24" $15 (used)
8 Maui Sails Harness Lines:18", 20", 22" $20 ea (all new)
9 20-24" Adjustables $30 (new)

10 HPL Tail Pins $15 (new)

11 X5 Boom Tail Pins $15 ea (new)

12 Z mast cups $5 (both sizes - new)

13 NP Roof Rack Pads $25/pair, 2 for $40 (new, rrp$50)

14 NP Deck Plates $5 (new)

15 Mast Base Pins $5 ea (new, have lots)
16 RDM/SDM 30cm extension $50 (new)

17 NP uxt extension 48cm $30 (used)

18 Sunshine extension 48cm $15 (used - needs twin pin base)

JP Slalom VI

The JP Slalom VI range has just been made public after lots of leaks in forums around the world!

Check it out here on the JP website:

http://www.jp-australia.com/2010/index.php?id=462

The range has increased from 5 to 6 boards with an innovative rider weight/height based sizing system:

Smaller sailors:56 - 65 - 76 wide boards

Bigger sailors:59 - 68 - 82 wide boards

There is mention of the bigger boards having a vee hull up front and the smaller designs having double concaves up front but it is unclear whether the range for bigger sailors all have vee and the smaller sailors all have double concave.

If the ranges are designed differently it may make it harder for the go fast weekend sailor who wants a 2 board combo to choose! I was considering the 82-65 combo but think I will go the 59 and keep my Slalom IV84.

Some changes of note are:

• The small slalom in the range is a little bigger - from 54cm/72L up to 56cm/81L
• The 92L slalom in the range is a little narrower - from 60cm down to 59cm but with a wider tail. I would have thought that it could still take a 7.8 but now only the ideal sail sizes are shown in the board data. The ideal sail range has gone from 6.2-7m on the slalom V to 5.5 to 7.0m on the slalom VI.
• Toe wedges are included as part of the board. This will be great when maxed but I hope it doesn't cause problems banking the front foot in the gybe and then removing the foot from the strap in the transition.
• All tail widths are wider increasing their fin carrying capacity and directional stability.