Most of the restoration jobs we've done so far have been abandoned or unwanted boats. This one came in as an unfinished project. Denny had purchased this boat about 20 years ago to clean up and race in the 16A fleet. He spent a lot of time gathering parts and fairing the hulls. Since he already had an H18, the 16 project always sort of stayed on the back burner. The boat had some really nice features and a few loose ends.
First we got it back to the shop and gave it a thorough cleaning. Blasting out the tracks with a pressure washer and spraying out the spiders. Cleaning up the boat and parts is good to make it easy to inspect the components.
This boat has 4 holes built into it. I'm not a fan of ports on a 16. They create new failure points, even if you've already got a soft spot, but these were reinforced with fiberglass to have round rings and a flat surface for mounting the ports.
We opted for some Armstrong ports for the front, which are about 5x more expensive than the regular ports, but they're much stronger, and when removed, don't expose the gasket to the sun. We put standard 5" ports in the back with our port installation kit.
The boat had a layer of grey primer and had been faired out by the previous owner, but the deck had not quite been finished. The two-tone paint and grip was setup with grey paint that had been mixed with crushed walnut shells. The shells should not absorb water and create a nice non-skid surface. A quick sanding with 200 grit knocked down the aggressive abrasion from the shells in the paint, and exposed some of the brown through the grey paint. Two layers of Diamond clear coat and the decks came out pretty nice. I was in a bit of a rush and brushed it on, instead of spraying, I would definitely spray it next time.
Once the Decks and ports were in place, there were a few other things to get done, but I wanted to get the tramp on to make it look more like a proper H6! There are write ups and videos galore, but the H16 is built in such a way that lacing is pretty easy compared to some other boats. By using a ratchet strap on the side rails, you can pre-load the frame, so that after you're done tightening it, and release the strap. You have a nice drum tight tramp! Don't deflect the rails too much or you may damage something. Look at frames on a normal boat, they are usually deflected in by 3/8 of and inch to half an inch. Lacing can be a bit subjective, but using a low stretch line is important for a rigid boat. Some sailors like the shock cord system that puts more spring in the tramp, but I'm a fan of the full on dyneema lacing. I chose to use FSE Robline Dinghy Control 5mm Red. It's a bit over the top for lacing, and typically better suited as a jib halyard line, but the grey and red scheme felt like a good idea. I laced the tramp up like a shoe.
Next up was the grip kit for the rail. This boat had been stripped already, so there was almost no residue, which made this job a piece of cake. We have a nice jig made up for cutting nice squared off pieces of hydroturf for our Surefoot EVA grip kits. We recently started offering color variety, and I couldn't pass up the chance to use red. The grip doesn't wrap all the way around the rail for two reasons, partly to reduce costs and weight, the other part is that a typical boat has shock cord for the trapeze rubbing on the rail. If the grip wraps under the rail, the trap shock cord doesn't move as freely. The kit needs to be trimmed a bit to suit your needs, so you're left with two 6" or so pieces at the end. I'll probably use them to add some grip down on the hull behind the rear pylon.
The plan for this boat, is a vehicle to go race in A-fleet with the big dogs! I've got the new H16 Race Rigging set installed, with is best suited to the newer mast steps and sails (Post 2006) This mast step is allows for enough rake to work. The sails are a bit off though. The difference is subtle, but with all other tuning the same, the newer sail sits higher off the crossbar, allowing for more mast rake than the older sail. If pulling from the center of the clew plate, this will also give uneven pressure on the sail.
This photo shows a new H16 JibThis Photo shows the 80s Prism Sail that came with the boat.
The boat came with the Trentec traveler cars that look like black plastic brass knuckles. They work, but I find that in lighter breeze, they create too much friction. I came up with a kit based off some old Kissme hardware that creates a nice low profile kit. The boat is now setup with our Kissme Jib Sheet and Traveler upgrade kit. It already had the lance cleats on the boat, I just replaced them and upgraded the cars. As shown in this photo, the jib traveler car line is continuous. I think that may get changed to clean up the tramp. The boat came with an older low profile 6:1 mainsheet system that I'm using for now. I will upgrade the top block to a 40mm triple to get more rake soon. The older main also has a different cut that makes for a lower clew and limits the amount of rake I can attempt.
The boat will get rudders re-drilled, a new 6:1 racing downhaul and some Miracle 20 tiller connectors and get tested in Mexico! More coming soon.
Most of the restoration jobs we've done so far have been abandoned or unwanted boats. This one came in as an unfinished project. Denny had purchased this boat about 20 years ago to clean up and race in the 16A fleet. He spent a lot of time gathering parts and fairing the hulls. Since he already had an H18, the 16 project always sort of stayed on the back burner. The boat had some really nice features and a few loose ends.
First we got it back to the shop and gave it a thorough cleaning. Blasting out the tracks with a pressure washer and spraying out the spiders. Cleaning up the boat and parts is good to make it easy to inspect the components.
This boat has 4 holes built into it. I'm not a fan of ports on a 16. They create new failure points, even if you've already got a soft spot, but these were reinforced with fiberglass to have round rings and a flat surface for mounting the ports.
We opted for some Armstrong ports for the front, which are about 5x more expensive than the regular ports, but they're much stronger, and when removed, don't expose the gasket to the sun. We put standard 5" ports in the back with our port installation kit.
The boat had a layer of grey primer and had been faired out by the previous owner, but the deck had not quite been finished. The two-tone paint and grip was setup with grey paint that had been mixed with crushed walnut shells. The shells should not absorb water and create a nice non-skid surface. A quick sanding with 200 grit knocked down the aggressive abrasion from the shells in the paint, and exposed some of the brown through the grey paint. Two layers of Diamond clear coat and the decks came out pretty nice. I was in a bit of a rush and brushed it on, instead of spraying, I would definitely spray it next time.
Once the Decks and ports were in place, there were a few other things to get done, but I wanted to get the tramp on to make it look more like a proper H6! There are write ups and videos galore, but the H16 is built in such a way that lacing is pretty easy compared to some other boats. By using a ratchet strap on the side rails, you can pre-load the frame, so that after you're done tightening it, and release the strap. You have a nice drum tight tramp! Don't deflect the rails too much or you may damage something. Look at frames on a normal boat, they are usually deflected in by 3/8 of and inch to half an inch. Lacing can be a bit subjective, but using a low stretch line is important for a rigid boat. Some sailors like the shock cord system that puts more spring in the tramp, but I'm a fan of the full on dyneema lacing. I chose to use FSE Robline Dinghy Control 5mm Red. It's a bit over the top for lacing, and typically better suited as a jib halyard line, but the grey and red scheme felt like a good idea. I laced the tramp up like a shoe.
Next up was the grip kit for the rail. This boat had been stripped already, so there was almost no residue, which made this job a piece of cake. We have a nice jig made up for cutting nice squared off pieces of hydroturf for our Surefoot EVA grip kits. We recently started offering color variety, and I couldn't pass up the chance to use red. The grip doesn't wrap all the way around the rail for two reasons, partly to reduce costs and weight, the other part is that a typical boat has shock cord for the trapeze rubbing on the rail. If the grip wraps under the rail, the trap shock cord doesn't move as freely. The kit needs to be trimmed a bit to suit your needs, so you're left with two 6" or so pieces at the end. I'll probably use them to add some grip down on the hull behind the rear pylon.
The plan for this boat, is a vehicle to go race in A-fleet with the big dogs! I've got the new H16 Race Rigging set installed, with is best suited to the newer mast steps and sails (Post 2006) This mast step is allows for enough rake to work. The sails are a bit off though. The difference is subtle, but with all other tuning the same, the newer sail sits higher off the crossbar, allowing for more mast rake than the older sail. If pulling from the center of the clew plate, this will also give uneven pressure on the sail.
This photo shows a new H16 Jib
This Photo shows the 80s Prism Sail that came with the boat.
The boat came with the Trentec traveler cars that look like black plastic brass knuckles. They work, but I find that in lighter breeze, they create too much friction. I came up with a kit based off some old Kissme hardware that creates a nice low profile kit. The boat is now setup with our Kissme Jib Sheet and Traveler upgrade kit. It already had the lance cleats on the boat, I just replaced them and upgraded the cars. As shown in this photo, the jib traveler car line is continuous. I think that may get changed to clean up the tramp. The boat came with an older low profile 6:1 mainsheet system that I'm using for now. I will upgrade the top block to a 40mm triple to get more rake soon. The older main also has a different cut that makes for a lower clew and limits the amount of rake I can attempt.
The boat will get rudders re-drilled, a new 6:1 racing downhaul and some Miracle 20 tiller connectors and get tested in Mexico! More coming soon.