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I am debating building a Weekender or a small open boat. I really like the look of the Weekender and have been reading the forums which led to my 2 questions.

1. Most agree that glassing the keel is a bad idea, but why glass the entire hull? It seems like it would just add a lot of weight.

2. There has been some discussion comparing the full keel to a centerboard. Is there much work in converting to the centerboard or something else effective?

Also, I like the attitude of many on this board: just build it. I find great encouragement in that.

Thanks,

Gary

The new Super Skipjack looks a lot like an open cockpit Weekender to me and if it isn't there's a picture of an open cockpit Weekender on the Stevenson's website. http://www.stevproj.com/WkndrBBB6.html  It was built by a guy named Bill Paxton.  I glassed and coated the hull and deck on my boat.  It's a Triad not a Weekender.  I did that primarily to add some abrasion resistence.  Most of my sailing will be lakes so rocks are common and I will be sailing with a 9 year old so things will get dropped and scrapped on the deck and cockpit floor.  Also this was my first boat and like many builders I probably over built it.  Sorry I don't know enough to answer to your questions about a centerboard.

My little Triad is the first boat I have built. The information and support from the members of this forum helped immeasurably.  The first bit of wisdom I got was something like... stop worrying about it and go make some sawdust.  After reading that I went out and cut the pieces for the keel, rudder and daggerboard.

A light weight sheathing doesn't add much weight to a Weekender, maybe a few pounds, which on a 600 pound boat isn't significant. You'll add more weight in paint then 'glassing the outside of the hull (amazingly enough).

You don't want to even start me up on the centerboard question, but to say more aspect ratio in the appendages will help dramatically.

The reasoning behind glassing plywood is that without glassing it, the plywood will check and since it is rotary cut it will tend to keep paint from holding as well as it otherwise could.  It is hard to fill and finish plywood compared to glassing it and then filling and painting.  If you are not planning on the project lasting for long then you can do whatever you like.  I've seen quite a few wooden boat projects without glass on the surface that are sitting in the weeds and overgrown with blackberry vines, etc.  The builder perhaps got one or two seasons of use out of the project before finding that wooden boats require maintenance.  Wood expands and contracts with changes in humidity, temp and freeze/thaw cycles.  It doesn't matter if you use house paint or the finest marine paints available.  Unless you have a well prepared surface, you will have issues with the finish.  With glassing, it is possible to nicely fair out the surface and apply a couple coats of paint and have it last a while.  All of them will need touch up and repainting eventually.  How long is eventually?  After one freeze/thaw cycle most of the time with paint on bare plywood. 
But the choice is always the builders.

The majority of the builders of the Weekender in its original version found that the center board did little to make much of a difference in how the boat performed.  So it was elminiated from the second version and other versions of the same basic hull design.
The hard chines and keel as designed work just fine for most builders.  More of an improvement in handling can be accomplished by keeping some weight in the forepeak to keep the nose down so that the chines will work in conjunction with the keel.  Also learning how the boat sails and learning how to tune the rigging will make a huge difference in how it handles. 

I've been on quite a few Weekenders, most of which handled quite well for novice owners once they learned how to handle them.  The learning curve is different for everyone since many are not built to design.  The design can accomodate more headsail area once the learning curve has progressed to the point that it  is possible to evaluate what small changes can make.  Some novice builders have had challenges with tacking. That is more of a learning process than having a centerboard on the design.

My suggestion is that unless you have a lot of experience in sailing and tuning the rigging of small boats already, that you build it as designed, especially in the hull and rudder area.  Learn what performance you can expect under varying conditions before you chang things.  The Weekender as designed is a lot of fun under widely varying conditons without changing anything from the way it is designed.  There have been a lot of them built, sailed and enjoyed totally by their builders.
But, no matter what anyone says, it is always your project and your decisions in how and what you do.  So...just do it!  Sail it for a full season, not by someone elses experience and sailing conditions that will be different from yours.  Then decide if it needs any tweeking or small changes to make it work better for you.  Almost all of the changes that are suggested on the forums are more than likely from people that have barely finished or haven't even completed their own or sailed on a well tuned Weekender to see what it can do.  Some have modified them a lot and of course raved about how great they performed.  But they moved on to other boats in quite a few cases as well. 
There are a lot of semi finished projects out there simply because the builder has just lost interest.

Originally the boat was designed with a centreboard, they left it off the updated plans, claiming that the centreboard wasn't needed. It would not be difficult to build the boat as originally designed with one, maybe someone with an older set of plans could share the centreboard design with you, or maybe the Stevensons would sell you an older set.

I built the boat without the centreboard, but a fellow I know has one with it. We sail together often, and we still haven't come to any conclusion about the centreboard. It stands to reason that it would have some effect, but it doesn't seem to be measurable in normal circumstances. His boat has the centreboard, but mine has better sails, and is lighter because he sails with ballast. They both sail about the same speed. It's hard to say. Paul has re-drawn the underwater shape of the weekender and has provided this plan to some builders. My friend Ryerson has modified his keel in accordance with Paul's ideas, and again, it stands to reason that performance would be improved, but (also again), Ryerson's boat and mine have significant other differences in sail area and rigging that make it difficult to compare them. Ryerson does report better handling after the modification. I'm sure a weekender with a centreboard would make less leeway while close-hauled than an identical weekender without one. Whether this is important to you is a matter of taste, and a matter of what you are used to.

I think it's important to 'glass the hull. It just protects the wood better, and gives the boat a nice hard, smooth shell that is easier to look after than painted plywood. You'll rub up against things, drop stuff on it, and just generally subject the boat to wear-and-tear, and it's just nicer to have that nice crispy coating.

"Just build it" is right. I never built anything bigger or more precise than a treehouse before I built my boat. I lost a bit of sleep worrying about silly things, and made a few mistakes, but the boat turned out good enough to sail and I've had many adventures in her. She has shortcomings to be sure, but she's a well-liked little boat on our lake, and I'm not a good enough sailor to really notice or care if she doesn't perform like a racer.

One modification I did make, was to rig the foresail with two sheets in the common manner, rather than use the clubfoot or "self tending" jib. I changed this after six years of sailing the boat and just felt like a change. I feel she is more controllable now, and maybe a bit faster. But there is more rope in the cockpit, and more to do when manoeuvring.

Barry's advice is very sound, build to the plans, and modify as the years go by and you find out what you like and what you don't. By trial and error I learned to tune the rig, and I believe she performs very well. Not flashy or fast, but safe and steady. A good choice for a first build, in my opinion.

(10-08-2009, 12:59 PM)Gary James link Wrote: [ -> ]1. Most agree that glassing the keel is a bad idea, but why glass the entire hull? It seems like it would just add a lot of weight.

2. There has been some discussion comparing the full keel to a centerboard. Is there much work in converting to the centerboard or something else effective?

Also, I like the attitude of many on this board: just build it. I find great encouragement in that.

Gary,

  I didn't put any fiberglass on my boat at all. I agonized over it for some time and ended up following my grandmother's advice... SAIL IT TILL IT ROTS. Which is what I've been in the process of doing for several years now. While I have cracks in the paint where the seams are, the boat has never leaked a drop. Also, the constant expansion and contraction of wet/dry wood is causing the paint to wear quicker than it would had it been over fiberglass. There are some other things to consider too.. My boat sits on it's trailer most of the time under a canopy and stays out of the water. If it were in the water all the time it would probably be ruined by now. Also, I used high end marine grade plywood to build it. It makes a big difference. I've made several rudders out of crappy lowes exterior plywood and they have all de-laminated in quick order. One last thing, buy a canopy vs putting a tarp over the boat. When I had the boat under a tarp for a couple weeks at a friends house, it filled up with water due to the humidity in the air and the tarp's ability to "rain" inside your poorly ventilated boat.

  Centerboard, sounds like a lot of work to me. I have no centerboard and my boat sails straight except under very high wind conditions where it will crab quite a bit. Also, Because I have no centerboard I am able to sail in very little water, which is the conditions in my local salt water rivers and estuaries where the average depth is only 2 or 3 feet with oyster shoals all around.

Of course, "sailing it till it rots" will take a lot longer to do if you fibreglass the hull....