J Class projects
Obviously not a J Boat but this model was in a very poor state when I acquired her. She had a large hole in the hull and further poorly repaired damage. She may have originally been a vane boat but an unsuccessful attempt had been made at radio conversion. She was aesthetically unattractive with a yellow hull and plastic deck. The acquisition price reflected the condition!
Rebuilding this model gave me the opportunity to experiment with my ideas for a genoa foresail. She is 84 inches long and with a narrow beam of 11.5 inches but with lots of room in the hull. Within the rebuild plan I included a number of ways of controlling the clew of the genoa and have ultimately adopted genoa carriages each side of the hull which are adjustable on the water using the radio.
The hull design is very good and the model tracks through the water with very little wake. The rig is powerful and she's very fast and stylish!
This is an older J Class model from the collection of the late Richard Howard of Beale Park. She's a substantial model with a length of 82 inches and a mast length of 11 feet! She's named Enterprise.
I don't think she's been in the water before my ownership as she wasn't watertight below the waterline. The original Futaba M series sail winch works I'm not sure if it will do so reliably.
I have done work on the rig and hull and she sails well. She presents something of a dilemma as she is too good to make some of the changes that I would like to make so I will probably make another set of sails (these are distorted with a rip) and sail her as she is.
This is another substantial hull from the Beal Park collection and in a poor state. She is 90 inches long and has a beam of 15inches and presents a great opportunity for a detailed scale working model of an original J boat. I have in mind Velsheda rigged with a bermuda main with twin overlapping foresails.
This is a nice plank on frame model of Endeavour, 64 inches long with a beam of 11 inches and complete with sails.
The hull is soft to touch in places and I suspect some rot from poor storage. I will strip the paint to investigate and repair as necessary and repaint. This model needs more time than money and will make a great winter project.
Another model from Beale Park and another dilemma! She carries the name Rainbow and is a plank on frame hull, 70 inches long (83 inches with the bow sprit) and a beam of 12 inches. I think I will keep the bow sprit and build a gaff rig with twin foresails. She is a little untidy but otherwise in good condition. Another good winter project!
This is an older hull but has never been built up. At 81 inches and a beam of 13.5 inches she represents an opportunity to do anything I like!! I have no plans at present but as something materialises in my mind I will update the website.