good stuff !! long live Defiance !!!! they sail like a witch !! one of the greatest yachts ever built !!

Lydia I understand trim will be important to lighten up the cabin and reflect the seventies but really , a purple engine cover next it will be a lava lamp.

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Bananabender said..
Lydia I understand trim will be important to lighten up the cabin and reflect the seventies but really , a purple engine cover next it will be a lava lamp.

Trick of the light but flared pants are compulsory at the launching.
You can borrow them from Boty , so his wife says!

looking great !! well done to all involved !!!

Lydia,
She looks fantastic mate, cant wait to see her in the flesh!
BTW, will all the crew have to grow mullets/brylcreem look/permed hair?
Enquiring minds would like to know.
SB

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lydia said..

Friggen awsome!!
Does boty stop short at polishing brassware.
Looks like the shadow of the old Lika Loka on the bulkhead next to the lamp? If it has a mirrored back and a rack ( ffff..for four glasses and a bottle of rum) and you are not putting it back in, I'll have it!!
That foxhole deserves a pin cushioned red velvet mattress. With a bit of something from the Lika Loka and a bit of polishing, the foxes will love playing in there.

"Defiance" definitely qualifys as boat porn.

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shaggybaxter said..
Lydia,
She looks fantastic mate, cant wait to see her in the flesh!
BTW, will all the crew have to grow mullets/brylcreem look/permed hair?
Enquiring minds would like to know.
SB

Mullets and that would be just be the start . Dennis Lilly moustache,
If cold cream greasy wool jumper or navy blue with elbow patches ,a pipe and yellow line7 boots under the flared pants.
If warm the shortest shorts , thongs and one of those shirts with the long collars
unbuttoned .
Hey Cisco I like the idea of the red velvet but might be a bit to ostentatious. Whatever happened to him?
You want any more ideas Lydia?

Splashed today, news at eleven!

good one !!!! long live defiance !!!!!!

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lydia said..
Splashed today, news at eleven!

Does that mean you are posting pics of the event at 11 tonight or tomorrow??

There you go.

Just for shaggy??

much happier in the drink. well done !

Yahoo!!!!!
If she could smile, she'd be grinning from ear to ear.
Well done Lydia.

So we are now over 12 500 views of this thread.
Thanks everyone for following.
Also the site administrators must be pleased as well.

So what are my thoughts today?
Firstly, relief it is in the water and there is very little left to do. Maybe a weeks work in finishing.
Secondly, satisfaction.
It is a beautiful thing.
Thirdly, at one level it was a crazy thing to do but at another I am very glad I took it on.

So should you undertake a project like this?
ABSOLUTELY!
But remember the rules I have spoken about in this thread.
Pick the right boat and have a reason to do it.
Pick the right people to work with. (I will post more about this later)
But most of all be patient!
Cheers

Like I said CC, wait till you sail her to windward - absolute joy. Downhill in a blow? Not so, even with the large skeg. I had my share of whoopsies.

Congratulations, beautiful looking boat.

will you be putting back the original mast/rigging/sails or will you modernise? Looks great and good job so far

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Seebreasy73 said..
will you be putting back the original mast/rigging/sails or will you modernise? Looks great and good job so far

Can I ask what you would modernize?
My view is that it is a fair bet Olin Stephens knew more about this stuff than me and I would be pretty sure I know most than most.
So no change to rig plan.
Will be a new mast however but no change to the design.
Sails will remain the same save for new 106% headsail at some point.
Going with hanks and no furler for a number of reasons with halyards at the mast.
Also only a three halyard rig.

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Seebreasy73 said..
will you be putting back the original mast/rigging/sails or will you modernise? Looks great and good job so far

Don't give Lydia any ideas Seebreasy!
You should see the size of the mast squeezed into Trumpcard, a previous ride.
Nuts.

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shaggybaxter said..

Seebreasy73 said..
will you be putting back the original mast/rigging/sails or will you modernise? Looks great and good job so far

Don't give Lydia any ideas Seebreasy!
You should see the size of the mast squeezed into Trumpcard, a previous ride.
Nuts.

Shaggy
That was one I did design.
Spent a bit of time playing with the computer modelling at the rig engineers.
From memory the original spec had a safety margin of 1.47 and with tinkering with spreader lengths and heights and stuff we got it to close to 3.0.
All Yachts Spars did an amazing job on that rig.
Never seen a straighter finished section.
That rig is 13 years old now.

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lydia said..

Seebreasy73 said..
will you be putting back the original mast/rigging/sails or will you modernise? Looks great and good job so far

Can I ask what you would modernize?
My view is that it is a fair bet Olin Stephens knew more about this stuff than me and I would be pretty sure I know most than most.
So no change to rig plan.
Will be a new mast however but no change to the design.
Sails will remain the same save for new 106% headsail at some point.
Going with hanks and no furler for a number of reasons with halyards at the mast.
Also only a three halyard rig.

Should have asked if you were to use the original mast/rigging set up.
There is a lot of way to modernise: carbon fibre composite, mast, electric winches, or even going a radical design such as inflatable sails!
:-)

SB
It is difficult to justify costs as opposed to weight saving on a smaller rig.
Bigger boat you would definitely go carbon but the budget is a lot bigger.
The concept of the boat is for twilighting shorthanded with no maintenance so everything is as simple as possible.
Three halyard rig, winches on mast, few toys as possible.
Nothing led back to cockpit just two self tailing cockpit winches.
Hanks over furler for simplicity and efficiency given sail size.
Bigger boat you would make different choices.

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lydia said..
SB
It is difficult to justify costs as opposed to weight saving on a smaller rig.
Bigger boat you would definitely go carbon but the budget is a lot bigger.
The concept of the boat is for twilighting shorthanded with no maintenance so everything is as simple as possible.
Three halyard rig, winches on mast, few toys as possible.
Nothing led back to cockpit just two self tailing cockpit winches.
Hanks over furler for simplicity and efficiency given sail size.
Bigger boat you would make different choices.

boats are endless money pits, no justification needed nor reason to make no beneficial upgrades. Many times we do it anyway, because we like the idea of it.

i think when restoring good boats that have proven track records it takes a huge leap of faith to change something that has been designed by a great guy built by a smart builder sailed by champions usually with a owner who had access to a serious budget
sure gains can be made probably with defiance the only things other than what Lida is doing would be carbon rig and fancy wardrobe but is that cost justifiable for the amount of gain i doubt it we did talk about these things early on and i think he has made the right decision if she had been a planing hull it may have been worthwhile but the weight saving and added stiffness of the carbon rig with such a stiff little boat isn't going to get her out of the water you will just get to 6 knots a fly**** earlier

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lydia said..
SB
It is difficult to justify costs as opposed to weight saving on a smaller rig.
Bigger boat you would definitely go carbon but the budget is a lot bigger.
The concept of the boat is for twilighting shorthanded with no maintenance so everything is as simple as possible.
Three halyard rig, winches on mast, few toys as possible.
Nothing led back to cockpit just two self tailing cockpit winches.
Hanks over furler for simplicity and efficiency given sail size.
Bigger boat you would make different choices.

I cant wait to see how she sails.
Yum yum yum.

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boty said..
i think when restoring good boats that have proven track records it takes a huge leap of faith to change something that has been designed by a great guy built by a smart builder sailed by champions usually with a owner who had access to a serious budget
sure gains can be made probably with defiance the only things other than what Lida is doing would be carbon rig and fancy wardrobe but is that cost justifiable for the amount of gain i doubt it we did talk about these things early on and i think he has made the right decision if she had been a planing hull it may have been worthwhile but the weight saving and added stiffness of the carbon rig with such a stiff little boat isn't going to get her out of the water you will just get to 6 knots a fly**** earlier

but if you restore it for the "next 30" years that is almost like buying a new boat. And what wold cost you these days to buy a similar boat?
and I agree if you want to preserve the heritage of a boat leave it as it.
I was reading about this company somewhere in the USA, they lift the boats out of the water, scan the whole hull with lasers to create a 3D computer image and then they run it to fluid dynamic symulations to determine the weak spots of the design. Many times with minor adjustments to the hull they can achieve massive improvements. Often just small changes to the rudder shape/size can make great impact on handling. My dad always used to tell me that: "son, remember, you may be great at what you do, but there is always going to be someone, who is even better" - so, who is to say that there are no ways to improve on an already great design?

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shaggybaxter said..

lydia said..
SB
It is difficult to justify costs as opposed to weight saving on a smaller rig.
Bigger boat you would definitely go carbon but the budget is a lot bigger.
The concept of the boat is for twilighting shorthanded with no maintenance so everything is as simple as possible.
Three halyard rig, winches on mast, few toys as possible.
Nothing led back to cockpit just two self tailing cockpit winches.
Hanks over furler for simplicity and efficiency given sail size.
Bigger boat you would make different choices.

I cant wait to see how she sails.
Yum yum yum.

She sails bloody well, except square downhill in anything over 20. Absolute joy to windward in anything and on a two sail reach with a big #1. Something that CC will find out in due course.

Having a bit of a personal conflict regarding leaving the halyard winches on the mast. On the one hand authenticity demands such with cleats below winches but there again wire to rope halyards ? On the other hand having had two boats with winches on masts I found them a pain when sailing solo without an autopilot,( were they around the then? especially when reefing or Cunningham with horns on boom.
Oh , thank god the decisions are not mine I'd get no sleep if I had to put a hole in that fantastic workmanship.