Rob’s J14 Yacht Build

Rob’s J14 Yacht Build Follow Rob as he builds his J14 sailing dingy.

23/03/2024

Is that a worm of the rugby field? Bloody hell, it’s their home. We better pause the game until they move off the field of play

Beautiful sail yesterday for Comfortably Numb. Finally some nice Summer weather.
10/01/2024

Beautiful sail yesterday for Comfortably Numb. Finally some nice Summer weather.

1st club race day with Torbay Sailing Club and only 2nd time one the water. Those in NZ will know why!  ☔️ 💨Was perfect ...
20/02/2023

1st club race day with Torbay Sailing Club and only 2nd time one the water. Those in NZ will know why! ☔️ 💨
Was perfect day to get out. 5-8knots. Often a bit less. Comfortable enough to be forgiving of mistakes. Hoping for a few more days like this before the end of the season. Credit David Wright for the photo and tuning tips.

29/11/2022

Got Comfortably Numb on the water briefly a couple of weeks ago. Feels nice on the water. Just an awkward sailor trying to figure it all out. Was a short 15min sail with a couple of issues to fix. But she floats, and she sails, and feels like she’ll be fast. Will be picking my days to go out. Not much more than 10knots for the first few sails. Unfortunately that is not a common breeze around here in Spring! You either get nothing or 25knots.

Introducing J167, Comfortably Numb!  What an milestone… Lots of blood, sweat, and tears. Literally!It’s not quite ready,...
31/10/2022

Introducing J167, Comfortably Numb! What an milestone… Lots of blood, sweat, and tears. Literally!
It’s not quite ready, still got running lines to do but all going well should be on the water within a week or two. I quietly targeted November when I started this, and yep pretty close.

19/10/2022

Sometimes you have to think how far you’ve come in a project such as this. Failed woodwork at school and only really built a deck or two in the past. Just building this centerboard is a project in itself, but only a small part of the boat. It has my trademark pits and blotches but I really like it. Accidental design with different cedar cuts looks pretty good. Fibreglass then sealed with everdure. It will probably only last a season or two and the trailing edge is not razor/racer sharp, but it’ll work.

Back on the tools. Back to basics. Working with wood. Today carving out the centerboard. I love working with cedar (all ...
15/10/2022

Back on the tools. Back to basics. Working with wood. Today carving out the centerboard. I love working with cedar (all masked up) it responds to the tools so nicely. Basic Center board carved. Will have to fair a little to get it to fit and then single layer of glass. Probably won’t even paint it. Just smooth the glass. We’ll see. Will try the peel ply again on it.

I just can’t get this painting right. So annoying and frustrating. The tip thinner trick that worked on the top side doe...
13/10/2022

I just can’t get this painting right. So annoying and frustrating. The tip thinner trick that worked on the top side doesn’t work when the surface isn’t perfectly horizontal. Everything just drips!!!! I’m so over it. So much effort and I can’t paint the fu***ng thing!

Started fitted some fittings and access port covers.  Not as much space as I thought!  It’s all a bit of a guess for pla...
12/10/2022

Started fitted some fittings and access port covers. Not as much space as I thought! It’s all a bit of a guess for placement of these things.
Still need to do final paint coat on the hull but wanted the deck to harden a bit more before I turn it over.

Painting is really hard!  Spent weekend painting deck and cockpit. It’s really hard to get a smooth finish. I’ve been pl...
09/10/2022

Painting is really hard! Spent weekend painting deck and cockpit. It’s really hard to get a smooth finish. I’ve been plagued with what they call “orange peel” finish. Lots of little bubbles that don’t pop out. Tried a few techniques and I think the final coat on the top is ok. Used a tipping brush wetted with thinner following the roller to wet out the bubbles. It seems to have worked. Will see when it cures over night. My only worry is that it won’t cure if I’ve applied too much thinner. Fingers crossed.
Once I remove the green tape should have nice shinny kauri gunwales. Then flip the boat over again, sand out the orange peel finish I still have on the hull out and apply final blue coat on the hull using tipping technique.

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0630

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