Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
Oliver Shaw
ModeratorIf you intend putting the trailer in the water it is a good precaution to grease the wheel bearings first; if they are absolutely full of grease there is no space left for water to enter.
Most trailers will have grease nipples on the wheel bearings, to mate with a grease gun. Continue pumping grease in until you see it start to come out.
If putting it in the water after a road journey allow time for the bearings to cool down, and then grease them before putting it in the water.
Oliver
Oliver Shaw
ModeratorGet a trolley with a proper cradle to support the boat amidships. The cradle does need to be GP14-specific, shaped to the boat.
Check that the main cradle is a short way abaft the axle, rather than in line with the axle; it reduces (even if only slightly) the amount of unsupported rear overhang when towing, so it is kinder to the hull.
Trident are a well respected name, but you do have a choice of manufacturers, and it would be worth looking at some of the others. http://cbcoverstore.co.uk/boat_trailers.asp?ra=2, https://boattrailers.co.uk/Dinghy_Launchers, https://www.merseatrailers.com/store/GP14-Twin-Cradle-p155321826, and possibly others. Consider not only the choice of the launching trolley, but also the road base which you will eventually want to mate it to; although there is some degree of interchangeability, to enable a launching trolley from one manufacturer to mate to a road base by another that is not automatic, and it is probably a safer bet to choose trolley and road base together even if you are not ready to buy the road base yet. With the road base, consider whether you will want 8″ or 10″ wheels, and that choice may well depend on how much travelling you expect to do; 8″ are the more popular, and cheaper, and easier for loading and unloading, but once on the road 10″ are probably much to be preferred if you expect to regularly tow long distances.
I am attaching a photo, deliberately not identified, of a type of launching trolley to avoid; a very simple main chock, giving far less support than a proper cradle, and in line with the axle rather than abaft it. Attached just so that you can see the difference …
Oliver
Attachments:
You must be logged in to view attached files.Oliver Shaw
ModeratorWith separate launching trolley and road trailer, as distinct from a combi-unit, there have been at least two different methods devised for transferring boat between road trailer and launching trolley. I used both, at different times, during my early years, and I found the method that vortexmike describes very much the easier of the two; but it does require rollers on the road trailer, and even in my late twenties I found it physically demanding if I was single-handed.
The other method, possibly the earlier method, involved a swivelling bow chock; with (again) the trailer hitched to the car, approach at right-angles, place the bow on the swivelling chock, then lift the stern and carry it round. – and it needs to be lifted high enough to clear the wheels and mudguards. Even in my twenties I found that quite method brutal!
When I returned to GPs in my early sixties I was initially concerned whether I still had the strength to manage the transshipment between trolley and road trailer, but entirely by chance that boat which I bought happened to come with a good combi-unit, and I was absolutely amazed at how comparatively easy it was to get the boat and trolley (together) on and off the road base. However it is absolutely crucial that you align the trolley accurately when loading; if it is misaligned it will stop perhaps a foot short of fully home, when the side of the trolley jams against one or other of the side guides on the road base – in which case run it back off, align it correctly, and try again.
Oliver
Oliver Shaw
ModeratorIt appears that you have a complete trailer, fitted with chocks or cradle, rather than just a road base; so your road trailer and your eventual launching trolley are entirely separate, and that results in the need to transfer the boat between road trailer and launching trolley every time you tow by road. That was the normal way of doing things in the early days, but the transfer is often moderately hard work.
A combi-trailer can be very much easier, and although some are better than others it is worth considering whether that is the way to go.
Before you buy, consider how often you intend to tow the boat by road. If only vary rarely then by all means stick with your present road trailer and buy just a launching trolley, but if you expect to be towing anything more than just very occasionally you might prefer to acquire a combi-unit.
It may be possible to buy a combi-unit and then sell your present road trailer.
They do periodically appear on the second-hand market, and it is a quirk of the market that often the trailer has a boat sitting on it; on occasion you can find a decent trailer underneath a relatively cheap boat. It is not unknown for a buyer to buy a cheap boat in order to acquire the trailer on which she is sitting, then swap boat and trailer and sell off the unwanted trailer with the unwanted boat as a package.
Oliver
Oliver Shaw
ModeratorThere is another aspect to the question, and I note that you are currently debating the question; the RYA “considerate and conservative” approach. As I understand the latter, and I stress this is without having studied it in detail, the thinking there is the avoidance of any risk of requiring external rescue services (e.g. RNLI, etc.) As an inland club, surely you yourselves would provide safety cover, and in the event of an emergency you would not be requiring lifeboat attendance anyway; indeed the only way they could reach you would be by road, from a considerable distance away, so their involvement would normally be impracticable. The question then comes down to the impossibility of social distancing during the rescue by your own safety boat/s, but at least it would be outdoors, so the risk would perhaps be thought to be low. That is something which you will need to assess (and keep under review) in the context of a continuously evolving situation; the answer may perhaps be NO at the present time, but could well change in another week or two.
For what it is worth, my own club (on the intensely tidal Mersey) have ruled that for the time being no safety boats will be provided, and that boats may sail provided a number of conditions are all satisfied:
- each boat must be sailed either single-handed or by exclusively members of the same household
- boats must sail in groups of at least two, which must be of the same type (e.g. two GP14s, two kayaks, two fishing boats, or whatever)
- boats within such a group must keep in company, and assist each other in case of emergency
- all boats must carry marine VHF radio
Carrying VHF is a permanent club recommendation anyway, but while the current emergency arrangements are in place it is mandatory; and we do not normally provide a safety boat for operations other than racing or training.
My oldest sailing friend is Rear Commodore of Restronguet SC, and he tells me that they are also allowing some sailing, but with restrictions, and that their decisions are different from ours. That seems entirely reasonable, and your decisions may reasonably be different again; each club will need to make their own decisions in the light of the type of sailing they do and their local situation and conditions.
Hope this helps,
Oliver
Oliver Shaw
ModeratorThese floats are commonly used by cruising sailors, but only rarely by racers.
The 9-litre float is a very good compromise for experienced and competent sailors. It is not sufficient to prevent inversion, but it is intended to slow it down, which buys time in which the competent and experienced skipper can take the necessary action to arrest the rotation, and right the boat. Certainly in my own case, on the only two occasions when I capsized using such a float, there was no question of inversion; but then there might perhaps not have been anyway because on both occasions I did a “dry capsize” in which I stepped onto the centreboard as the mast hit the water. However there was a third capsize, a bad one, when I had lent the boat to a friend; because his crew was becoming hypothermic he and his crew were recovered by the lifeboat, and I was then ferried out to recover the boat, which was still floating on her side.
I have also seen a small number of capsizes of other boats in the cruising fleet, normally using these floats, and normally without inversion. I have only once seen one of them invert; that skipper was single-handed, the stability of the boat once capsized was compromised by the weight of an outboard motor, and the capsize occurred in wholly exceptional conditions, an unforecast force 8 (independently documented, and on a forecast of only force 3) when pushed by a rogue wave into a gybe situation in the overfalls off an exposed Anglesey headland. But despite utterly horrendous conditions which would have had me struggling had I been in the same predicament he managed to recover his boat from inversion, right her, and resume sailing. His righting lines undoubtedly helped there, but I think it likely that so did the masthead float.
It is vitally important to take down the float when you have finished sailing, in order to avoid chafe; I discovered the hard way that if it is left permanently aloft it has a lifetime of no more than one season before it becomes too porous to hold air. Its successor, of the same make and model, used every time I sailed but removed every time I came ashore, has lasted over ten years to date, and so far as I am aware it is still airtight. Therefore you need it hoisted and lowered on a halliard, and it is worth devising a halliard system which will secure it at the bottom as well as the top in order to keep it close to the mast at all times. The system which I devised is shown in the document “Suitability for Cruising & Single-handing”, available in the Members’ Area of this site, pages 6 and 7.
For inexperienced skippers the 40-litre float intended for use in training establishments may perhaps be more suitable, as that is intended to largely prevent inversion.
Hope this helps,
Oliver
Oliver Shaw
ModeratorClass Rules specify “a size tolerance of 16 x 3mm to 19 x 5mm”. Although the only mandatory application of Class Rules is for racing, they are also a good general guide to what works well on the boat.
On a vintage boat – which is what is being discussed in this instance – the original would have been brass, and if historical authenticity is wanted either that or (better) bronze would be the material of choice.
If historical authenticity is not an issue, or for a modern boat, the choice would be either stainless steel or light alloy. Light alloy will be lighter, but not as strong and not as hard, and so will be more susceptible to denting and scratching.
A quick check online show that several chandleries don’t list keel band, while of those which do I have found two who offer only brass and the same number who offer only anodised aluminium. Stainless steel strip in suitable sizes can be obtained from the usual stainless steel stockholders, such as https://juststainless.co.uk, although at a quick search I don’t see any pre-drilled, or any half round.
Oliver
Oliver Shaw
ModeratorGood luck with that search.
If you draw a blank, I am quite sure that Classic Marine can supply something suitable brand new; https://shop.classicmarine.co.uk/catalogsearch/result/index/?mode=list&q=keelband (Price is per foot.)
You may of course alternatively be able to locate a supplier on your own side of the pond, but if not then I am sure Classic Marine will be happy to supply and export it to you..
Hope this helps,
Oliver
Oliver Shaw
ModeratorMore on Jack Holt
A private email today from Graham Knox, posted with his permission:
“I have just read your update of the early days and Jack. While I am struggling with dates, Jack did get involved with plastic moulded GPs. He had found a Plastics moulding business in Todmorden. In fact I worked at Barclays in Todmorden in the 1980s and occasionally bumped into Jack at the local pub at lunchtime. So I did get to know him (and, indeed, his son John). The moulded boats went to Richard Estaugh and eventually he took that over and later transferred it down to Aldridge. The staff who worked for Jack went on become the business that is now Woodwind, undertaking many repairs. It is still located in the three storey mill (on the 2nd and 3rd stories!) that was the old fire station.”
For newer members of the Association, it may be of interest to fill in the information about Richard Estaugh. He was World Champion on multiple occasions from 1979 to 2000 and National Champion similarly but over an even longer period, and the owner of Speed Sails, who built and marketed the Holt Speed boats. He was also a very good friend of the Association, and the Richard Estaugh Fund http://old.gp14.org/members/grants-and-funds/ is named in his memory; the initial capital for the fund was the proceeds of a raffle for boat no. 14000 which he donated to be used as we wished.
I have now deleted my tentative comment about K & H Summersgill Boats, who were based in Todmorden; Graham has now clarified that I was mistaken in wondering whether they were the moulder which he had referred to. Despite being registered boat builders with the Association for some time Graham advises that they were never actively involved with the Class, which tallies with the fact that I have never come across any of their boats and have never heard of them in any context beyond their registration.
Oliver
-
This reply was modified 5 years, 6 months ago by
Oliver Shaw. Reason: Correction; K & H Summersgill
Oliver Shaw
ModeratorShaun,
Welcome aboard.
In the first instance, have a look at the Members’ area of this site, and click on the tab “All About Your GP”; in particular, have a look at
- The Basic Boating Book,
- Beginner’s Guide to Rigging a GP14
- Rigging Photos
Do feel very welcome to come back with further queries if those resources aren’t sufficient for you.
Oliver
Oliver Shaw
ModeratorJack Holt Ltd.
We of course know that Jack Holt was the designer of our class, and most of us know that he was also a boat builder, and the man who built the prototype. And of course Jack Holt Ltd was his company, although I suspect that this was at a slightly later date.
It was therefore a surprise to receive some scanned sales brochures recently, dated 1963, for Jack Holt Ltd. and marketing the GP14, in which it was clearly stated that the boats were built by Fenn & Wood. The latter were of course a highly respected boat builder of that time, but until seeing these scans I had always assumed that Jack Holt Ltd had done their own building, and that the two firms were commercial rivals.
It was also of interest to see that Jack Holt Ltd were also marketing kits of wooden parts for amateur construction, again made by Fenn & Wood, and that these appear to be designed for assembly in a very similar way to the Bell Woodworking method.
Oliver
Attachments:
You must be logged in to view attached files.Oliver Shaw
ModeratorI have not actually done the job myself, but standard advice for this job is to mask off the areas (of the underside of the deck) which will be bonded to the framework. Then coat the rest of the underside with epoxy.
Then glue the deck on, using epoxy; apply epoxy to both the framework and the bare wood that has been protected by the masking tape, and at this point it will not matter if you overstep the mark and trespass onto the area (of the underside of the deck) previously coated, because epoxy will bond well to cured epoxy.
Doing it that way you will have achieved an epoxy bond and also an epoxy coating for the whole of the underside of the deck.
While the deck is off, give some thought to suitably coating the whole of the exposed interior; it is an unrivalled opportunity.
Hope this helps,
Oliver
Oliver Shaw
ModeratorFenn & Wood boats
See also the earlier post on this forum, and the ensuing string, http://old.gp14.org/topic/fenn-and-wood-gp-14/ which features two highly modified Fenn & Wood GP14s; one as a Thames launch, complete with aft cabin, and the other being the Meteor Sportsboat developed from the GP14 at the instigation of Donald Campbell and intended for waterskiing. Fenn & Wood were a well-known and highly respected builder in the early years, and John Fenn was part of the Bluebird project with Donald.
Meteors do periodically come up on the second-hand boats market, restored or otherwise, so it seems that a significant number were produced; an internet search on Fenn & Wood Meteor produces several adverts for these boats for sale.
Oliver
Oliver Shaw
ModeratorRegard the 600 lb figure for the buoyancy as the absolute minimum. I think you will find that in addition to the two built-in tanks which you have created at the stern that requires fairly large buoyancy units under the side benches and also abaft of them, as well as a large unit in the bows.
The two built-in units which you have created at the stern look very neat, but appear to be only about half the size needed in the quarters. The normal standard is either a stern unit filling the space beneath the stern deck, right across the boat (which used to be the normal arrangement), or alternatively (the more modern arrangement) a pair of units in the quarters, extending from immediately abaft the side bench seat knees right to the transom, and of a diameter to only just fit under the stern deck. So far as I can judge from the photo, your two tanks appear to each be about half one of those quarter units.
See the attached photos. These show the side and quarter units, and also just discernible (but in deep shadow) is the built-in bow tank, complete with large (11-inch) diameter ventilation and access hatch.
It may be only in the event of a capsize in rough conditions – and a capsize should never be allowed to arise except in very rough conditions – that you discover the hard way if your buoyancy is insufficient. Even a deliberate swamp test, useful though that is, is normally carried out in smooth water; so although it will tell you whether your buoyancy works, and whether it leaks, it does not always tell you whether you have enough of it.
Oliver
Attachments:
You must be logged in to view attached files.Oliver Shaw
ModeratorI like the modifications! If you do not intend racing her you can make what modifications you like, but be aware that they may take her out of class; however the primary effect of that, if you do not intend racing, is only to possibly depress her eventual resale value. That may well be of no relevance to you, and at the age of your boat and in a country where there is not a lot of GP14 racing anyway it is very questionable whether that would happen.
Do however make sure that the final positive buoyancy which you end up with is sufficient. Essentially, positive buoyancy necessarily takes up space.
Oliver
-
AuthorPosts



