Monica 11

[Mick MorrittParticipant @mickmorritt13214]

Quite a while ago I joined my local club, and now. for my sins I am treasurer. I prefer sail to power and having bought a couple of vintage yachts from a bereavement sale. I have converted one of them ,( a model Sharpie built in the 1950s for braine steering gear ), to radio and it sails really well. So I purchased a Monica 11 hull and plan. The suplier ( well known ) pointed me towards the appropriate article in Nov. 2007 Model Boats magazine. The problem is that the article assumes that you have the correct plan!! The plan I have bears very little resemblance to the hull ie. it shows a hull 9″ longer , 1″ narrower and no waterline measurement.The sail measurements will therefore also be wrong. The mag article offers a different rig ,which I like better, and the sizes will probably be correct. Now here is my problem. My fellow club members are mainly into kit and ready to sail models and are not really able to help. The supplier seems not to want to answer my requests for help. So here it is. Does anyone out there have a plan that came with the hull when it was first produced? If so would they be prepared to loan it for me to copy , or pass on the information. Or is there some basic formula I can use to determine some of the information?

[Mick MorrittParticipant @mickmorritt13214]

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Hi Mick,

 

Only just seen this as I’ve been away for a few days. I’m not a model Yottie so not an expert in these matters but can offer a few comments!

 

You don’t say who you actually bought from so I am guessing a bit here. I’m just wondering if you have got the Moonbeam plan and not Monica II which would possibly explain the length difference. Both hulls have a quoted beam of 8.5 inches. On such a big hull the apparent beam discrepancy is not signifiicant. GRP hulls as delivered frequently need to be ‘closed’ up a bit to fit the deck plan, this is quite normal and a hairdryer is useful in ‘settingt’ the hull to the correct shape.

 

Dave Metcalf only normally sells kits these days, the hull side of the business which included Monica ii was sold off a while back to Models by Design. I assume you bought from one of these two. Dave can certainly be a bit tardy about responding to emails, I don’t know about MBD.

 

If you have a bit more information then maybe we can give you some more help.

 

Colin

Edited By Colin Bishop, Website Editor on 10/03/2011 18:23:52

[Mick MorrittParticipant @mickmorritt13214]

HI Colin

Thanks for you comments so far.You don’t have to guess too hard. I didn’t use the name so that I could not be accused of anything untoward .

 I got the same information from Dave Metcalf at Leaminton , I had bought the hull after the sell off and just hoped for a little help, but not to be. MBD has not answered my query.

The plan is labled up” Monica 11″ and is labled from JB Mouldings in Wales and was supplied to me by MBD with the hull. The plan only gives a plan view and a sketch side elevation with sail sizes.The Monica 11 hull that I have is 391/2″ long with a beam of 8 3/4″ and looks good , the hull on the plan is 46″ long with a beam of 7″ and looks a bit slim, the Moonbeam hull in the kit review in Model Boats Jan 2009 is 52″ long with 11″ beam. The build review of Monica 11 in Model Boats November 2007 sugests that the Monica hull is 12″ shorter than Moonbeam so that seems to sugest that the hull is correct but just puts me deeper in the mire.

I need all the help I can get

Mick

I can’t quite get this editing bit

Edited By Mick Morritt on 10/03/2011 20:40:45

Edited By Mick Morritt on 10/03/2011 20:43:06

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Hi Mick,

 

Well, the Monica II hull sounds right, correct length and beam if you pull it in a bit as I previously mentioned.

 

The plan sounds like something different altogether!

 

The thing that strikes me is that the length/beam ratio of Moonbeam based on your figures is 4:7 as is the Monica II hull you have whereas the ratio on your plan is 6:5 which is a lot different!

 

If you cannot get any joy out of MBD then maybe you could get a Moonbeam plan off Dave Metcalf (feel free to mention my name) and either scale it down or have it reduced in a copyshop which would only cost a few pounds.

 

I have to say that plans supplied with kits and hulls can be a bit of a bugbear as manufacturers claim that providing accurate drawings enable them to be ripped off on Ebay by people copying them. There is some truth in this but it is very frustrating for the genuine modeller.

 

Of course the best type and size of rig for a particular boat can be a bit of ‘suck it and see’ so you so have a degree of flexibility there bearing in mind that very often the boat will need to be reefed to some extent to sail well.

 

Sorry I can’t be more specific but I am not a model yachtingt expert although I have owned a couple of small full size yachts of my own.

 

Colin

[Mick MorrittParticipant @mickmorritt13214]

Hi Colin,

Many thanks for the information. I will try to chase down a plan of either model to work from.

Mick

[Ian GardnerParticipant @iangardner62867]

I had a Monica hull from JB Mouldings years ago and built it as a gaff rigged boat but the original drawing was described as 60’s racing cruiser and had a bermudan rig with a fairly modern deckhouse. Unfortunately, although I still have the boat, the drawing disappeared years ago. But it may be that you were looking for a gaff rigged design and don’t need to find the original drawing.

It would be perfectly possible to work up a rig for the boat if you researched centre of effort and the balance of the hull. I have found that balance on gaff rigged boats is a bit less critical than bermudan rigs as there is sail along the whole length of the boat ( waits to be shot down in flames!) My hull was about 45” long and I remember they did two sizes. Good luck.

Ian

[Mick MorrittParticipant @mickmorritt13214]

Hi Ian,

Curiouser and curiouser. At least the fog is lifting a little. From what you say I must have the drawing you had but my hull is the OTHER size. I had intended to use a gaff rig because I like the look of it and there are sizes given in Model Boats review of Monica11 in Nov. 2007. I am still searching for the proper drawing to give me an accurate mast position and waterline. In the meantime I am trawling ( no pun intended ) the ‘net to find basic design information that will help me resolve the issues but no luck so far.

Many thanks

Mick

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