Question About V. Smeed’s ‘Starlet’

[John Allen 4Participant @johnallen4]

I am building a Vic Smeed 'Starlet' and would appreciate some advice. Do the ply skins extend right to the front of the bow (where they would meet) or do they stop at the foremost bulkhead?

The plans suggest the later with the front of the boat made of solid wood pieces to form the bow front end, but I'm not sure. It seems unusual but useful when there are collisions!

Many thanks.

[John Allen 4Participant @johnallen4]

[Chris FellowsParticipant @chrisfellows72943]

Not unusual John. Commonly used where the bow design is such that the ply needs to be bent in two directions which can't usually be done successfully. The timber used for the bow is usually balsa for lightness and ease of shaping. Will need to be clothed and coated in resin to provide impact resistance.

Haven't built a Starlet but somebody will be along who has.

Chris

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi John,

The drawing on the web shows 3 laminations of what I imagine to be 1/2" balsa sheet each side of the stem and carved/planed to continue the plywood flat sides. this method eliminates the need to put doublers on the stem and bend the attach the ply to it. The balsa doesn't need to be bullet proof as the ply stem will take most of the knocks, tissue paper covering with dope or sanding sealer is sufficient in my view.

Regards Ray

[John Allen 4Participant @johnallen4]

Many thanks Chris & Ray,

So as I understand it, the ply skin(s) stop at the bow bulkhead and the port and starboard areas between the bulk head and the stem is filled with balsa, shaped and then finished with resin,   Alternatively tissue paper and dope or sanding sealer.

Many thanks.

Edited By John Allen 4 on 03/09/2019 13:02:46

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

John

You've got it in one. If you want some more gen on finishing a wooden hull then have a read of this Finishing wooden hulls

Dave M

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

John,

Attached is the relevant page from the original build item, which may be of help.

Back in July, I received your message for a copy of this model's build booklet. I subsequently replied and said it would need to be emailed, as it is 19 pages long. I received quite a number of requests for this booklet and once consider asking admin (Colin Bishop) for advice as to where to post it on the site. Further thoughts were that the document is too dated and many of the build practices and material are no longer used.

[Ian Bell 1Participant @ianbell1]

I have this booklet in the form of a .pdf file if wanted.

[Dave GidmanParticipant @davegidman45520]

I laminated a few bits of scrap balsa for the bow on my Starlet and shaped it by hand. A block of balsa would be good then whittle and sand it to shape. A very satisfying job actually.

[John ShuttleworthParticipant @johnshuttleworth71987]

I have rcently bought second hand Starlet and want to fit RC sail winch. Presume that the deck will need to come off to do this. Is there any advice out there on how I can go about the installation. Hitec HS785HB seems to be a popular choice of servo.

Thanks John S

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi John,

Does the cabin roof come off the Starlet ?? this is the same idea on a slightly smaller boat but the principle is the same, it would seem rather a drastic move to take the deck off ?

Regards Ray

[John ShuttleworthParticipant @johnshuttleworth71987]

Hi Ray. Yes the roof comes off but just exposes the deck with a small opening into the hull. I think that it wood be advisable to increase the hull access by resigning the cabin, Also my boat has a 3×3' access hole over the rudder pintle because the rudder has a servo connected. I was thinking to use a winch and pulley system which would use quite a lot of lateral space in the hull. you are using a lever system, how. much movement does that give? This is new to me so I don't know how to decide how much movement is needed for Starlet and to decide the value of operating both sails from the same system. Any advice in layman's terms would be very much welcome.

Regards John S

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi John,

I only bother controlling the main sail the jib is on a rail and self tacks, obviously the longer the servo are is the better I think 6" is ok travel, but you can double that by putting a pulley on the arm and achieve a 1 = 2 travel.

Is there enough room to sink a servo into the deck and have the arm in the cabin space?

If you could post a photo, it will be easier to advise.

Regards Ray

Edited By Ray Wood 2 on 15/07/2021 12:15:24

[John ShuttleworthParticipant @johnshuttleworth71987]

Sorry Ray. Struggling to get photos on here. I have been following the instructions to create an album, however, I cannot seem to size the photos to fit. I use an Apple MacBook Air. Will have to ask one of the grandkids to train me. Unless, there is someone in the club who could help. Regards, John

[John ShuttleworthParticipant @johnshuttleworth71987]

Hi Ray

Not sure what Ibam doing on this forum. Think my answers are to the wrong place. yews the roof comes off and there is about1.25' headroom to work.

Struggling with photos, found that my computer didn't have Jpeg format, it is Apple Mac air Apple have now sorted that. Trying to use Colin Bishops instructions to upload but I don't think he has written it for Apple because I can't find his instructions.

Measuring the movement on the boom that is about 10". Is that a lot for a lever system? Would I need to source a powerful servo for this.

Hvent given up on the photo issue yet

Many regards

John

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

A Jpeg file is the same in Apple or Windows. Most files straight off cameras are too big for this relatively old system and need to be reduced to something like desktop resolution or around 500kb.

If you have an Apple Mac then you can use the preview function:

**LINK**

Something like 1024 × 768 pixels should be OK.

Colin

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi John,

This photo of one of my sailing barges shows the large Hitec lever servo with the 1 = 2 arrangement to double the travel, the Starlet is not really a racer so you will have enough travel to let the mainsail out enough for broad reaching and running with the wind, but in my experience 90% of your sailing will be close hauled with the sails pulled in. So it will still sail perfectly well and it sounds like the lever servo is much easier to fit in your boat

It's the lower lever servo with the line adjustment on it. (the top servo is the Vangs control which controls the sprit on the barge)

Regards Ray

[John ShuttleworthParticipant @johnshuttleworth71987]

Hi Ray

apologies for the delay. I'm going to follow your advice and have bought a large lever servo. All I have to do now is the necessary work on the model. Should be interesting, its my first sailer.

Many thanks for you help

Regards John S

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hello John,

Thanks for letting us know your progressing with the project, sailing boats are good fun, as the conditions are never the same 2 days running

Keep us posted

Regards Ray

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