Aphers

I added bilge strakes, or runners if you prefer. Three good reasons: - they stiffen up the floor - they protect the hull from damage - they gave me a solid place to add through bolted eyes for lifting the dinghy in davits Mine are on the aft half only so don't interfere with nesting. I'm not the only person to have done this, Sailing Florence of YouTube fame did the same. https://messing-about.com/forums/topic/12813-spindrift-11n-build-in-scotland/page/2/#comment-111096

Your can of perfection was still good? I didn't bother painting inside the lockers, not much UV in there ?

I think a Europe rig could work well. I initially used a slightly cut down OK rig, it sailed extremely well but the mast was very thick walled and heavy which made the dinghy very unstable and that took away a lot of the fun and practicality. I'm now using an old 5.5m² windsurfer rig with a four piece mast. Initially boom-less, but a couple of weeks ago I found a wishbone boom washed up on the beach, and now it sails really well. I think the rig as designed would be the best option, obviously, but I was running out of time and money.

That's good progress. Do you plan to sail your Spindrift? I have been using my 11N as my tender full time for over two years and sailing around anchorages is my favourite hobby now. So glad I didn't buy a RIB like everyone else! Aphers (Sea Change on YBW)

I think exact location is dependant on the user. I sat in the boat and tried to figure out the best position. Maybe an inch here or there doesn't really matter that much.

I drilled the holes first, then made up the epoxy. It was pretty tedious.

I cheaped out and used split PVC pipe, but I think the principle is the same. I pre-drilled each hole and put a dab of epoxy on the end of every screw. I think that every time you expose wood, you should give it unthickened epoxy. The runnier the better.

Hi Dylan We've been using our S11N as our tender for nearly two and a half years now, full time. Absolutely love it. I'm very glad that I built the sailing version, and now that I've sorted out my rig and got a bit more confident, I almost always sail rather than rowing or motoring. Definitely a conversion starter at the dinghy dock. In answer to your questions: 1- I've added three hard points for lifting. I'll post some photos tomorrow. 2- the fastest I've gone is around 6.5kt, with a 3.5hp outboard and just me onboard. Under sail, I'm not sure. Once I hit about 5kt it's time to put my phone away somewhere safe. But in either case, no it's not really a planing boat. The design has quite a bit of rocker which makes it excellent to row but harder to get on the plane. I would be nervous about fitting a bigger and heavier outboard. I've given it a lot of thought and decided to stick with the little 12kg two stroke. 3- four people under motor is an absolute doddle. We've often carried six, and our record is nine. The other day we had four adults and two kids under sail, all carrying snorkel gear and packed lunches. FYI I recently had a little row around in a 10ft Spindrift and I was surprised how much smaller it felt. Still a good and stable boat, but not a load carrier like the 11.

Actually no! I'll come clean and admit that three of them were children. And we definitely had a bit less freeboard than usual. But it worked fine ?

I had the choice of 10 or 11ft, and decided to go bigger. Almost the same amount of work, materials, and costs, for a more stable and roomy boat. I've not been aboard an S10, but tbh in hindsight I would probably build the 10 if anything ever happened to my 11. It is a pretty big boat. We've carried nine people, we've carried huge loads of shopping, folding bikes, etc etc, and never felt like we were running out of room. Handling the dinghy on deck would surely be that little bit easier with the smaller version. It's not all about weight, it's also the bulk. If I assemble my S11N on deck, vertical, I'm standing on tip toes working blind trying to get the bolts in to the bulkhead. Which is why I usually try to assemble it on the water, but conditions don't always allow that...

It's a relief to get it actually nesting! My boat was upside down when I sawed it in half, I don't remember it being too difficult. In fact, it was alarming easy, definitely a nerve wracking moment. From memory I think you are supposed to glass over the outside corner at the bulkhead, but I don't think you need to cover the whole bulkhead. It doesn't really matter if there is a slight gap between the bulkheads when assembled, it's all hidden by the seat anyway. Of course you don't want a gap showing at the job itself, and to glass that corner you'll need to have a bit of a radius. To get a really neat join, I used epoxy thickened with micro fibres to finish off the edge at the bulkhead, with stiff plastic sheet as a former. Gave a really clean edge and sand almost no visible gap. I like micro fibres, I think they're stronger than silica and easy to mix.

I use two different rigs on my S11N. One is fairly close to the one specified- basic dimensions are correct- but the mast itself came from a different dinghy and is pretty heavy. I've found that whilst the performance is excellent, I'm not happy leaving the mast up with the boat afloat in anything but the calmest conditions. It's also 'interesting' moving around, and going up forward. The other rig is a 5.5m² wind surf, which I use without a boom. It's been a revelation. Obviously lower performance but it's still pretty good, and it's just bombproof. I can furl it up and put a sail tie round it, and often leave it like that at docks or with the boat afloat. One tug on the sail tie and I'm off again. I can easily drop or raise the rig at sea, and being a four part mast it stows away to nothing. I've even taken one section out to shoot a low bridge, which was fun. It's now become my default choice for daily runs ashore. I hardly use an outboard any more. The small rig has made sailing a practical everyday option.

I think that the real risk to a dinghy that isn't lifted most nights is that it will get too much growth on it, and you'll damage the paint as you scrape off the barnacles! I totally understand why you don't want to use AF. I've tried hard/scrubbable AF as a boot top on my yacht, and was quite unimpressed- you couldn't touch it without it coming away on your hands. I think it would be a nightmare on a dinghy, it would get everywhere.

Put of curiosity, what is supposed to happen to two pack polyurethane if immersed for too long? I've not noticed any signs of degradation. By the way, on the subject of paint, I recently added some non slip to the floor of the Spindrift. I masked up four areas (two in each half) and then painted using my normal two pack polyurethane with some non slip granules added. In the bow section I was more generous, because I found my feet slipped a lot on the sloping hull sides. In the stern I went for a more gentle finish. I tried to minimise the area that I painted, and I deliberately left a gap along the keel. The non slip works well but it holds dirt and tears up sponges, so you don't want it right in the bottom.

I used two pack polyurethane, for a tender that is in daily use. I do have davits and try to be good about always lifting each night. I've not noticed any problems with the paint. Sometimes when I've been a bit lazy the bottom of the boat gets grubby with growth- it happens very quickly in 30⁰+ water! I'm a big fan of the two pack. So much more durable than single pack. And don't even think about varnish...

I know what you mean about the epoxy coating. It doesn't flow out and self level like paint. And when you do paint, every little bump and ripple will be magnified. I took the approach that, as a tender, I wanted as much epoxy on there as possible. I didn't try and flatten it all back, just removed the very worst runs and bumps. Sometimes I regret that, bit it saved me probably several days in the build. I made more of an effort to get the outside smooth, to prevent any marine growth getting a foothold.

We were Vega #1583. Great boat, did thousands of miles in her.

Great thread, thanks for taking the time to document your build. We've been using a S11N as a tender for just over two years now, as full time cruisers. Great little boat! We've carried up to nine people without difficulty. Sailing it around anchorages has been great fun, and we rarely use our outboard. In answer to your question, I glassed all the joins when building the aft seats. I also waited until after I'd sawn the boat in half, which was just as well because I needed to sightly alter the pieces to ensure that the bow would nest. Hopefully when building from a kit this won't be a problem. You also mentioned the tape having a bulkier edge on one side, leading to an air bubble when overlapping the next layer. I noticed this too and apparently it's called the 'selvedge' and is a product of the weaving process. I was advised not to cut it off, but in some places I did trim it off just before wetting out the tape. If removing it, best to do it at the last minute because the tape won't want to be handled much after that. Sometimes I waited until the epoxy had gone past the tacky stage and then shaved off the selvedge with a small sharp chisel. Happy to chat about the practicalities of using a Spindrift as a tender. Oh and by the way my first boat was also a Vega. Good luck with the rest of the build!

Ah so I haven't built this as strongly as I should have originally. Seems like a good chance to do something about that.

A few weeks we were motoring our Spindrift 11N through some chop and came off a wave with quite a bang. I thought I might have heard a bit of a crack. Sure enough a few days later I spotted a hairline crack in the paint. It's at the nesting bulkhead- stern section, port side, at the top bolt hole. I've finally found a chance to take the dingy out of use for a few days and get it on deck and in two sections. Good news is it really is just a hairline crack. I've sanded down to bare wood and it's hopefully visible in the photo. There's no sign of movement or any gap trying to open up. I suspect it only goes through one or two layers of the plywood. What's the best approach to fixing this? I was thinking of sanding back enough of the ply to get depth to apply a layer of light glass cloth. But I'm worried about adding any extra thickness and interfering with the bulkhead joint. What about using a dremel to chase out the crack and open it up, then neat epoxy followed by micro fibres? That would certainly be a lot easier. Easiest of all, of course, would to just saturate the whole area with neat epoxy. Any thoughts appreciated- I'd like to get the boat back in the water in a couple of days if possible.

Maybe those inflatables are for fendering? Could be a great idea if you need that.

Standard is M6 bolts, optionally with wing nuts. I upped mine to M8 (paranoia!) and use eye nuts/bolts, which gives me extra places to tie things on. Are the foils there?

Mine are 7'6" which seems pretty good. I think the ideal length depends on how loaded the dinghy is. When we're three up plus shopping the 7'6" oars feel a bit too high geared, but on my own they're great and I can really make the dinghy fly.

Repairability is certainly a big advantage- and I'm hugely grateful to you for your help and advice at a time when most people were telling me to walk away. Incidentally, I've just been helping another cruiser attempt to repair his RIB. It's a Highfield, which are a top brand, made of Hypalon, which is the best available material, and has always been protected from UV by canvas chaps. It's only eight years old. Despite all of this, it is simply disintegrating at the seams. The repair did not work and I think the RIB is destined for scrap. My Spindrift cost about a fifth the price of that RIB and I expect it to last much, much longer...

No I'm afraid not- keeping a boat running, learning to live on a budget in foreign countries, home schooling a small child... I don't know where we'd fit in much else! The only YouTubers I'm aware of who have a Spindrift are Sailing Florence, who have the 9N. We might not have heard of the design without them.