GWB

I think the amas should be higher. Maybe to the point that they are almost out of the water. I think you will want to minimize wetted surface for paddling that will be done on a level keel. Under sail, as she heels, one ama will become emersed to it's working draft while the other will raise clear of the water. Again, minimizing wetted surface. Is the clearance for paddling with the current spport for the amas. I like the positioning of the amas otherwise. If you bury an ama under sail it's not going to pitch-pole you the way it might if it was further forward. Flat or vee'd, it's a toss-up. I think a shallow vee might be the performer. Maybe match the deadrise to the anticipated heel under sail so your sailing on the flat. My two cents.......

Very insightful thread. I usually lift the centerboard partially or fully when the wind starts to kick up, especially when close hauled. I have a stub keel that houses the CB so little shift in balance is felt, but heel tendency is reduced considerably. Typically, I've already reefed and would like the tamed boat a bit more as my next move is to drop the jib. A real performance killer.

I was steaming some fir for laminated frames a while back. I had built a jig with a series of block to clamp to. When I bend the laminations(3/4"x3/4"), I'd typically get breakage as the lamination wrapped one of the hard points of a clamp block if I was bending a single lamination. If I bent the laminations in pairs, they backed each other up and my breakage was reduced to almost nothing. Long story short, bend your strips in pairs and you'll have a reduced risk for breakage.

Hey DR, I also did a model of the Coot between 8 and 10 years ago. You might possibly say it was my first build. Scaled it to be about 3' in length. I tried to include every detail that I could. The companionway, rudder and centerboard are all functional. I made the dead-eyes, made cleats and even made blocks out of brass and solder. The sails did not turn out well as I would have liked and I lost interest it the finest of the details. I dug it out of storage, rerigged it and took a couple of pictures. The jib club and mainsail are missing and I never rigged the sheets for the main and mizzen. Hope you enjoy the pics and don't think I'm trying to upstage you. Paul, how were the rudders typically modified. I assume for a higher A/R.

This is a little down the road since you posted so the info might be a moot point for now. I've used both RAKA and the stuff from BandB. I have found the RAKA to be the most agreeable epoxy I've used yet. No blush and nice and thin. I always use the slow stuff. BandB's is the only epoxy I've ever had chrystalize on me in the bottle. It's a simple matter of heating it in hot water to resolubalize(sic) the stuff and then it is fine to use. It is also the worst blushing epoxy I've ever used. I close second for my use is USComposites. They are inexpensive and will blush, but typically the blush occurs weeks down the road. This does make me raise my eyebrows as I am concerned with long term effects on finish if the blush were to come in after finishing, but I've had no ill effects.