Mike Vacanti

I just bought a new-to-me CS17 with the aft deck configuration. It does not have provision for an outboard so I am going to add a mount. I want to go the simpler route by bolting a 2x8 to the transom that will project above the aft deck enough to clamp a Suzuki 2.5 outboard. This will require a 20" shaft motor to reach the water. My question to anyone who has this configuration on their CS17: Is there enough clearance to allow the motor to rotate 360 degrees without hitting the bottom of the boat? Assume the mount only projects above the deck just enough to allow the motor clamp to be fully seated.

If you use the bushing technique (which you have described accurately) then you are nearly certain that you won’t rot the plywood around the fastener holes. If you only use sealant there is always the possibility that it could fail and water ingress will rot the plywood. There was a fellow out near me in Rio Linda, CA who built a very nice Marples/Brown Constant Camber trimaran over a period of many years. After he took off with his wife and cruised for a few years he had to do extensive repairs to the deck because of water getting through the sealant on many of the bolts that held on his deck hardware. This is on a boat that lived in the water, a trailer boat doesn't have as hard a life. But this example does show what can happen if water is allowed to get into the end grain of plywood.

I just use blue masking tape well burnished to ensure leakproof contact. The adhesive side of the tape releases reliably from the epoxy.

Jonathan, You may already know this but the Ronstan auto-release cleat has an adjustment screw that can increase or decrease the amount of force needed to release the cleat. If you are seeing unwanted releases this could be something to look at. You may also know that the angle the line enters the cleat can very significantly affect the force require to trip the cleat.

Thank you for the confirmation. I recognized it by the shape of the bow, his designs all share that shape.

Is that a Gilles Montaubin design?

Harken makes very nice stuff but their prices have gotten out of hand.

I tried sending you a email inquiry regarding your boat. I haven't heard from you and want to make sure my email didn't land in your spam filter.

I can’t be sure but I’d bet that the bottom isn’t painted but rather coated with an epoxy graphite powder mixture. It’s a lot tougher than paint.

I would wonder if the hull is strong enough to handle 18 knots in any kind of chop.

The latest CS 20 Mk I plans have the details for a main mast tabernacle, I assume the CS 17 Mk I plans are the same.

As mentioned, fir is heavier than okoume but fir will also check badly unless covered with a layer of fiberglass set in epoxy.

The 20 minute induction time is before the thinner is added and is explicitly called for by the manufacturer.

There is another way to attach a halyard that is easy to undo and allows the sail to use the full hoist of the halyard. Here is a picture: knotless halyard attach

Here is a commercially made auto-inflating mast head float, Secumar. I've never used one of these or even seen one. I imagine it would be raised to the mast head using a continuous line halyard. It's also fairly expensive and it would have to be ordered from Germany. But it would have less windage than a solid float.

You probably don't have the correct CODEC installed. Usually a message to that effect will pop up when you try to open the video.

Spawn is a class 4 boat that finished 6 hours behind Randy Smyth's Nacra catamaran. It is a seriously fast boat and the guys who sail it really know what they are doing.

Topside paint is not waterproof, it is normal for it to bubble or lift if soaked in water for a week.

What type of plywood to use for small boat construction is a source of never ending debate in internet discussions. Personally, I wouldn't build a boat with anything other than name brand marine plywood. Joubert and Brynzeel are 2 very good manufacturers. I know that some low quality far eastern manufacturers stamp their plywood with 1088 but it's really meaningless. The reputation of the manufacturer is the important thing.

There is really only 3 things that could cause the epoxy to not harden. 1. The temperature is too low. 2. The resin-hardener ratio was incorrect. How did you measure the resin and hardener? 3. The epoxy is defective. This seems the least likely culprit.

What a good looking boat, thanks for posting. More pictures would be welcome.

A single layer of glass is no where near 1/16", here is a handy table from the WEST Systems epoxy folks, laminate thickness

It looks like there is no fiberglass sheathing on that rudder.

Pete, I noticed that the weight of the boat with all gear but no crew is 1350 ponds. Did you actually put the boat on a scale to get this number? Thanks for publishing your owners manual, it was interesting to read.

It's also possible that you didn't thin the primer enough.