In the absence of anything to report in respect of actual progress this week, I thought that I would spend a little time looking at the various stripping methods that we have employed and how they worked.First, lets talk about the topsides of the yacht.NitromosThe lazy mans approach and pretty useless. Touched the top coat of paint but that was about it. Messy and horrible to use, I can't say that I would recommend it. It's OK for varnish in my experience but lousy in this application... Read Full Story

Unfortunately, we haven't got very far this week, various distractions mean that both of us haven't found any time to work on Z28.As I have the kids this weekend and with the cold northerly blowing, I doubt I can keep them amused at the boatyard for too long either!Thoughts do turn to the rudder. Z28's has seen better days with splits around fitting points. What can also be observed is that the existing rudder is warped a little. Z17 does have a good looking rudder on it... Will h... Read Full Story

Maybe, this blog is whetting your appetite to spend the winter restoring one of the Portsmouth Victory's. Certainly next season has much to promise with the class celebrating its 75th birthday.A special weekend 6-7th June 2009 for the Victory and other Alfred Westmancott desings in the Solent. Racing will take place in the Eastern Solent with evening entertainment as well.Hosted by the Royal Naval Club, Royal Albert Yacht Club and the Victory Class association. Read Full Story

The good news is that with some minor alterations to the stemhead, the fitting is going to work.We still can't get the tiller fitting off the rudder shaft. Heat, WD40, and a hammer. It just won't come off. I think all we can do is persist. It will give in the end!I think the rudder itself is going to need to be replaced. There are some fairly significant creeping cracks on it. Not too difficult a job though.A friend is currently cutting up an old 46' yacht. Going to go and have a ... Read Full Story

Went to meet Nigel at 12:30 today. Unfortunately, a lack of wind left little point in going sailing today. What a shame with otherwise such glorious weather.We have removed the stemhead fitting from Z17. The bolts holding it on have corroded making it quite tricky to remove. We got there in the end though with some judicious use of hammer and chisel!Got to feel sorry for Portsmouth Victory Z17 as her destiny seemed doomed. It is most defnitely a serious project to restore her. Water is coming... Read Full Story

A good afternoon working on the boat yesterday and I'm pleased to say that I think another day's work will see Portsmouth Victory Z28 stripped. What is clear is that when the paint is initially stripped, things look a bit rough. But once the sander has been applied to the boat, things are coming up looking pretty good.Of course we've still got the interior of the boat to do, but this paint does come off much easier than the exterior paint. The antifoul in particular is horrible to... Read Full Story

The weather is turning notably chilly and I don't expect the high pressure to be around much longer so yesterday we made a start upon building a frame for a boat cover.Using an old windsurfing mast, 3 bits of wood, a bit of rope and 3 screws, we have built a frame that will allow us to cover Portsmouth Victory, Z28 whilst being able to work on her at the same time.We placed a piece of wood with wedges in the mast gate, attached a piece of wood to the rear of the cockpit and the windsurfin... Read Full Story

The good news is that some of the wood is really beginning to dry out now. Whilst there remains one section that is quite wet, it does look as if even this will survive. Still some way to go here but fingers crossed.Making more progress on stripping the underneath. Another full weekend and I think we'll be there! Bren's sign in particular is showing good progress. Read Full Story

There are three principle types of wooden boat construction. Clinker, Carvel and Plywood Stitch and Glue methods.The Portsmouth Victory is constructed in the Clinker (lapstrake in N.America) method. This is where planks are layed on top of one another to produce something of a ribbed appearance.Clinker boats have been around since at least the 7th century AD and were primarily used in Northern Europe. The Chinese also developed their own clinker construction method around 9thAD.The keel, hog,... Read Full Story

A little bit about the Portsmouth Victory Class.The class association (http://www.victoryclass.org.uk/) organises one of the most active racing calendars in the Solent and with some notable helms within the class, racing is competitive. With three series races each week, it's own class in Cowes Week, the Victory class offers the opportunity for highly competitive racing.The class appears to strike a great balance between maintaining the tradition of a historic classic sailing yacht and in... Read Full Story