John J. Crow.
Error in plans for Birdham Cutter purchased
from Laurent Giles in 1987. Corrected drawing included a warning that these drawings should be used as a guide only, while
the construction method instructions state that the plates should be trimmed to suit true shape lofting leaving only a small
tolerance for trimming back.
Other problems encountered were – the hull builder found it impossible to construct the
forward end of the keel to the off sets or the keel plan - when launched the boat floated quite high in the bow and down by
the stern. This has required the addition of several hundred kilos of ballast to be added well forward to bring the boat
to a reasonably level state.
The rudder, built to the plan, would not turn more than a few degrees without fouling
the hull and had to have the top reshaped to operate effectively.
The plans generally lacked detail eg. No mention
of fuel tanks, batteries, plumbing, wiring, chain lockers, centre board-lifting devices, also some rigging deficiencies.
Once
these problems were overcome the boat while a little down on her marks performs reasonably well.
I was fairly disappointed
in the quality of the plans as they lacked much of the detail I expected to find on plans provided by designers of such high
repute.
J.J.CROW.
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