FAIRWIND TIPS
Frank L. Perry, Jr., 3606 Starwood Trail SW, Lilburn, GA 30047-2448
I sailed an EC 12 for many years, but my aging muscles made launching and hauling a 23 pound 58 hull difficult. Then I sailed an ODOM and a Victor, but the bulbs kept stalling the boats in lake grass. So, I searched for a light weight sailboat with a tapered keel to slip through lake grass and found the Fairwind with its marvelous and very helpful web site. Rick Moynahan and Will Gorgen have shared great insight and leadership of the class.
I thought the kit might be too difficult for some would-be skippers, so I watched Tower Hobbies Scratch and Dent page morning, noon and night in December 2002 for customers who ordered the kit for Christmas, found it too problematic and returned it. In January, I found a FW drastically reduced, bought it, and put it together. However, the Japanese authored manual was not logical in its sequence for easy construction. I picked up some ideas, but ignored the steps and many of its instructions. I registered the FW as #83 Anne.
Two young granddaughters live nearby, so I watched and waited for another reduced price Fairwind on the Scratch and Dent page. A second one appeared. I bought it and marked changes on the manual for a simpler construction. I registered it as #86 Aeolian. The young girls, 10 and 12, enjoyed sailing the boats on our subdivision lake. They were joined in the summer by the visit of our two grandsons from Illinois, ages 9 and 11, who took turns sailing the Fairwinds.
Last summer I decided to buy two more so that next summer all four grandchildren could sail Fairwinds. Sure enough two discounted Fairwind kits appeared in October at the same time on the Scratch and Dent page. I bought them and registered #84 Velella and #85 Zephyr. I am building those kits during the winter months.
The following steps are submitted as the sequence I follow in constructing four beautiful Fairwinds.
1 FOLDING CRADLE: Buy a camp cloth folding table or
chair from a sporting store or Wal-Mart. Buy two 6 x 12 iron-on mending
fabrics from a cloth shop and iron them across the center of the table/chair seat
top and bottom. I used one end of a cardboard box as an ironing board. It fits
among the 4 legs. Use an Exacto knife to cut a slot across the patch 1 x 10
to support the Fairwind keel at a convenient height during construction and
later at the lake. (Ignore the kit tiny cradle instructions.) (photo).
2 PLASTIC EDGING: Buy a large straight blade toenail clipper from a pharmacy and trim the ABS plastic edgings left from the mold. Smooth edgings with a wood rasp, metal file and sandpaper of various grade grit.
3 DECK REINFORCEMENT: Buy a Sanford Sharpie felt pen and mark the deck for under-deck reinforcement with small round and rectangle pieces of plywood gleaned from the kit: bow point for water drain tube 1 aft bow, jib club pivot eye screw on deck 3-1/2 aft bow & tied to jib club 3-1/2 aft forward end of club, jib sheet fairlead 11-1/4 aft bow, mast support 15 aft bow, port & starboard shroud eye screws 15 aft bow, port & starboard deck cleat supports 14-1/2 and 19-1/2 aft bow on deck gunwales, and backstay support tang centered on transom 1 above waterline. First, roughen under-deck spots with 100 grit sandpaper and grind smooth the thick center seams using a Dremel extension tool and large mirror. Turn hull upside down and apply reinforcements using 30 minute epoxy mixed with talcum powder or Amazing Goop. Cure 24 hours upside down for good bond.
4 DECK SUPPORTS: Turn hull right side up and install kit-supplied port and starboard under deck supports using epoxy-talcum with clamps every 3-5 inches. Cure 24 hours. (photo)
5 MAST SUPPORT: Glue together (2) W-01 ply pieces
from the kit, then epoxy-talcum in place under mast support angled to the forward
slope of keel. Cure 24 hours. (photo)
6 RUDDER SUPPORT: Insert Rudder post into a rubber grommet and A-1 plastic pipe from kit into brass sleeve from kit and through hole under transom into hull then through ply piece W-04 from kit. Mark position of W-04 inside hull with felt pen; apply epoxy-talcum mix to W-04 ends and support rudder in place with 1/8 clearance beneath hull and inline with keel fore and aft. Cure 24 hours. Buy 1/16 diameter wire with rudder/steering control arm on one end and Z-bend on servo end. Remove Rudder and grind-file forward side of post flat to mount rudder control arm set screw with arm pointing to starboard at right angle.
7 RUDDER SERVO: S-3003 or S-3004. Mount rudder control arm in 3rd hole from post and insert Z-bend of wire into a hole on rudder servo arm. Mark servo position inside hull with felt pen and cut (2) 1/2 x 1/8 ply strips 6-1/4 long for servo support beams. Line up servo arm with rudder control wire. Mark & drill holes in beams & mount servo screws. Epoxy-talcum beams in hull. Cure 25 hours.
8 BALLAST: Lead is poisonous and glue and epoxy are messy, so buy a box of plastic/latex gloves from pharmacy or home improvement store. Buy 4 lbs of #9 lead shot from gun shop. Buy a plastic funnel to pour lead shot. Buy Titebond II or similar wood glue. Wear plastic/latex gloves as caution against handling lead and measure 3-1/2 lbs in a plastic bag/container (discard bag/container later). Pour layer of glue Ό deep into keel, then pour lead shot to cover glue. Mix shot into glue with coat hanger wire or steel rod. Let cure 2 hours, then add alternate layers of glue and shot 2 hours apart until 3-1/2 lb shot container is empty. Build a temporary cradle from a cardboard or wood box to hold boat on a 25 lb scale. Weigh cradle first and record. Keep ½ lb of shot/glue until topping off after all fittings, electronics, battery, mast, booms, & sails are mounted then weigh boat fully rigged. Add alternate amounts of glue and shot ballast until total weight minus cradle equals 8 lbs. (Class rule).
9 SAIL CONTROL ARM & SERVO: Servo S-3802. Cut kit plywood ½ x 6-7/8 for sail control arm. Drill hole for sail servo screw 3-1/8 from port end and 3-3/4 from starboard end. Drill starter holes for eye screws 3 from servo screw on port end for jib sheet and 3-1/2 from servo screw on starboard end for main sheet. Add eye screw 2-1/8 from center on starboard end for dead-end of mainsheet loop through block on eye screw 1 from aft end of port deck support. Cut (2) Ό x ½ basswood strips 3-3/8 long for a short beam epoxied on Ό edge on top of rudder servo beam. Drill holes and mount servo. S-3802 servo must set higher to permit sail arm to swing over rudder servo. Test clearance then epoxy-talcum beams in place on rudder servo beams. Cure 25 hours. (photo)
10 RECEIVER MOUNT: Velcro receiver center 4-1/2
from aft end on port deck support. Lead antenna aft taped along port deck
support and hull then to center of transom and up through 1/16 fairlead
drilled Ό aft hatch. Continue down transom through eye of backstay tang and
twist up backstay adjustment line and end at least 1 below steel backstay. Add
a drop of Goop to seal antenna fairlead from water. (photo)
11 SWITCH & CHARGE JACK: Buy a Radio Shack
#275-620 Submini DPDT Center-off switch. Drill a Ό hole in hatch console
for battery switch plus a series of 1/8 parallel holes to fit a charge jack. Screw
switch in place and epoxy the charge jack in place. (photo) Cut a 1-1/2 x 2-1/2
access hole with a Dremel saw under hatch console for mounting switch and
charge jack.
12 HATCH FITTINGS: Drill Ό hole in hatch 3-1/8 aft
of console for main sheet fairlead. Insert kit plastic fairlead. Plug kit hole at
hatch console with A-7 plastic filled with Amazing Goop to prevent water
leakage. Buy ½ insulation foam strips from home improvement store. Cut and use
Amazing Goop to glue strips under edges of hatch. Cure 24 hours. Buy 2 large
rubber bands to stretch across hatch P to S on cleats to fasten hatch to hull.
(photo)
13 DECK LAYOUT: Mount deck fittings: jib pivot, jib
pivot adjustment, kit jib fairlead, mast shroud screw eyes, kit maststep,
backstay Pekabe tang #172 from www.gbmy.com,
(Great Basin Model Yachting) (4) deck cleats from kit, and kit mainsheet
fairlead. Drill small starter holes to mount screws, screw eyes and tang. Drill
3/8 hole 1 from bow & insert plastic tube from Glide dental floss
for perfect fit. Close top of drain tube with plastic end cap from a steel closet
organizer shelf for perfect fit. Lead jib pivot bowsie adjustment line on deck
to starboard shroud eye screw, jib sheet bowsie adjustment on deck to port shroud
eye screw & mainsheet bowsie adjustment along boom. Attach mainsheet to
boom 9-1/2 aft of clew. (Photo) I used Spiderwire Premium Braid 50 lb
line for sheets, halyards, and bowsie adjustments.
14 SAILS & RIGGING: I bought drafting Mylar sail
suits from sailmaker Andrew Parks, Conyers, GA., and 10mm luff rings #332 from www.gbmy.com. I bought #321eyelets, #320 punch,
#322 washers from www.gbmy.com to mount luff
rings 5 apart on main luff on one boat. I tied fishing line loops in lieu of luff
rings on other main luffs. Buy salt water steel leader for shrouds and
backstay. Attach steel P-S shrouds with swages to top of adjustable Kwik
link clevis clips then slide plastic fuel tubing over Kwik clips to eye
screws. I made boom vang from line and backstay from steel salt water leader with
swaging tool & swage about 6 inches above transom to be adjusted with line
and bowsies.
15 MASTHEAD CRANE: Use one piece of spreader from kit to make a long masthead crane for backstay to clear main leach. Buy wind indicator #917 from www.gbmy.com, and mount on masthead.
16 RECEIVER ANTENNA: Drill 1/16 fairlead for antenna about Ό aft hatch exit, then loop it through the backstay tang and twist it up bowsie adjustment line to end at least 1 before steel backstay to avoid frequency problems.
17 CA KNOTS: Go back over each line knot and add a tiny drop of thin CA to secure.
18 RECEIVER BATTERY: Buy Futaba 12 extension from battery lead to center poles of switch. Slide the Panasonic HydriMax Ultra 6.0v 2000mAh NiMH flat battery down into keel. Solder one side of switch to charge jack on console and other side to receiver connector. Keep color codes on same side of switch, Example: black across top and red across bottom. Solder all connections carefully and check circuits with voltmeter.
19 ELECTRONICS: I use Futaba Attack-SR FP-T2VR
2-channel radios, S-3802 sail servos, S-3003 or S-3004 rudder servos. Unscrew
radio case back and remove springs from both sticks. Tape them inside case for
replacement, if needed. All skippers of big boats keep sheets and tiller
sensitive for constant adjustment to changing wind and course. Open radio
battery cover & remove NiCad battery. Mark with felt pen to cut out space
for new battery and charge pwr jack using Dremel saw. (photo) Buy Powerizer
9.6.0v 1200 mAh NiMH battery from www.batteryspace.com
at deep discount. Buy Radio Shack #274-1565 Coax pwr jack from a store
or online.
20 RADIO ANTENNAS: My stock telescoping antenna broke, so I bought (4) Power Duck short flexible antennas for 75 MHz R/C from Bill Smashey at The Smiley Antenna Co., El Cajon, CA, www.htantennas.com/rcduck.htm, and installed them on the radios.