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Eric has recently been subject to major surgery, he had a serious case of submarinitus.this involved one minor and one major operation.
The hatch on the bow tank was replaced with a modern RWO one (the original was hydrophilic!), also the bulkhead was reinforced in way of the hatch opening to reduce the local flexing. The join between the deck and side hulls was also completely stitched up (I hope).

The major work was a lobotomy on the aft end of the tanks. These were removed aft of the thwart and replaced by buoyancy bags. All foam was removed from the forward part of the tank and a buoyancy bag stuffed inside this tank.
Rosie, Pat and Eric took to the water on sunday at Burghfield. I was thinking of asking Rosie to test the buoyancy after the race, but didn't need to. The morning capsize was a success ERIC FLOATED (Meds - there were witnesses) however they were unable to drain the boat out.  on inspection ashore, it was found that the front hatch was only loosely in place. Just as well I had put a bow bag inside the tank as well. having sponged out the tank and tightened up the hatch, our intrepid trio set out again for the afternoon race. This time they sailed the boat dry (no alcohol) and finished the race. I am happy to get this patient signed off sick leave and back to work.
yours
General dogsbody and bottomless pit
ps not censored by Rosie

Jeremy
You will need to check what your decks are. I think they are glass sheathed so you may need a different preparation to bare wood.

On 3415, after going down to wood, I think I used eposeal 300 first as the primer, the ultravar 2000 (both SP systems), just got 5 years out of it.

Nigel

Sold to Nick and Ros Rodgers and her new home is Spinnaker
Happy sailing!

Are full length battens better?

The Blaze class don't think so. The original sail had full length batterns, but they now all have a slightly smaller sail which is not fully battened.

I believe the reason for the change was to make the boat easier to sail. When I sailed one with the fully battened sail, tacking was interesting for a lightweight as there was no power in the sail until the battens flipped, then bang. I also assume that they were hard to depower in a breeze. This is a problem with the RS200 and why you have to have weight even to keep one up. the 12 is easy to depower and that make it a joy to sail.

One thing about putting more power into  12 is that you will please the heavyweights and upset the lightweights. The 12 is seen as a boat for lightweights, change this and you will loose the parent and child teams as well as the lightweight teams. the 12 has a niche, increasing power will probably change the niche and make it smaller.


Nigel 3490

Can I make a plea for the lightweights again. This time the ultra lightweights (around 16 stone).
We sailed a 200 in a F3 and ran out of options to depower! A close reach was going nowhere as you can't dump a fully battened main. The 12 is easy to depower (and if your heavier power up). This means we stand a chance of sailing a 12 in a reasonable breeze and at least have some semblance of contol. Alright we are still fully depowered in a F3/4 but in control. The last thing the light weights want is more power. We even survived the Bristol squall this year (good F6 for those not there), lost a few places but we were in control (and in a Numinous). 
As Tim said, the 12 is tricky boat to sail and very rewarding because of that. My daughters have sailed 200s, 420s, 405s 29ers, 12s and the sailing properties of the 200s and 420s are not appreciated. They both like sailing boats that are really responsive.
For those who aren't aware, the heavier you are the more stable the boat is, momentum issues and increased GM (waterplane area). so any adding of more sail, etc will make the boat even more tricky for lightweights and for prospective new class members. We know of several very good 200 people who think 12 sailers are mad for sailing such tippy boats.
One of the major issues for new comers is the speed disparity between old and new boats, an old 200 can be competitive against newer boats if sailed well. 200s are not cheap due to this reason. Old 12s are at bargin prices, but don't really serve as an introduction to modern 12s, this gives a problem for someone buying an older boat if they expecting to jump into a 12 and perform.
As regards youngsters, the old way of doing things was introduction at club level. the older helm picking up a young crew and training them up, the young crew then gets a 12 and so the cycle continues. not any more, this has mainly collapsed due to the RYA and the junior and youth training schemes. This has changed the face of club sailing and there are lots of parents who do the junior/youth circuit instead of sailing (like we did). The youth aspiratrions have changed totally and their expectations are more for big fleet racing in off the shelf boats. These boats are all "standard" designs with a very narrow and specific band of tuning parameters and sailing techniques, totally unlike the 12 where you can adjust everything and it follows most of the standard perceived ways of tuning and sailing fast (just unstable which most of them won't be familiar with). So this means they can't get in a 12 and do well. 
There is also a massive falling by the wayside, but this is very often due to not sailing parents, this is an area that people looking for crews could exploit.
Happy sailing
Nigel 3490