Messages

no kevin not tough just needed to try her and make a desision,and that was the best day we have had for many days ,but the mind is made up i require a more sedatly boat in my older years,
        I know from how she responded that she will be to fast for me ,and after spending so much time restoring her I don't want to see her only in the water a couple of days a year,rather someone realy use her ,my mate Andrew Dawson (ex vintage chairman) was with me and he has overseen the restoration,and said yesturday what a great job I had done ,so rather her go to a good home and be realy used as she diserves

Gordon was out on the water this morning after her rebuild,with 32st crew ,3/4 sail area ie (heron sails) and took some handling she was very livley and twitchy for the pair of oldies sailing her,i think it made us very aware of our age,(hot bath required to ease the muscles)and that gordon is a boat for a much younger crew.I am very glad I made the decision to use the smaller sails rather than her full suit,I honestly think we would have been out of our depth,she is still very much a racing machine after all these years.I have realy enjoyed the restoration ,and very glad to have sailed her but common sence must be delt with and I feel she will have to be sold.The wind was 4to5 gusting to 7out on hicklingbroad,great fun but to much for me im afraid.PS we heard a bittern in the reeds at about 12.30 what a great sound all worth while. Ian

Gordon is now ready for the water and I am waiting for a nice calm day to try her out,she looks realy good ,have a set of smaller sails from a heron to do the trials with (im a chicken)

thanks for all the info on gordon ,I feel a lot better for all the work now I know more about her,
Andy the chap I bought her from was Steven Leigh ,can you remember if that was the guy you sold her to?he sailed her at BlakenyI think

Hi andy,
  yes the water mark on the foredeck was still there ,part of the foredeck is being painted now ,as she has just had a scarfed repair by the water mark,and the rear of the foredeck is being painted to cover the water mark timber still fine ,but it didn't look nice ,have also varnished the top pannel of the hull and she looks superb ,if you send me your e-mail ill send photo's when fully complete if you are interested
.Regards ian

yes Gordon is a cheshire cat,and i will be sailing her at hickling broad ,proberbly the most windy of the broads as it does get a sea breeze ,i did think about something like heron or graduate sails ,to get used to the boat. yes she is going to be a very pretty boat ,my friend Andrew Dawson, has seen her and is impressed. don't know if I will get to the meet as we run a guest house here and don't get much time off for things like that but wee'l see

having recently spent the last 10 months completly refurbishing Gordon she is almost ready to launched again,but i am getting cold feet as she being a burton cup winner llandudno 1978 and still winning many races up untill she came into my posetion ,having arthritic problems i fear .that she will be far to fast for me,dare i say it can she be sailed with something like heron sails ,or can she be sailed with just the main.Gordon was built by impact boats in 1977 and i must say that the workmanship and the quality of the building materiels must have been of the very highest quality,she has been completly stripped inside and out ,and the timber is like new,except for two small areas on the quarters,and a small area just aft of the air tank on stb foredeck where a previous owner had allowed some water in through a bad cover  this has been completly stripped and any defective timbers replaced,the top pannel of the hull ,has been varnished as i found the pannels to be realy nicely grained it took a lot of work to get then good enough ,but she has come up wonderfully well and looks a treat.so has anybody got advice on making her easier for a decrepid old man to sail in resonable comfort.

I am at present refurbishing a cheshire cat that has been neglected,have sripped the internal varnish,and would like to know peoples thoughts on what to apply,ie epoxy and or varnish,I had thought about two coats of epoxy and about four or five coats of varnish on top ,and can anyone tell me the approxamate cost of two coats of epoxy inside the hull.regards Ian

I think a chat room would be a great idea,especialy for us new guys who could do with a few tips from the experts. but no idea how to set one up .
        regards Ian

Can anybody advise on sail type for a beginner to learn on ,as a full racing set daunt me at the moment,and does anybody have any old practice sails they do not use???.
  Regards Ian