Returning to Twelves...

[tomematthews]

Hey guys,
Hope all are well!
I'm getting back into Twelves again after a break of (quite a few) years! I last sailed my Twelve at Saltash when I was about 14 or 15 as Gill Moore's crew (if anyone remembers her?). She then emigrated and I bought her 12, Number 3262, off her.
Apart from a couple of sails on the Tamar and Isles of Scilly, I haven't sailed her much because I've been off at uni etc.
I'm spending the summer working on Scilly this year and so am determined to get her in the water more again! However, a few questions which I'm sure some of you lovely people will be able to help me out with!
1. What is the optimal crew-helm weight ratio?? I remember when I sailed with Gill she said I was an ideal crew as we were roughly the same weight. Is this correct, and how much does it matter?!
2. Last year whilst sailing on Scilly in a bit of a....err...brisk breeze (I had literally just said to my crew that we would head in as it was getting a little brisk!) we had a particularly nasty capsize where we went to tack around and the tiller extension literally came off in my hand (the universal joint had just completely come out of its socket I later found out!)... The capsize was nasty enough, but on recovery, the boat was absolutely full to the gunwhales with half the Atlantic. The water wasn't particularly keen to leave the boat. Any advice on this situation?!
Thanks guys!!
Tom
3262

[tomematthews]

Also one other question! (Sorry!)

I also found last year that the centreboard would constantly (I mean literally every time) get stuck when I went to get it down at the beginning of a sail. I found out that what was happening was that the centreboard rubbers were folding themselves up inside the centreboard case when I pulled the board up at the end of a session.

In the end, I got so frustrated that I took the centreboard rubbers off. This seemed to help a lot, although obviously now I tend to get a fair amount of water slopping up into the boat.

Any ideas on that one?! Would it be a good idea to get some new centreboard rubbers put on? The old ones I took off were pretty old and cracked and so I think that was probably the reason they were getting cosy in the centreboard casing

Thanks again!!

[MikeDay]

Questions, questions ...
1. Optimum all-up weight - modern Twelves work with anything from 17 - 23 stone, though 18 - 22 would probably cover 90% of the last Championship fleet.  Most boats don't sail with even helm/crew weights.  On balance, Twelves work better with a lighter crew and heavier helm, to discourage nose-diving.
2. Post capsize, the buoyancy arrangements should float the boat full of water with a few inches of freeboard above the waterline, with both of you in it.  In N3262, you'll have a front tank, I imagine, and either 2 x stern bags or a built-in aft tank.  Check they're all working and watertight.  Once you've got yourselves sorted out, push the bailers down, open the flaps and bear away on to a reach with your weight aft.  The water should come out pretty quickly.
3. Centreboard slot gasket - you need one!  They need replacing every so often.  Use either dacron sailcloth-type material or mylar - (P&B will supply).  If you have a conventional keel on your Crusader, take off the keelband and fasten the gasket under it, under tension.  If you have no keel, then it's an adhesive job and there's lots of advice elsewhere in the discussion page about how to do it.
 
Mike D
N3533

[tomematthews]

Thanks so much Mike, that's brilliant!

[tomematthews]

Hi guys,

Just looking for a little more advice...
Last year I painted the deck and varnished the gunwhales etc. The hull has not been painted for a number of years. Whilst I am planning to repaint the entire hull at some point, I don't want to do it now, in season. However, I want to touch up a few scratches, marks etc on the varnish, recently painted decks, and also quite a few marks on the hull.
Any advice?! I.e. can I just 'touch up' the hull or do I need to sand and repaint the whole thing? With the varnish, do I need to sand back the top layer before I re-varnish?
Thanks!!!!

[Tim Gatti]

Tom - you can touch up the hull paintwork if you wish - but you will need to rub down and undercoat the areas where you have scratches / marks before you apply the new top coat, bear in mind you will get some colour mismatching between the new and old paint.
Any varnish will need to be thouroughly rubbed down in order to provide a key for the new coating.
Tim

[nigelf]

Tom. If the existing paint and varnish are two-part polyurethane, touching up is easy. The wood must be bone dry; sand down round about the damaged area and build up the damaged area with as many touching up coats as you have time abd inclination for. If you intend to do a later full coating job, I think the important thing will be to seal any bare areas of wood to prevent any water ingress otherwise the minor damage will get worse and you will have a bigger job later. A perfectionist will (if it is two-part polyurethane) level up the damaged areas with several coats, sand down the last one with 600 grade wet or dry (or finer) and polish the result witn T-Cut to bring the shine back. If the paint and varnish are the old oil-based or even one-part polyurethane the best plan is probably to concentrate on sealing the damaged areas with whatever paint and varnish you are using pending the full treatment later. I followed this pattern for many years but others may have better ideas. I loved painting and varnishing but most people find it tedious. Good luck.

[JohnMurrell]

Tom,
 
From memory Jill asked me to paint Jammin for her back in about 2000. If its still the same mid blue, its Epifanes Monourathane 3107.
See - http://www.epifanes.com/home.htm
 
 

[tomematthews@aol.com (Guest)]

Thank you all so much for the advice, I love this place!!