by GreenLake » Wed Aug 30, 2023 2:52 am
The good news is that your early DS1 does not have the molded benches. That means that the entire hull surface is accessible for any work you might chose to do.
I love playing with fiberglass and I'm not particularly shy, except when it comes to more "modern" techniques like vacuum bagging. If you are up to that level, have a look at the thread entitled "The Core Project". I think that was a nifty approach if you feel you can master that technique and if you are comfortable with a more substantial project.
You write that you owned larger boats, so perhaps any project on a DS would feel limited by comparison?
Anyway, KC Walker used closed cell foam for the core, which looks like a good choice.
Alternatively you could do some stringers, which could even be made hollow, avoiding core issues altogether. However, while they would work great in limiting buckling of the hull at, say, the front or rear end of the trailer bunks, their effect is limited when it comes to transverse deformation of the hull.
If you set up some ribs or frames in addition to the stringers, that might help, but the challenge then becomes drainage. You might create a checkerboard of ridges outlining shallow indentations where any water can puddle on the original hull.
However, if your members are hollow, you could drill some weep holes in strategic locations (or glass in a short bit of tubing).
The slightly younger DS1s have the molded benches which provide longitudinal support with their upright faces. There is also, typically, a set of shallow stringers in the middle of the floor section between seats and centerboard. Depending on how far gone your hull is, in terms of stiffness, it might be enough to do two sets of stringers, one at the place where the uprights would be for the molded seats in the later DS1 versions.
Or, if you think your hull is already too soft, you might decide to read up on "The Core Project" and see if it's for you.
My boat has been sailed in flat water, and we often have moderate winds, so it's kept surprising stiffness despite being not much younger than yours. So I've been able to avoid thinking about this issue.
However, I widened and lengthened my trailer bunks at the earliest opportunity and made sure they are positioned under the place the seat uprights are glassed to the hull.
If I was seriously racing the boat, I might do something more about it. As it stands, I do take part in beer can racing, but it's no handicap, and often the real skill is in navigating through large fleets of boats from other starts. . .
Anyway, I like the way it gives me a fixed time to be on the water every week, and lots of other sailboats to share the fun with. I upgraded the rigging a bit (as described in many different topics) mainly with capabilities that I also use when just sailing around, because they so obviously make that boat sail better.
They include barber inhauls, a 12:1 vang for vang sheeting, ratchet blocks, halyard tensioner and a spinnaker.
~ green ~ lake ~ ~