Boat Building

Dispatches from the shop: Progress reports on our boat building projects, plus some useful information for those of you who are building, restoring or repairing your own boats.

Crossbeam details

Submitted by Matthew on

The crossbeams of the Starwind 860 are its most complicated parts, from a construction standpoint. Today I'll show you a few internal details from the aft pair.

Crossbeams, little by little

Submitted by Matthew on

Trimarans are finicky to build. There really aren't too many ways to simplify the highly loaded crossbeam structure, particularly when (as in our case) it has to be able to fold for trailering.

Our Starwind 860's aft crossbeams are now sitting partially assembled in the garage. The webs, the strut blocks and the centre blocks are in place, and it is now time to start closing them up.

Guide to Thread Compounds

Submitted by Matthew on

There's a bewildering array of mystery goops available for use on threaded fasteners and fittings. Which one's right for the job?

More S860 crossbeams: Centre bearing blocks

Submitted by Matthew on

The Starwind 860 trimaran's crossbeams are joined on the boat's centreline by a massive hinge pin. This mechanism ensures that the two outriggers fold in sync. The peak load on the centre bearing could be up to 41 kN (about four tons) port-starboard or 11 kN up-down, and the structures around it need to reflect that.

Pages

more