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The two questions I get asked abou t building your own boat always seems to be How much and How long was the build.

Careful sourcing of parts and materials can reduce costs dramatically. I am a fan of E-Bay and I have been looking out for bargains for months now. Certain items are easy to get hold of and save money. There seems to be a good supply of 2nd hand jammers available. I purchased a Harken low profile jammer and rachet block for £56.00. A few hours carefully cleaning the components and you will not know it is second hand. I also managed to get a new Harken Traveller from a supplier in the USA for £48.00 plus delivery and IMPORT TAX. Sails are another area you can save big time. Keep an eye on the association website for nearly new items from the fast Boys. I picked up a very nearly new North ST1 for over £300.00 cheaper than a new one, it had only been usedat 4 meetings and the kind guys at North put my new numbers on it. Look out for good second hand Bailers, they can easily be re-sealed and cleaned up like new...

I ordered my paint from Shepherd marine. I used the same 2 pack as on 5046.

Three thick coats were applied to the floor area using a foam roller. When the paint had fully cured I applied some strips of anti-slip in the form of rubber strips with an adhesive backing. I was going to use Treadmaster flooring like the Boons but I felt the 2 kilo's plus was just to heavy. Plus the cost is very high for this material. The flooring I used is just 1mm thick and has a texture to it. I applied this in strips with the idea the edges would give good grip.

I think it is safe to say fitting the Gunnels is the worst job of the project.

I ordered 4 x lengths of 38mm x 18mm Sapele from Robbins Timber. The first job was to taper 2 lengths of the timber from 18mm to 10mm on the top inner side of the Gunnel. The idea is to get the outside face as near to 90 degrees to the deck as possible. This really should have been machined to this profile but I do things the hard way. I epoxied these strips to the hull sides is a series of stages. I started at the centre holding the strips to the hull side with rachet straps, working slowly in both directions screwing in place every 12 inches or so. I also cut some slots at the front and rear so I could put some bungees in place to help the bending. The slots are to stop to bungees sliding off the ends. These inner strips are about 5mm above the deck profile, so when the outer strips are added I get the minimum thickness of 30mm when shaped. A further strip was added to the hiking area around the thwart, this...

It's now all coming together and the finish line is in sight.

The case dropped into the slot in the Hog with a nice thump. Everything was very carefully aligned so the case was perfectly upright and dead down the centreline of the Hull. this is a really important stage and it is vital the case is lined up properly. There is nothing that will spoil performance more than having a case that is not in line with the centreline of the Hull.

The case was then epoxied into place with a large amount of Epoxy/Microballoon mix, or what I call Chocolate spread!

When the epoxy was set it was clear that this mod was a good idea. I felt that if the boat was rolled on it's side I would be happy to stand on the top of the case even without the Thwart being fitted.

The Thwart was then bonded into position and screwed down with 10 stainless screws. Note I have also fitted a supporting brace that runs underneath the Thwart length aswell as the Thwart riser blocks. I nicked this idea from the New speed solo which looks very nice.

One of the only areas where...

I constructed the centreboard case sides from laminating 2 x 5mm Ply sides together and adding a internal protective layer from a heavy layer of epoxy/Glassfibre.

15mm x 20mm Hardwood  strips were bonded to the top of the case to support the Toe rail.

The Toe rail was then epoxied and screwed to the assembled case.

Making the case sides from 10mm ply is probably a bit over the top, but keeping an eye on the Hull weight I can now afford to start putting on weight where I want it. low down and in the centre of the Hull.

I have now just the last foredeck panel to fit. As I anticipated, bonding the outer edges of the deck involved quite a bit of swearing and cat kicking. The only way I could keep everything in place was to use batterns wedging everything in place against the garage ceiling.

After the decks were fitted on the Port side I milled out a 5mm slot down the edge of the deck/side tank join for 6mm square mahogany beading. I epoxied the strip in place and held it in position with masking tape. Big mistake ! Overnight the masking tape slowly let go and the whole lot sprung off in the middle of the night.

The next day the cat's arse got it again big time! Three bloody hours cleaning up the mess and wasted Mahogany strip. Re-fitted it all again but using 5 minute epoxy purchased in small bottles from a modelling shop. 

Fitting the Decks is a time consuming process that needs a degree of patience, mistakes can be very costly due to the large amount of sheet used. The decks are fitted in four pieces ( Two either side) joined under the Twart. The rear sections are fitted first and are fairly easy. Fitting the foredecks takes more time and I would suggest doing each side in at least two steps. When I did 5046 the deck lines are per the plan and have sharper bend angles, I also tried to rush the job and do it all in one sitting. It was ok in the end but made life very difficult for myself.

To make the job even more interesting I have added some mahogany 6mm trim around the mast gate, across the deck beam and down the centre of the deck join. I initially decided not to do anything fancy as this makes the build time considerably longer and makes cock up's more likely. But because I am not using the Tiger Elite Sapele timber on this one I felt I needed to add a little detail or the thing will look like it was made from pallets!

I...

Moving the tank bulkheads from their original positions has given the added bonus of giving a firm anchor to the thwart mounting below the deck. I will also put in some screws to the block going through the tank bulkhead.

One area on the Solo that you really need to make as strong as possible is where the Thwart mounts on the deck and centreboard case. On 5046 one of the only areas that has structually failed (So far) was the thwart riser split down the grain. I removed the traveller rail and put some long screws through the thwart-riser then the Toe rails right in to the centreboard case. 

While I was waiting for a delivery of 5mm ply for the decks, I  started  work on the double floor.

On 5046 the floor was 6mm ply and another layer of 6mm ply on top either side of the Hog. This gives a nice rigid floor but the weight gain was high.

On the new boat I wanted to keep the weight down but not compromising the Hull stiffness.

The first job was to cut the 6mm depron foam sheet to size, leaving a small gap between the foam and the tank sides. The foam was then bonded to the floor with Epoxy and a small fillet was created at the tank sides with an Epoxy/Microfibre mix. A layer of 300 gram plain weave glass was bonded to the foam either side of the Hog. After the Epoxy had semi cured 4 patches were removed with a knife for the Toe strap blocks, the glass and the foam were removed and the blocks were bonded to the Hull floor. A mast gate block was fabricated from 12mm Mahogany and bonded to the Hog.

Two further layers of 520 gram spun weave cloth were then laid completely over the floor going over...