Wooden Boat Refurbishment Flying 15 (1 of 2)

Wooden Boat Refurbishments are not for the faint hearted.  Time and patience are required for best results.

I decided to restore a classic Flying 15 racing yacht for myself.  The refurbishment work was carried out over a 2 year period.

These are some images of where I started.

Wooden Boat Refurbishment: The Outsides

The wooden Flying 15 was in solid condition, but quite old and had not been in the water in a long time.  Prior to my getting this boat, she had been stored for many years, but despite being covered, the cover had sat on the fore deck and so some damp had caused discolouration as welll as some separation of the ply in on place in particular.  I removed the deck because of this and had Alister Duffin of Duffin Marine re-deck it.

 

Flying 15 FF wooden boat refurbishment Northern Ireland 2

As can be seen in this image the structure of the boat was sound.  The supports for the deck were strong and dry which is unusual for wooden boat refurbishments of yachts of this age.

The side and aft decks were in ok condition so I just stripped them back.

Flying 15 FF wooden boat refurbishment Northern Ireland

The Anchor plates for the rig were still very strong and so I knew that no major structural work was required for this wooden boat refurbishment.

The Hull was in good condition, but covered in many years paint and anti-fouling below the waterline.  This required a serious amount of heat gun and elbow grease to remove, but I had some help from friends on the promise of some racing in this lovely classic flying 15 once it was completed.

Wooden Boat Refurbishment: The Insides

The insides were solid, but dirty and in need of some TLC.  Some slight wood work was required to provide me with sufficient anchor points for all the control lines required of the modern rigs.  This is an important consideration if you are embarking on a wooden boat refurbishment or restoration.

Flying 15 FF wooden boat refurbishment Northern Ireland

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