N711 Sinner

[National 12 Webmaster]

The life of N711 Sinner.  Design: Gnome, designed by: Dick Wyche in 1947

[Tim Gatti]

Found by Ken Goddard and subsequently purchased by Ian Duffill at a boat auction in 2004.  Since then Ian has done a wonderful job of bringing her back to life.  Many of her ash ribs had rotted out from her hog up to her mid section due to being left standing half full of water and he has fitted new part-ribs using traditional copper nails and roves.  He also replaced the front half of her keel, laminating up the new section with oak strips and renovated the hull inside and out before applying a dazzling Epifanes varnished finish.  He also replaced the transom mainsheet hoop and internal buoyancy along with countless other jobs. She made the journey to W Yorkshire after the CVRDA Event on 13 July 2008, where Ian sailed her to 6th place in one race. Her next outing should be at Yorkshire Ouse SC in Sept at their Clubs 70th Anniversary event

[Tim Gatti]

I forgot to add that her name, 'Sinner', relates to the fact that she was at one time owned by a Rector at Burton on Trent (see Ken Goddard for the full story)

[ken goddard]

I can flesh out the story of N.711, as indicated in the script so far. I was approached by a member of Trent Valley S.C. to go and look at this boat which was stored in the rectory of one of the churches in Burton-on- Trent. I found the boat to be in excellent condition but the brass, inverted u-shaped transom horse has fractured. Also the Rector wanted a lifting, rather than fixed rudder beofe he went on holiday with the boat, and subsequent promotion to be the Rector of Stafford. I was able to give some advice, but in a short while N.711 went off the scope.  I next found that the boat was rotting in the dinghy park at Swarkestone Sailing Club near  Derby and furthermore was about to be auctioned because the owner had failed to pay his subscription to the Sailing Club. I alerted Ian Duffill about this boat and described her condition. I knew Ian was interested and suggested a price which might be offered at auction and this was the successful bid. I next saw the boat as she was being trailed by Ian to his Sussex, Ian being clearly pleased by his purchase.
Ken Goddard, N.2300

 

[Tim Gatti]

For his painstaking restoration work on 'Sinner'. Ian Duffill was awarded the Vintage N12 'Ribbed Boat Trophy' in 2008. Congratulations Ian!

[Tim Gatti]

After a crazy few months getting N2255 and N3227 ready for the season, I have now turned my attention to N711 'Sinner' and continued the work started by Ian Duffil.  She initially came into the workshop for some new ribs - but as always the list always grows!  So over the last fortnight I've learned the 'black art' of steam bending and fitted some new full length oak ribs, even with the decks in place; repaired and beefed up a rotten section of the kingpost, stripped and re-glued the spruce mast and boom, beefed up the old, sagging launching trolley, replaced the hard sand hopper wheels with pneumatics and stripped and polished all the old fittings until they shine like gold (see pic) The fittings alone weighed-in at 4.2Kg.
Some tips along the way - white vinegar is brilliant for cleaning heavily tarnished metalwork - see pic (thanks to Andrew Dawson for that one) - 'Coca-Cola' used to do a similar job but they've changed the recipe and it's not as good now. Also vinegar is dirt cheap and there's no temptation to drink it! Remember your Periodic Table and don't put different metals in together or electrolysis can do wonderful things! A Powerfile is a great tool for removing the old cleated nail tops, the rest of the nail can be carefully punched out. A flexible steel ruler is a must when working out how long your oak ribs need to be - with the decks on you can't do the usual and cut them overlength and then trim off the excess. A 3/8" x 7/16" oak rib needs half an hour in the steamer then it will bend like rubber - but it starts to harden within 30 secs so you've got to work quickly. Steam can burn - always use thick gloves to remove and handle the steamed timber. A range of bribes can be employed to pursuade a teenage son to hold a lump hammer against the head of a copper nail while you cleat it over inside the boat....but don't let him use it on anything else you value.

[Tim Gatti]

Some photos of ribs and steamer - made from wallpaper stripper boiler (£10 in Focus closing down sale) some leftover soil pipe, and a 1/2" pipe union.  Note angle to allow condensate to drain out; ribs rest on the dowel supports pushed through holes drilled in the pipe.  The steam is hot enough to soften the pipe - which is why it looks a bit distorted

[Tim Gatti]

More photos for those of you who might be interested...

[Tim Gatti]

As promised:

[Tim Gatti]

etc ..