N2255 Purely Platonic

[National 12 Webmaster]

The life of N2255 Purely Platonic. Design: Mark 12, designed by: Ian Proctor in 1963

[Tim Gatti]

Mike Talbot bought this Mk12 in a dilapidated state from an employee of Robert Maxwell in the early 90's and commissioned Jack Chippendale to restore her, which he did beautifuuly and at great expense. Work was completed in 1998 but since then she has lain unused in a barn in Norfolk. I bought her last week and will be sorting a rig and fittings over the winter. Expect to see her on the Vintage circuit in 2008 and we may try an outing to Burton Week, since I understand the design goes well on the sea.

Anybody know anything else about the history of this boat - or the background to its name??

[icecreamman]

Tim this boat was kicking around Yeadon in the early eighties and was owned for a short period of time by a school friend of one of my brothers. This allowed me to do one a Yeadon Open Meeting when I was a student and rode on my push bike from Bradford to Yeadon to sail. Chadders may be able to give you some sort of insight into the name as he has been around Yeadon since God was in shorts

[Tim Gatti]

Finally got boat fitted out - quiet a challenge as there were no stringers or knees to fasten anything to so had to shape and glue in a total od 24 mahogany blocks to fix everything to.  Job done now though and glad to have her back on the water for the season.  Pic taken on a windless day at YSC last weekend

[Jeremy C]

Tim Gatti and son at BW 2008 launching in a fine blue sky, just before it blew up to a force 5-6!

[Tim Gatti]

Just when you think you've got it cracked...old war wounds come to haunt you - and all she was in for was a quick touch up of her paint work.  So - tools out again, epoxy at the ready and lots of creative thinking to work out how to patch the holes left by the discovery of rot in the centre of sections of the ply planking. I'll post further reports as the work progresses. Tim

[Tim Gatti]

A New Year and a new resolution to mend the old boat! Had been putting it off while I pondered the best way to do it... source some suitable 7.8mm ply,sort the overlaps, work out how to apply enough pressure to get the short sections to curve and twist etc etc. In the end stuck lengths of 5mm decking ply together and planed them down to the thickness required.  Made up a scarfing jig for use with my router to quickly cut a consistent scarf on the replacement panels.  Puzzled over the clamping problem until I realised I could actually drill holes in the boat to fit them. (Funny how a mindset of needing to mend holes in the boat actually blinds you to the obvious solution!) So now it's beginning to take shape. Still a way to go but so far so good - might have it all finished an painted by end of Feb.
Tips I have learned...
Masking off with tape and cleaning off excess epoxy before it sets saves mucho clean-up time later.
Countersinking holes makes it easier to fill them with epoxy and gives more surface area for adhesion.
To work a scarf in 44 year old mahogany planking needs a really sharp chisel!
Every problem has a solution

[Tim Gatti]

A few more pics...

[Tim Gatti]

2nd Feb - all external repairs to hull completed (at last) so now on to hoovering up the dust and getting some fresh paint on her

[Tim Gatti]

Did final rub down of N2255 on Sat night and applied grey undercoat. All signs of the repairs magically disappeared. Wonderful feeling.
During a detailed inspection of the finished result on Sunday morning I discovered two hairline cracks about 12" long in the new paint where the keel adjoins the hull, at the front end of the c/bd case.
Bad feeling - followed numerous expletives and a forlorn hope they might just fill with paint. So I took my daughter for a walk in the fresh air and pursuaded myself that I'd only be setting myself up for more worries and trouble if I didn't mend it properly.
So the tools came out again last night. Established that rest of the keel was secure, so thankfuly didn't need to strip it all off and re-glue.
Instead I cut out a triangular section of wood along each side of the keel which revealed the butt joint where the 1st plank meets the underside of the hog.
Raked out all the old glue, sanded, cleaned, warmed with a hot air gun and then applied lots of warm, thin, fast cure, epoxy and blew it into the cracks with a hairdryer.
Once it was tacky, I then applied an epoxy fillet each side to bind it all together, then covered them with masking tape to make sure they didn't sag.
Final act of the night was to feed a couple of sash cramps through the c/board slot and, with wood-blocks top and bottom, clamped the hog firmly back down to the hull. The fillets looked quite neat when I took the tape off this morning so am hoping I should be able to fair them off tonight and undercoat ready for 1st gloss coat on Tuesday.
At least I'll have peace of mind when we are bouncing about on the sea at Thorpe Bay in May.
 

[Tim Gatti]

Final coat of paint went on hull last week.  Been working on fitting drain tubes thru' aft tank which will be sealed with small transom flaps when not in use.  Having to do all the work through the inspection hatch on the top of the tank. (Houdini would have been impressed.)
Should have the work completed mid-week then I can turn her over and start to sort her interior.

[Tim Gatti]

A productive day in the workshop on Saturday saw the fitting of the stern drain tubes completed, new transom flaps in place and the replacement of the old transom rudder fittings with bright shiny new ones - this time hopefully lined up vertically on the centreline (unlike the old ones).  Used some reflective number plate sheeting on the flaps which I thought would be an added safety factor when night-driving with the boat in tow.  Alternatively, as another 12 sailor noted, they may help to ensure that overtaking boats keep well clear when we get lapped again at the Burton!  Interior is now faired off and sanded and awaits final coats of deckpaint and varnish to bring her back to life....another fortnight to completion if all goes to plan.

[Tim Gatti]

March 28 - repairs, repaint and revarnish complete and looking good in the sun on a Sunday morning!

[Tim Gatti]

A couple more - where did the holes go?

[Tim Gatti]

Final pic