Yesterday was a good day. We managed to get all the stringers dry fitted to the boat. All except the 70mm are screwed and have had the frames shaped to take them. The 70mm we have clamped into position and will leave for a day (or so) to see if it will take the shape a little and then do some adjustments to the frames.
Was concerned about finishing the second stringer from the top (bottom) that finishes at the stem with no cut in. It felt very difficult to finish it properly in this position fixed to the back of the stem. So for now we have screwed it to the knee and shaped it finish at the side of the stem, matching the angles of the other stringers. This felt more secure. It may give us some minor issues finishing the crash box, but nothing too insurmountable. I will have another think about it before deciding their final position and gluing
Too hot to work in the “boat tent” today, so planning day.
Next steps are to break out some of the side planking and test fit. Check our angles are working and get an impression of the amount of beveling we need to do at the frames and stringers. Once we are happy we will take a day to do the final fixing on the 70mm stringer, release each of the stringers in turn, glue them up using a blend of West System 403 and 406 and re-screw into final position .
As a point of celebration we only had to remake one scarf joint overall. They all look pretty good now and have been holding up to the twisting and turning of hanging on the boat. Probably not the pressures of the Atlantic in bad weather but encouraging.
We could feel the structure stiffening up as we mounted each of the stringers, gradually increasing confidence in its overall solidity.
Happy building!
Pete's Class 5.80 Build Blog 
Hey Peter
Great progress ! It seems like the “kit” is the way to go …. You are moving along nicely. Are you trimming the 70mm piece after fitting or before? I wasnt really sure where it needed to end before it transitioned to the 40mm so I left mine longer and I will trim once I flip the boat.
Cheers !
Dan
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Hi Dan. At the moment the plan was to leave it and cut later. I want to break out the hull panels next and have a dry fit of those as much as I can to see how I need to fettle the stringers and frames. Once I’ve done that I will go back and glue everything when I know it all “works”. Definitely have to policy of not cutting until I can feel something is right. I’m sure we will all make small choices and deviations that will make our boats individual….and probably why I will wave to you as you steam by me!
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That is a great way to go about the project !
Sail on …..
Dan
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