Repairs/Modifications

BOAT REPAIRS & MODIFICATIONS

FEATURES

Sponberg Yacht Design does a fair amount of naval architecture for repairs and modifications to boats. Usually, we are hired to produce suitable drawings and a procedural specification. Sometimes we have even carried out the repair ourselves, so we organize all the tools, people, and transportation to the boat and do the work.

The stories below are some of our more interesting cases.

	New rudder for Copernicus Copernicus was a boat for which we designed a new free-standing mast. Now the owners wanted a new rudder. SYDI did the design and engineering, and an outside builder built the new carbon fiber spade rudder. The owners installed the new rudder and removed the old keel-hung rudder and rebuilt the keel. Again, as with the mast, performance improved. Read the full story here on this successful redesign effort.
	Four mast failures and other broken boat stories SYDI consults on mast failures, and in the last few years we have had a slew of them, carbon fiber and aluminum alike. Some of the masts were poorly built, some were excellently built. Two masts could be saved, two could not. Read about their fate here. Also included are some capsule summaries of other boat failures and accidents that we have consulted on.
	Broken gooseneck on Freedom 33 masts The gooseneck on the main mast of a Freedom 33 ripped off the mast on a trip back from Bermuda. The owner did not know if the mast could be saved or replaced. These masts had been rigged originally for wrap-around sails and wishbone booms, but tracks and conventional booms had been retro-fitted--in a very surprising way. The owner called SYDI for advice, and we felt that the masts could both be successfully repaired--which they were. The full story is here.
	New lifting strakes for BLUE BILL Blue Bill was a beautiful repowered Wilbur 34 with a nasty spray problem. So much fog and spray engulfed the cockpit that the boat was not pleasant to ride. Sponberg Yacht Design’s new lifting strakes cured the problem and increased speed. This article shows how it was done.
	The rebuilding of AMERICAN PEARL Professional explorer Tori Murden twice tried to row across the Atlantic Ocean, and both times met defeat. The second time she abandoned her plywood rowboat American Pearl in the mid-Atlantic. Not to be stopped, American Pearl was recovered from the ocean and rebuilt for Tori’s third and successful attempt. Sponberg Yacht Design was there to help with new specifications and design modifications.
	Truncating the keel & adding a bulb on Cambria 44 MAGIC Magic’s keel was 7’ deep, and the owner wanted a 6’ draft without sacrificing performance. Sponberg Yacht Design reduced the draft and added a bulb that proved successful and even improved performance.
	New bow for WOBEGONE DAZE Wobegone Daze is a cat-ketch-rigged Freedom 38 that tended to sail bow-down. Steering and handling were real problems. Adding a false bow with a plumb stem onto the existing raked-stem design added enough buoyancy forward to successfully change the boat’s trim and improve its sailing performance. The owner also liked the new, modernized hull profile.
	Rebuilding the bottom of BIG BIRD TOO Big Bird Too was a 50’ commercial ferry in the Caribbean, and her whole fiberglass bottom had to be rebuilt. Sponberg Yacht Design spent twelve days in paradise rebuilding the boat at a local marina in St. Maarten. The keys to success were a good crew, good tools and materials, and dedication to a fixed schedule