33frupus Posted December 21, 2011 Report Share Posted December 21, 2011 Im looking at buying a w14 sail no,4547 could anyone tell me if this boat would be a mark 1 or 2, will it have bulkheads or a casting stamp, and any problems that are common on w14's this old. I have no knowledge on w14(except what ive learnt in 5 mins on this site) previous cats ive had are elwood jnr and paper tigers. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TornadoSport260 Posted December 21, 2011 Report Share Posted December 21, 2011 The only surefire way to tell is check under the beams for a marine ply bulkhead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badboy 6340 Posted December 21, 2011 Report Share Posted December 21, 2011 What do you want to know? I will tell you all the things to look out for, don’t be put off they are great boats when set up correctly with Mylar sails and trap there yard stick is 87.5 and often out perform there yard stick The old boats are heavy 90 to 100 kgs. They had no structural strengthening inside the hulls around the front and back where the beams bolt to the hulls. If you sail sloop and nose dive it or sail in rough chop they can crack and break under the front beams. These boats are fine if you get to them before this happens and cut a 5in inspection hole behind the front beam on the deck and glass inside all around under there and down the sides too, don’t stint put plenty of glass in the front, more than the back and more on the inner side where the casting bolts to the hull, then they are built proof. The foam blocks come unstuck sometimes. This is one of the biggest problems with the old boats. When the foam comes loose the hull has nothing to hold the side walls from pumping in and out and squashing in. They lose buoyancy and you can’t stop them from nose diving and you can’t get much speed out of them. The foam must be in tight so the hulls are ridged, that’s the key. When Windrush started to fix this they started to number the boats (stamped on the back casting). The first approximately 1000 were the best of the old boats and were around 87 or so kgs. They were built much better, they put a little bit more under the beams, and they glassed in the blocks of foam so they don’t come loose. These boats are good performers, one of these boats won the WA states last year, sailing super sloop with new Mylar sails, beating the foam sandwich boats. MK2 or bulkhead boats were built in the late 80s and were good when new. They have wood bulkheads under the beams, so they don’t break there. They have a horizontal piece that runs from the front bulkhead to the back one. The problem with this is they all rot out and then the sides become wobbly. This causes the rest of the foam to unstick and you have to glass up the bulkhead and restick all the foam in. If you don’t do this your boat will be slow, the hulls must be stiff all the way down the sides. Getting to the lower layer of foam is tricky but must be done for performance. The only way to do this is to cut the deck so you can get in there, move the top foam out of the way and use black sicaflex to glue it back in and your boat will be stiff and fast. I would say with your boat, if the sail number is original then it would be a MK2 or bulkhead boat. These boats are numbered up to boat # 1199 then they started making foam sandwich. But there is a few discrepancy’s with the stamped numbering, one or two foam boats are numbered somewhere in the 1180s Foam sandwich boats were made from the early 90s and are very strong and stiff, they are more buoyant, the hulls are all 25 to 27kgs and you can drive them harder due to them being more buoyant. I have never seen one break anywhere they are tough as nails and fast. They still flex where the pin that goes through the beam and sits in the casting. To fix this just undo the main bolts lay the hull over and slide two layers of seatbelt strapping under the beam between the beam and the casting and then roll the hull back into position and do up the bolt firm but don’t over tighten it. I hope this helps you out, at the end of the day just go out and have fun on it Cheers Quin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
33frupus Posted December 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2011 Thanks Quinn I'm driving down today to check it out, it's sloop rigged with trapeze, I hope the photos match the boat( I've looked at some real piles of crap in the last 6 weeks) When all these old boats die what is there to replace affordable fun durable family boats ( that can also be raced) Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TornadoSport260 Posted December 22, 2011 Report Share Posted December 22, 2011 http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/wind-rush-catamaran-14-trailer-and-rego-/110796172276?pt=AU_Boats&hash=item19cbf76bf4 Thats the boat this thread relates too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badboy 6340 Posted December 22, 2011 Report Share Posted December 22, 2011 Looking at the photos it looks like an early one, If you want to race it you will need to get the newer style rigging and sails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
33frupus Posted December 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2011 Thanks for all your help, Boat had fairly large repair on top of hull (rhs rear) Looks like beam had pulled out of hull at some stage. I could not see any bulkheads and hulls had two layers of horizontal poly foam glassed to side walls ( which had come off) so useless. I'll keep looking for a good one as my kids are growing up and Might be able to find time to race at local clubs again! Again thanks for the advice and help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badboy 6340 Posted December 23, 2011 Report Share Posted December 23, 2011 Thats ok, There are people on this site that may be able to help you find a good Windrush. There was an good foam boat with Mylars for sail on this site not so long ago, Find out about it, I dont know if it sold but it was very cheap. If you intend racing you need the mylar sails and the adjustable rigging as a starting point. We dont have this problem here in WA there are lots of Windrush around. I just bought a very good B/Head with good Mylars on a good trailer all in mint nic for under 2k so keep looking. I can now sell my older heavy club boat. I would pay for a good boat rather that an old boat that you have to then buy sails, tramp, rigging, trap, etc etc. I have bought fixed and sold into the club around ten Windys so if you find one post the photos and we will try and help cheers Quin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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