Keel runners and more battens going on.

Hi folks

The process of fitting battens to the boat goes on but I am getting quite close to the keel at the bow end so it's time to fit the keel runners.

These are battens well I've been calling them battens but I should really be calling them ribands, any way these ribands run parallel with the keel at a 1 1/2" spacing and provide a surface for the other ribands to butt to so they don't have to be joined to the keel. This is because the other ribands are set at 2" spacings and follow the curve of the sheer line.
The keel runners are slightly wider than to other ribands to make them strong enough for the other ribands to butt to. This caused a bit of a problem as they didn't bend in the same way as the other ribands which caused a low spot between the keel runners and the keel over the first three molds. I solved this problem by gluing strips of timber to this area and using the same batten I used to mark the keel curve to mark both sides of the runner. I then planed down to this line while using a steel rule held against the keel to check fair on the batten.

This done I continued fitting ribands to the mold this was a time consuming process that was not finished until the end of March 2007. The mold looks great it's a shame its not going to be part of the finished boat but its got to be right so it's worth taking the time.