I don't usually have a lot of sympathy for folks from Bermuda asking about sunshades but this summer here in Maine we have had a real summer, very little fog and plenty of clear days. So I too have been trying to stay out of the sun. (Alan I hope you understand a little Maine "Humour" (spelled for a Bermudian to understand) and a jab from your colleagues here in the cold white north of the US of A.)

Alan had asked to see some more images of the Aussie sunshade so I asked for and got some to post. This example is relatively short and there is nothing to stop you from going all the way to the transom with this design.

This is not a design as such. In Australia the metal working guys (a.k.a. the tinny) just come to the boat and create their own but they all look very much the same in style and function.

Last winter Sabre built it's first 52 Salon Expresswith the Volvo IPS pod drive train. In this scenario the owner sought no new interior accommodation plans and was more interested in the pod technology, the joy stick docking and of course the fuel economy of a pod drive boat. The results were excellent and one of the important elements of this installation is the subject of todays blog. In our business there are many truly excellent products but I would have to place the Humphree Interceptor trim tab system in the "over the top" category.

Conventional trim tabs pivot from a point at the transom corner and displace water coming off the hull bottom to push the bow down. There is a lot of pressure on conventional "flap" style tabs and most use electrical power or hydraulic pressure to perform their function. The Interceptor principal is that a blade mounted on the vertical surface of the transom is deployed downwards into the water below the hull bottom surface, 90 degrees to the water flowing over the hull bottom. This small amount of surface area creates a high pressure area forward of the blade and in doing so creates hydrodynamic lift.

Our experience on the 52 was excellent and the product is performing well in service. The system installed on the 52 IPS has several memory settings allowing the operator to preset for specific load and weight circumstances such as high/low fuel, sea conditions etc. At the high end of their range are adaptive systems which learn by themselves and trim the boat to a predetermined state and will even adjust for wave conditions to lessen roll. Amazing stuff and worthy of a look and a "Gold Star" from the Sabre team.

Have a great and level weekend!

So there we were last weekend. The rain started when we left work on Friday and stopped Sunday just after sunset ( I think because I could not actually see the sun). So to get even with the weather gods we went out for dinner monday night at the Goslings, our favourite anchorage just a few miles from South Freeport.
BTW the other image is a picture of how the Aussies cover their cockpits and keep the sun away.
I prefer sun to 2″ of rain

In contemporary home design, exterior and interior spaces are physically separate but designed so that they can be joined quickly by opening large doorways and windows. The Salon Express designs that we offer take this same concept to join together the cockpit and the main salon so that when the weather is right, the social activity is not based inside or outside but rather in one larger space that encompasses both spaces. The Salon Express blends the best of the Express style with the best of the Sedan or motoryacht.

This rendering of the new Sabre 46 Salon Express shows the bi-fold stainless steel door open to port and the electrically operated drop window above the starboard side seat. Once these two pieces of hardware are opened the connection between the salon and cockpit is complete. Crew and guests inside and out can converse as if they were seated together.

The tooling for the new 46 is well underway. Hull plug is now in finish and hull mold work will begin shortly. The production start is on schedule for August 2010.

Our tooling project for the Sabre 46 Salon Express is advancing quickly at Marine Concepts' shop. Our in-house designers are now ensconced in the details of the deck mold while the hull plug (seen here) is off and running.

The process involves creating the basic shape of the hull as designed, using wooden frames representing the shape of the hull at each station. Once the basic shape is built it is sprayed with foam and then the entire part of placed on the five axis milling machine. From there the router takes over and follows the precise lines as created by the hull designer to create the form or plug as it is better known.

 
There are some very special details in this hull design, none of which we can tell you about because of their proprietary nature, but once you sea trial her you'll know what I am talking about. The design is being specifically detailed for the Zeus pod drive system.

In this stage of the plug build a technician is applying a layer of fiberglass to the exterior which will be worked down to the final finish

 
Everything is on schedule for this hull plug to be transformed into a mold and arrive in our shop in Maine in late August.

Not exactly a hot topic I know but some days you just need to speak about things that are important and hope someone is listening. That's the beauty of the blog. You can get up on your soap box and prattle on and if somebody wants to read then great. For those who don't know tinned wire from a tin can, well…..

Boats that go in salt water, like most of ours do, have a lot of wire in them. The best wire for conducting electricity is made of copper so that's what we use as does every boat builder (and home builder too for that matter.) But boats that go in salt water have a problem. Copper, salt air and water don't mix. After just a few weeks in the salt water environment, copper wire can start to corrode. You can see that green powder starting to accumulate around connectors and wherever you can see bare wire. Not too long after that you can experience wiring failures as the corrosion sets in.

Tin is not a great conductor but it doesn't corrode in salt air either. So the wire we use is made by taking copper wire (the great conductor) and, prior to enclosing the wire in it's plastic casing, drawing it through a bath of liquid tin. Once the process is completed the copper wire is no longer visible. If you are buying a  new boat or surveying an older one be sure to ask the builder or surveyor if the elecrical wiring is tinned.

You'll be happy to have tinned wire further down the line. I hope you stayed awake long enough to finish the reading the post.