Simoun

an area to discuss dinghy developments
Nessa
Posts: 2290
Joined: Sat Sep 27, 2008 3:16 pm
Location: East Angular

Re: Simoun

Post by Nessa »

I took the mast gate apart today and found the glassed over ends to be full of rotten plywood! I am now worried that this is what lies under the floor....anyway, I heeding good advice and cleaning out the mast gate to then reglass it. I don't have the scope to refit the boat with an alloy frame, much as I would like to. I will try to reinforce behind by taking out the bucket - the screw holes holding the mast gate weren't good, but it depends on how much unscrewing I can cope with.
The Peril
Agamemnon
Lovely little Cadet
OK 1954
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Finn 469
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LASERTOURIST
Posts: 368
Joined: Wed May 30, 2007 9:54 pm
Location: France

Re: Simoun

Post by LASERTOURIST »

Hello!
Might be a good idea to remove all the wood and try making a glass omega instead.

It means putting a section of soft rubber water hose, duly waxed , and glassing over it with some 4/5 middle grade roving glass fabric and resin .

Then remove the rubber hose , and you get a tolerably stiff rot free mastgate.


Some tutorials about what you can expect under deck and how to cure it is on the 445 /485 website, but some pepole went through stripping the boat open to cure it

http://445et485.free.fr/forum/viewtopic.php?p=905#905

basically this guy cut the four inside panels in the dec to open the boat, strip the rottenwood and delaminated fibre, dry sand and reglass before closing again (huge job)

Then he scratched the cracked gelcoat on the outside applied filler sanded and repainted

pity he did not make many photos.

I suppose he works in a coachworking shop or something.
LASERTOURIST
Posts: 368
Joined: Wed May 30, 2007 9:54 pm
Location: France

Re: Simoun

Post by LASERTOURIST »

Note that he fitted a bigger 470 Rig on the 445 and enjoys it, but it would have been uneconomic if he had not worked from a old rotten hulll recovered for free..
Nessa
Posts: 2290
Joined: Sat Sep 27, 2008 3:16 pm
Location: East Angular

Re: Simoun

Post by Nessa »

Well, this has changed hands today, made some young lads very happy. It goes really well with the 420 sails, supplied by Rupert, and even though it was nastily gusty today, the hull wasn't too tippy for the underweight crew. I'm hoping it will make an appearance at the cvrda open here in September.
The Peril
Agamemnon
Lovely little Cadet
OK 1954
Xena Warrior Princess
Finn 469
Laser 2
Wayfarer World
Rupert
Posts: 6255
Joined: Thu Sep 16, 2004 8:40 pm
Location: Cotswold Water Park

Re: Simoun

Post by Rupert »

Excellent - glad that the sails have found a good use.
Rupert
Godfrey
Posts: 63
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2010 2:43 pm

Re: Simoun

Post by Godfrey »

Having stumbled on a very old thread, we have a Simoun 485 for disposal at our club. All there except for the sails but would like a token bit of cash for the road trailer.
Any interest?
Some nutcase on e-bay wants to convert it into an electric launch! Oh, how we laughed!
LASERTOURIST
Posts: 368
Joined: Wed May 30, 2007 9:54 pm
Location: France

Re: Simoun

Post by LASERTOURIST »

Simouns 445 and 485 ...Beware ! though the hull form is quite good the build quality is not: Gouteron used lots of wood stringers between the hull and double bottom and they are generally rottend and disintegrated if the boat has stood outside with rainwater in the hull.
The damage can be asssessed by removing the spinnaker "bucket" (in front of the mast step, under the foredeck coaming ) and peek inside or insert a camera with flash...

Some nuts in France have gone all the way of separating hull and deck , and undertaken a masive rebuild with modern foamcored omegas and stringers but it is a hell of a job!
LASERTOURIST
Posts: 368
Joined: Wed May 30, 2007 9:54 pm
Location: France

Re: Simoun

Post by LASERTOURIST »

just to get an idea check links below : 445 is more common than 485 (that competed with 470 Lanaverre Jet, Ponant, 505's and a few others) but it is basically the same building standard....and mast and fittings were the cheap stuff of Ermat entry range, plus the aly masts by STRUCTURAL (the proprietary mast maker for Gouteron) using a galvanic corrosion-prone sort of alloy....

https://www.forumvoile.com/forum/viewto ... 0&start=30

https://www.forumvoile.com/forum/viewto ... &hilit=445
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