Well dang. Laser Update

So I went through all the time and effort to fix the Laser and make mounts for it...and the mast holder collapses in <2 minutes. It's totaled...it had been repaired before Dad bought it for the same problem, so no surprise. Oh well.

Laser Sailboat trailer holders

I've been fixing up our HobieCat 16 and its trailer for the past few weeks in preparation for a roadtrip. I thought I had just finished up the trailer when Dad randomly picks up a Laser at a yardsale for super-cheap.

 
We want to tow on our current boat trailer between the Hobie's hulls. So I made some adapter/holders for it.

The first step was to measure out the Hobie trailer, specifically the relative positions of the three cross-members that would have the holders bolted to them. After I had those measurements, I determined the position the Laser would have under the Hobie and made wire-profiles of the Laser's hull at the points of the cross-members.

I started with some stiff wire and laid it on the Laser's hull at the position I wanted a profile. Then I bent and rebent and rerebent (etc) until they matched the profile. The next step was to transfer these to some cardboard.

These are then transferred to some pressure-treated 2x10's and cut out. They are only half profiles because I found that it was easier to mark half and flip them over to do the other half than to have a full carboard profile; doing it this way also more-or-less guaranteed symmetry (the wire profiles were far from perfect).

My setup. The jig-saw was used to cut the curve. The circular saw was for relief cuts. Wasp spray was for wasps.

 

In retrospect, a jigsaw is not the right tool for this. They just aren't meant to cut anything over an inch thick. It was incredibly frustrating and slow, and I broke three blades on this project. Unfortunately, we didn't have any other tool that could cut curves. Here's the result after much sanding:

Profiles in order from left to right = aft to fore. Spacing not to scale.

Unfortunately, the wire must have bent slightly inward from handling, and they all ended up not fitting right. I had to go back with the jigsaw and widen up the curves.

The next step was to attach carpeting to protect the boat's hull. I cut up an old weather-proof rug into strips and shaped/stapled/nailed the fabric to the holders. Here's the final result:

Not bad.

The next step is to bring them to the trailer, mark/drill holes, and bolt them to the trailer. Due to weather, I haven't been able to do this.