replacing aft plywood

Hello
This is my first question, but unlikely to be my last. I just bought a Mirror and whilst I knew needed some TLC, skeg off, paint and varnish flaking, keel band broken, I didn't expect rot. On scraping paint around the rudder my blunt scraper went through to the the tank, so now I have 2 big holes either side of the frame ( which looks good) and also one on each side, next to the stern, above the waterline. I can buy the plywood piece for the transom but am unsure how to fit. There is good plywood still bonded to the hull, deck and frame. My question is...is there a standard way of doing this? Thanks very much

CaptainZ's picture

Hi, and welcome :)
I would suggest that you investigate in detail what areas of the transom are rotten - and then decide how to proceed. Quick & dirty would be to cut out all rotten pieces, saturate edges of exposed old plywood with epoxy, remove rudder fittings then fit the new plywood over the old one. You can sand the old transom and then glue the new one to it, and use screws where the frames are. Then use wider fiberglass tape all around edges. Purist would remove the old transom completely, repair any frames if/where needed then install the new plywood. It all depends how you want to approach the repair. The ultimate goal is to get rid of rotten material and make the transom solid & attached to the rest of the hull again having a watertight dinghy again. It also matter in how much time you want to be back to water ! Cheers, Z.

Hi Captain Z
Thanks for advice, sounds good to me. Basically stick the new panel on top of remaining good wood and seal up. S0 the dinghy becomes 5mm longer?
Cheers SailorSimon

PuffinInTegel's picture

I'm not sure whether the 5 mm would put you out of class if you intend to race in "official" class events. Check the tolerances specified in the class rules.
However removing the entire stern panel and replacing it with new plywood might be easier than patching several holes and it would allow you to stay within the rules. Just depends on the extent of the damage.
I chose the patching path, the stern patch can be seen in http://www.hirsinger-translations.de/gast/boating/patch.pdf .
Cheers and good luck!

CaptainZ's picture

Simon, this is correct - the dinghy would be longer for the thickness of new plywood/transom.
However I did forget to mention what Gernot is saying above and he is right - you might end up out of the class because of changed hull length/longer hull. I never raced Mirrors so I am not familiar with the rules and I am too lazy to go and check them up :) Do not hesitate if you have any other/more questions. Cheers,Z.