Keel Structure Repair

Keel brackets freshly galvanized

It has been said of the Atalanta, that it is an engineers design, which is not surprising as Fairey Marine, the builders, built and designed wood framed aircraft before and during WW2. One of the more famous being the Swordfish torpedo bomber
The main structural element consists of a main bulkhead on which the mast is stepped and two 480 lbs pivoting ballast keels are hung. The keels are positioned either side of the accommodation which leaves it free of the usual obtrusive centerboard casing. They are cantilevered out from massive steel brackets which are bolted through the main bulkhead.

Keel support structure

This wonderful piece of engineering had been sadly neglected on Salizanda and refused all means of persuasion to come apart. As it was essential that the keels be lowered out of the boat, the resulting work caused extensive damage to the keel casings, necessitating an extensive rebuild to both the keel support system and the keel casings. This was definitely not part of the plan.

Keel brackets temporarily  mounted

Atalanta 26

The Atalanta is a light-displacement, twin drop keel 26 ft yacht first built in the 1950s, designed by the famous Uffa Fox and built by the same craftsmen who built the Mosquito and other wooden aircraft of the Second World War. The design with the hull constructed of hot molded Agbar mahogany and its fine entry leading to a flat runoff aft enabling it to surf at 9 knots, was way ahead of its time. At the time when it was built it costed a small fortune as much as a new house then. Its production ended in the early 1970s when mass-production GRP yachts became a cheaper option. However, Atalantas because they were not susceptible to osmosis have outlived many GRP yachts; in fact, from 186 boats built, 130, including the first one built the "A1", are still sailing,
It is a beautiful yacht, but not a mere ornament, it performs well and can sail in shallow water or across the Atlantic. As it is a trailer-sailor you can keep it at home and avoid paying mooring fees.

Gavin Atkin has written an interesting article on the Atalanta which has been posted on InTheBoatShed

Luders L-16

A recent thread in the Atalanta Owners Association forum concerning WW2 airborne lifeboats led me to research a little deeper. Uffa Fox and Fairey Aviation developed a technique that was later adapted by Fairey Marine in the construction of their boats including the Atalanta 26. The Us adapted the same technique in the design of the A12 Airborne Lifeboat which was used success-
fully during WW2 in the Pacific.
The following photo comes from InTheBoatShed, searched under “airborne”

An article in Wooden Boat Magazine issue 177:46 described a very pretty knockabout called The Luders L-16 which was built using the same construction techniques and the L-16 homepage gives the following brief history.

The Luders 16 Story

In the early nineteen thirties, the Fishers Island Yacht Club was casting about for a class to use for the junior sailors. A. E. Luders, Sr. and Jr. were chosen to design and build this new one-design class. The "Luders Gang" was well known as active racers and innovative designers of racing boats (they even went on to design several America's Cup contenders). The Luders decided that rather than produce a "chunky little boat" similar to many others used by juniors, they would design a miniature version of the then modern International Rule Sloop (such as the Six Meter). About fifteen L16s were built in 1934, and they were raced at Fishers Island until a hurricane decimated the fleet later in the decade. The surviving boats scattered, but interest in the class grew as more and more people saw the sleek little boats.

During World War II, Luders Marine Construction Company began building "molded plywood" life rafts to be dropped from airplanes to downed pilots in the water. This was a new technology using wood veneers and large autoclaves to cure the glue, producing a "monocoque" hull identical in construction to some aircraft such as the famous "Spruce Goose". In 1944, as the war was winding down, Luders began looking for post-war uses for these autoclaves and decided to adapt the L16 design to this new high-tech building process. Thus, the new "hot-molded" L16 Class was born! The L16s were built with five 1/8" thick mahogany veneers. The boats are 26'4" long, 16'4" at the waterline, they have a 5'9" beam, a 4' draft, displace 3,200 lb, and utilize a two-thirds fractional rig with main, 180% genoa, and a spinnaker.

There are often periods of doubt in my restoration of Salizanda. In the blogspot Knockaboutsloops, there are some pictures of the beautifully restored Luders L-16 “Fiona” which provide me with the strength to continue.