While some of my ice buddies were whooping it up in today's narrow weather window, poor El Squibb was locked in his lonely garage. But good progress was made.
You may remember two bows were anchored to the two new side sills which were temporarily anchored to the tops of the DN coaming. Eventually, this new DN canopy will have no permanent connection to the boat. So now the way is clear to have fun bending the eighth inch luon. Really, it's slow, its fiddley, but you quickly get to shape the boat itself.
The rule is to fully define the space with battens, props, whatever, before you bend. Then you can boss the luon around and not vice versa:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jorysquibb/BuildingAnEnclosedDNCockpit#5308426303667007426 You can't anticipate the shape of the finished panel. Just spring it in place, well oversize, with the grain parallel to the bending axis and once it's honked in place, start trimming. Note those trucker's hitches:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jorysquibb/BuildingAnEnclosedDNCockpit#5308426303728831506 No reason to fine tune the panel junctions. They will be covered with either tape or battens.
For the cockpit sides, under the pilot's arms, the grain runs horizontal since there is little bend here, and the pilot will push down on the sides to get out of the boat and need the wood's stronger orientation.
Look carefully at the next photo. you will see that the side sills are extended with a 5/8" thick sawn-to-shape plywood crook, which is scabbed to the sills with a small gusset. This will steady the end panels without needing any attachment to the boat:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jorysquibb/BuildingAnEnclosedDNCockpit#5308426311678884738Finally, the aft end, --asses are so important-- is being molded. I had planned to round this part, but the panel is telling me a rounded fish tail is better:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jorysquibb/BuildingAnEnclosedDNCockpit#5308775823633510386Tomorrow we'll add a coaming to stiffen the cockpit edge, tape the panel junctions, prime and paint, and finally attach guides for the hold-down straps.
Lloyd Roberts mentioned that the boat's steering will now be much more limited, so I'll move the ball joint on the front runner's steering arm to be about half the distance from the pivot. Also, Bill Bunting sent me the consoling idea that what I'm losing in sail area, I may be gaining in aerodynamics.
Be that as it may, even though I haven't tried this modification, as I'm building it, I keep saying, why didn't I do this years ago? After Wayne Fortier's death, whatever little interest I had had in racing disappeared. So once I was no longer tied to DN class rules, why not be safer and more comfortable?
Study this picture:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jorysquibb/WebsterAndSebagoLakesFeb14152009#5304534577843334466 Really, if such vulnerability isn't necessary for the fun--and I'll soon find out if it is--then why not better protect this bag of bones?
