Hey everybody I thought you might like to see the process I went through to create the Remix 100. I used a slightly different process than normal so I could do it very quickly and at as little expense as possible. I have made a few boats on my own using this method and it works great if you ever want to try to make your own.
I based the Remix 100 off of the Remix 69
I used the Remix as a starting point because it has a good base speed and controlable shape and then tweaked it to make it faster. The main things I changed were obviously length taking it from 9 feet to 11'9" and then from 26" wide to 23 1/2". I also dropped the stern rocker and narrowed the chimes a bit to keep adding speed. I kept the hull flatness from the center of the boat to the stern for a couple reasons. The biggest reason was planing out from the bottom of the slides or any rapid for that matter. Once you come off the slides you fly out across the pool for a great glide in this boat. The bow is raised a bit and beefed up a touch for punching through stuff and the bow deck is very crowned so it will surface quickly. The stern deck is fairly flat so that you still get the watermelon affect out of holes or melting situations.
Here is the time line for the boat.
Friday October 12th
We finally decided that we were going to make the Remix 100 for the race. Fortunately I had done some work on the idea in a computer so I wasn't starting from scratch. I finished up the basic design shape and rushed the files to the print shop before they closed for the weekend. The files I had printed out were cross sections of the design. I took the cross sections and traced them out on foam so that I could cut the sections out of 4" thick foam and then began cutting them out and gluing them together. If you did it yourself at home you could draft out the cross sections by hand and use regular insulation foam that you can get at a hardware store.
Once we decided to do the boat I knew that I really wanted to get them done in time for Toby and Robin and the whole LVM crew to be able take them to the Russell Fork but that only gave me two weeks to get it all done.
Saturday October 13th
Lots of cutting out sections and gluing. And of course a quick run on the Green.
Sunday October 14th
I put all the sections together on the frame and let them set for the evening, and ran the river. Its the weekend after all.
Monday October 15th
Alan and I started the process of sanding in the basic shape of the deck. When I am doing this I use everything from a chainsaw to a tiny piece of 1/2" dowel to make the shapes I want. Once the basic shape was finished I started laying out all the recesses, cockpit areas, wall braces, drain plug, grab bar, and any deck detail lines.
Tuesday October 16th
Got most of the deck detail finished and sprayed the deck with a sanding primer which allows me to sand the boat dowm to a fine finish. It takes a few coats to get the boat all even and super smooth.
Wednesday October 17th
Still working on the deck and Alan began making the cockpit rim. At this point the boat looks like its almost done but it takes forever to get the final details all polished and smoothed.
Thursday October 18th
Flip the boat over and start working on the hull. First cutting away all the excess material and then sanding down to the cross sections. Then its the spray and sanding process again.
Friday October 19th
Sanding lots and lots of sanding. At this point if you were doing a boat for yourself you could just glass over all the foam once you have it all sanded out. Then dig out the foam so you can get in and presto magico you have a boat.
Saturday October 20th
Started waxing the model in preparation for making mold with which we will make the limited run of Remix 100s. I also attached the cockpit rim.
Got a run in on the Green while the Wax dried.
Sunday October 21st
Started working on the mold and started getting nervous about running the Green in an 11' 9" boat.
Monday October 22nd
Making the mold.
Tuesday October 23rd
Making the mold.
Wednesday October 24th
Drive to plant in Greensboro NC and get the mold ready to go in the oven first thing Thursday morning.
Thursday October 25th
Make boats all day.
Friday October 26th
Make and assemble boats all day. I left the plant around 7pm and headed for Asheville where the LVM crew was waiting for me so they could load up and head for the Russell Fork Race. I also got REALLY nervous about my first long boat run since back in the day. Met the boys in Asheville at 10:00pm and headed home to dreams of flying off Gorilla in a nearly 12 foot long boat.
Saturday October 27th
Toby and Robin won the Lord of the Fork race and I didn't break my neck on the Green.
Here is the link to the Russell Fork Race Blog. Theres lots of good photos.
http://www.russellforkrace.blogspot.com
Later
Shane
ps I just updated this with better pictures from the time. Now this boat is called the Stinger and is 8" longer.
