Last year, one of my MiniCups finally cracked and when I took her
apart I found she had a lot of internal rot. I decided to rebuild her
by replacing all the rot. Took apart both front and rear compartments
and removed the floatation foam. Finally glassed and epoxied it all
over. She turned out a little lighter without all the internal foam.
I did install access ports to inspect the compartmnts.
So, took her out sailing today. She does very well. There was a
Laser and several Vanguards out today in 5-8 kt wind. Off the wind,
she sails as well as the Laser and on a beam reach kept up with the
Vanguards very well and in fact was faster. With the large lateen
sail she doesnt go to windward as well but that is ok. Only problem
is that her bow is now so light that heavy chop pushes it around. I
may need some weight up there.
My homemade dolly, made from 12" mower wheels with a hollow 1/2" steel
rod as an axle finally broke with the axle rusting apart. Two years
of heavy salt water usage seems good. I'll replace the axle with 1/2"
SS bolts.
Sewing the sails of polytarp seems the right way to go. The taped
sails simply do not last while the sewn sail is in its 3rd year (I
think).