Before my Slingshot died I decided to run some fender material around the outside. Slingshot racing can be a bit fast’n’furious and while the rules say no touching other boats, in the thick of the action these things can happen. Just ask Micky Schumacher (or Damon Hill).
The fender came from a model shop in York as a long length rolled up in a bag. Once out it was a bit kinked and didn’t want to clip smoothly to the outside of the boat.
Years ago I used to read Model & Collectors Mart which featured articles on assembling large sci-fi figures. These are moulded in vinyl – similar to the fender material. The writers often had to adjust parts that did not fit and this was normally carried out by gently warming them with a hairdryer. Warming a long length of fender this way didn’t seem that easy but sitting it in warm water might work I though so that’s what I tried.
The result was a more flexible bit of black plastic, which de-kinked a bit. Enough to fit anyway.
Feeling that some glue might be required I pondered what to use before settling on Bostick All Purpose. A line ran along the flange on the hull and the fender was pushed on.
I didn’t anticipate the glue lifting the paint and smearing it around. Good grief this is car paint that’s been dry for months ! The smears wouldn’t come off either. No solvent seemed to want to touch it and scraping only worked intermittently.
To cap it all when the boat was in the water I realised that a fender is only required on the front few centimetres as everything from the cockpit back sits in the water while running. While I might avoid damaging other boats the drag means I won’t be near enough or fast enough to worry.
Another lesson to learn for the new boat I think.
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