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    RL24, RL28, and RL34 Trailable Yachts
    from Rob Legg Yachts

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    Replying to:Re: Heavily modified RL24's ?
    I'm after an interpratation of what other RL24er's consider to be a modified or highly modified RL24.I have sailed in the class on and off since 1979 on O.P.B.'s and always enjoyed sailing the 24 foot planeing boat that has been keeping up with new sail technology. In 2004 I decided to purchase my own boat and get my kids into competitive raceing. I bought a MKII Swing keel that I believe is over 35 years old still had the original straight section mast and soft sails,this boat had been used as a fishing/booze cruiser for about 15 years and was showing plenty of signs of being knocked about. I looked at the boats that were racing and doing well at nationals and also poping up in the results in mixed fleet regatas (where there was a bit of breeze) and decieded that my boat needed a complete new North designed raceing rig and sails. With the class rules in hand and being quite aware of staying within the rules so as to not attract the MOD status, I striped the 35+ year old rig and fittings of the boat to start again. I ordered a new Goldspar, a suit of north racing sails and all new deck hardware and ropes and proceeded to rerig this old girl. 1st season,s racing was a bit slower than I had have hoped and went to work for the winter to fix up some things that I thought were makeing us slow. So the 1st thing to do was to fill in beside the engine well to form an extra bouancy tank on each side of the engine well and prevent the transom from holding water (weight). While I was doing this I found that the plywood under the glass between the cockpit floor and hull was rotten due to damage the motor had caused through missuse.I cut the rotten bits out and found that under the floor was expanded foam that had taken on water, I removed this and sealed it all back up again (weight reduction.) I also changed the bombe doors to a plug so it would seal better along the front and sides of the well opening, leaveing a large gap at the rear of the well for drainage of the cockpit. I altered the engine mount to a hinged one which throws the motor slightly further forward and lower onto the cockpit floor (Weight forward)I also opened up the cockpit floor drainage into the engine well to get rid of cockpit water in a hurry if need be. I fitted a spinaker shoot to prevent the need to spend to much time on the bow. I took the old heavey non foil shaped KD hard wood/Stainless steel rudder off and replaced it with a new alloy foil and rudder stock (weight of the transom -6kg) I cleaned up the keel and glassed it and got the cable out of the water, moved the keel winch from the back of the case to the front(weight forward and the keel must stay locked down anyway) The boat was considerably faster the next season. The next winter I turned her upside down did some hull repairs and repainted the hull with an excellent finish. Season 2007/2008 the boat is going quite fast and getting good results. Now that we have her up and going there are coments from other RLer's and other classes about our modified RL24 sk. This boat is a stock MKII sk hull/deck has interia moulds a sail plan that conforms to class rules, it has been weighed and measured. Hull weight is 530kg minus the wet foam @ 10kg so is still quite a bit above min weight of 454kg. I wouldn't class this boat as being modified as all I have done is the much needed maintenance, watched the weight distrubution carefully and replaced the very very tired rig with a new one that works properly and done lots of practise on crew work. I welcome others thoughts on what is thought to be Modified P.S. my outboard is an old 8hp suzuki 2stroke