sidewinder rebuild

Last summer my wife dashed out to Boulder where her ex had decided to give her the sidewinder they had bought new way back when and she had lost when they split. The boat was in remarkably good shape and it's only apparent issues were a lot of cracks where the trailer skids had pressed against it over the years. We live in the St. Louis region and Carlyle Lake is a favorite sailing destination (largest man made lake in state of Illinois, very large pool, very windy and potentially dangerous). The cracks were perhaps less of an issue than originally thought, but with the beating it will receive, I felt it best to make repairs. I have sanded the hull in preperation for putting on a few coats of fiberglass, new cloth and paint. I have a friend with a lot of fiberglass experience, so that is a big plus. I am concerned about the rub rails and the potential of bending and or kinking them during removal and reinstallation. In a perfect world, I would take them all entirely off to do the job with as large a continuous piece of fabric as possible and have replacements standing by just in case. The age of the sidewinder fleet tells me this may not be possible. I have to figure these are extruded aluminum pieces that are probably industry standards and should exist in nature without days of searcing, but I have my doubts. Plus I have enough of my work cut out for me in the repair process that I'd hate to reinvent the wheel in my search process. Any advice on removal and replacement of the existing pieces and where I might find replacements when the inevitable happens would be greatly appreciated. I'm trying to get this done as quickly as possible since I couldn't let it go on the water unsafe, and the muttering and grumbling from the nice lady who hasn't sailed the boat in 20 years will start soon. Right now I'm embarking on a labor of love that I know will be time consuming, and I'd prefer that the boat not be an issue in another divorice. Thanks for any help you all may be.

Hey Dolly,
I've pulled my rub rails off from the rear forward. I've only gone as far as the the chain plate, and it's pulled out just far enough for me to do what I need. I pried it off using a large straight blade screw driver. I put an old license plate between the screwdriver and the top deck and pried enough to open the rub rail. You may have to pry it a little farther than you need, since the rail will spring back a bit. Only move along at about an inch at a time. You may have to go forward 4-5" than back a few. You'll get the feel of it after a while. I have some pictures posted on my sidewinder rebuild thread. I'm hoping I can squeeze it back closed using channel lock pliers and some strips of wood to prevent any damage.
There is a seal of some kind between the top deck and hull that deteirorates over time. I had pretty bad leaks at my corners from this. I've ran a bead of 5200 adhesive along this seal and plan to wrap the edge with fiberglass. I've just wrapped my corners this evening and hope to do the rear and sides this weekend.
If tonights work is successful I will post some pictures tomorrow. Your lucky to have someone who is a fiberglass guru, I'm "trial and erroring" through it.
I sure can't wait to put it in the water.

Joe
Sidewinder #327

Thanks for the advise. I had a couple of hours yesteday that was almost entirely hand sanding. I had done the entire hull with 120 grit on a random orbital the day before, and now I'm on a shiney spot eradication mission since shiney spots are basically bubble embryos. I started with one of the two main problem areas, and my "guru" tells me that quarter of the hull is now ready to glass. I'm hoping that the other problem area goes that well and that the other half proves to be much quicker to do. Guessing / hoping I'm about 1/3 done with the sanding for that reason. As I was finishing up yesterday I grabbed a painters 5 in 1 tool and a mini stanley pry bar and went after the rub rail. Using the 5 in 1 as a backer to keep from doing any hull damage I worked the pry bar down the length an inch or two at a time and after about 10 minutes had the entire rub rail off one side with no damage to either the boat or the rail. This makes me much more optimistic about that part of the project. Now to find the corner pieces. Hoping to get this thing done and on the water ASAP, so it's all about nose to the grindstone (or in this case, sandpaper) until this thing is airborne.

Sounds like you pryed the bottom of the rail, I never thought of that. Yours must be upside down huh? What kind of shape is your seal in?
Check my rebuild thread, I'm posting some new pics of the corner repair I did last night.
Sounds like we're both going through the same project. I started on the topside since I needed to stop the bleeding.(Leaking) My hull only has a few scratches on it from the homemade trailer. I don't think there is anything under there that will prevent me from sailing.
BTW We travel past Carlyle Lake on our travels back home to Iowa. We made it a point to stop by the marina on one trip, and we were extremely surprised when we seen the number of boats. I had to keep telling myself we were in central Illinois.
Good luck with your project, I look forward to seeing your progress.

Joe
Sidewinder #327

I'm in a unique position of having a boat that was bought new by my wife and her ex. They had some work done to it to repair issues caused by the trailer and tie downs rather than a lot of wear and tear. That issue has returned and I'm doing the entire hull vs the patchwork done originally. It's one of the rare occassions in my life that I've gotten a chance to restore something that has potential of being worth having when I'm done. Kind of worth the extra effort. This boat still has original sails and I'll probably miss (at least I'll be told I do) the Charger Sail decal that didn't survive the sanding. Seal is tight as far as the fiberglass is concerned, but I'll be doing the 4200 (think that's the right one, want to still be able to remove it in the future if need be) sealant before the rub rail goes back on. I'll also probably regret the original sail state statement, but I'm hoping the dry weather in Colorado kept mildew out and they're actually in as good a shape as they look. Has to be a fast boat with that weight, that sail area, plus the jib with unfurler and the mythical spinnaker and rig. Yeah, got to get it done and on the water.