Pantanal 25 made in Turkey

Last June, 4, 2008 we received this laconic e-mail with three excellent pictures of the first Pantanal 25 made in Turkey:

Dear Roberto
We think this is the first one.
Thank you very much for your very nice plans. (Pantanal 25)
We built together. Please see her in the water.
Orhan Sati & Bahattin Bedir

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Observing Zirrdeli’s photos was a very nice surprise for us. At first place because the boat is superbly well built, with a degree of sophistication, like for instance, teak covered cockpit seats, seldom found in boats of amateur construction. It also impressed us the fact that the two friends surpassed all obstacles totally unassisted by us, since they did not require any further information besides the ones provided with the plans. So our surprise came in a double dose, and receiving these photos gave us an incommensurable satisfaction.
However, another surprise was expecting us; a client of ours, Birol Ozer, who acquired the plans far later, probably influenced by Zirrdeli’s superb finishing details, sent us an e-mail informing that he also had completed the construction of his Pantanal 25 hull.
He wrote:

Hi Luis,
I hope you and your family are fine.
I am sending you a photo of my Pantanal 25
This weekend I’m intending to turn her upside.
I’m afraid of this action.
Kind regards.
Birol Ozer

Birol Ozer Pantanal 25

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The Pantanal 25 class is just getting outside its egg-shell. When we decided to design a trailerable cruising sail boat with more creature comforts than most other similar boats, we couldn’t dream with the immediate approval of our ideas by so many sailors in the most varied places. Since its introduction, the class never stopped increasing in aficionados and there are dozens of builders in various countries working hard to complete their boats.

The first chance we had to watch a video of a Pantanal 25 sailing took place last April when Dark Ice, the boat built in Campinas, Brazil, by Jorge Intaschi went for her first sea trial. This video is becoming very popular, with more than 3.000 visits in two months. Soon Jorge intends to produce a second one, when he will try a larger asymmetric spinnaker on his boat.

We are praying for Aeolus to present him with a nice and fresh breeze for us to appreciate Dark Ice’s wake.
Jorge Intaschi is installing a plant to produce the Pantanal 25 commercially and we hope soon he will be starting his line of production.

Record crop of boats from our designs getting ready to be launched

This season we have good reasons to commemorate. To toast our first anniversary of operation in Perth, Western Australia, it seems that our builders wanted to reward us with a record number of boats from our designs being finished practically at the same time.
One of them, Dark Ice, the first Pantanal 25 to go to the water, was the premature baby of this list. Last month she went sailing and this June she will be competing in the most important event of the Brazilian racing calendar, the Ilha Bela Sailing Week.
Jorge Intaschi, her builder, obtained a sponsorship to finance the expenses to participate in this series, and at the moment is training a qualified crew, doing his best to show the boat's potential. Dark Ice had already been tested, when she demonstrated being capable of impressive bursts of speed, even when sailing in light air. (See our report - Pantanal 25 Dark Ice first trial. The You Tube video shown in this article, reached 2,890 views in May, 24.).

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The other boat just launched, still needing to be rigged, is also the first of her design to go to the water. She is the Green Flash ORC33 Class prototype built in Joinville, State of Santa Catarina, Southern Brazil, by João de Deus Assis. This boat is one of the firsts of this class to be concluded world wide. In Brazil she probably will compete in the ORC Internationa class, once there are no other sister-ships to race for line honours.

Pantanal 25 Dark Ice first trial.
This article is simultaneously published in www.yachtdesign.com.br and in www.amateurboatbuilding.com

Last Easter Friday was a happy day for the Pantanal 25 class. Dark Ice, the Pantanal 25 we showed pictures of her being transported by trailer in an earlier report, went for her first trial last Easter in Santos, the important Brazilian port and the most developed nautical centre in this country.

There are many boats of this class under construction in a dozen different countries, and at least another one is already sailing. However it was Dark Ice the first one to send us a thorough report and a complete set of photos of her first tacks on the water. We received by e-mail a beautiful photo of another Pantanal 25 built in Turkey by an amateur, and many others are not far from completion, but this was the first actual chance to know how does the Pantanal 25 behave.

Dark Ice was built in Campinas, a city two hundred km away from the sea, by Jorge Intaschi, an amateur who saw in the Pantanal 25 design the perfect boat for his requirements. Jorge, a computer analyst, is a dealer in the car sales business. As it is so often the case nowadays, he has a very limited spare time for his preferred hobby, the sport of competitive sailing. Living so far from the sea and with such a demanding business, he needed a boat that could be stored at his home garage during the long stretches when he couldn't afford having a holyday, and, on the other hand, when going to the sea, he wished a boat comfortable enough for his family to spend the weekend aboard, preferably with the amenities required for a pleasant stay, like enclosed heads, private cabin and a handy galley. When he discovered the Pantanal 25, he knew straightaway that this was exactly the boat for him.

He was one of the firsts to acquire the plans, which had been published just a few weeks before. He was so enthusiastic about the Pantanal 25 potential that he decided to begin a boat-building business to produce this model in series. He opened a company in partnership with his brother Wagner, and a few weeks later he was already starting the construction of the plugs required for the fabrication of the production moulds.

Even though the two brothers were experienced entrepreneurs, this field of activity was a total novelty for them. Despite their lack of technical knowledge, they decided to produce first class tooling and top quality infusion lamination. In January 2007, they installed their workshop, and the first decision they made was to acquire a boot at the Sao Paulo Boat Show, scheduled for October 2007.

You can imagine they had to work like bats out of hell not to loose the show, and for very bad luck, or perhaps because of the hurry, Jorge fell from the plug's deck, rupturing all ligaments of one of his knees. He went to the boat show in a wheel-chair since he didn't accept to be operated on before the event was finished. He had no reasons to blame that detached decision, since his boat was one of stars of the event and he managed to accomplish fifteen firm orders along the duration of the show, with a permanent queue of hundreds of persons waiting to climb aboard. Now he is recovering from the surgery, and the great day has come for the sea trials of Dark Ice, the very boat produced for the boat show.

Assuming they hadn't enough experience to run the whole enterprise without a skilled assistance, they hired Eduardo Arena, a highly prized technician in the yacht building industry and a renowned model stylist in the confection of plugs. His participation was a real blessing, since he is also a keen racing sailor, and above all, he is a great supporter of the model.

That Friday wasn't very inviting. The sky was cast with heavy clouds and the wind was light and variable. A cold front was expected the next day, so an improvement in the weather pattern was out of the question.

With his knee still requiring attention, Jorge Intaschi decided to watch and take the first pictures of his new toy crossing her first waves from the comfort of a speed boat's fly-bridge. Eduardo Arena was going to be the test driver, assisted by a rigger and a professional sailor.

The crew couldn't be more qualified for the occasion, and undoubtedly all those involved with the enterprise were visibly excited with what was going to happen in the next few hours. In the rush of preparation all halyard and sheet tails were yet to be trimmed to their proper lengths, while the brand new sails were for the first time out of their bags.

The launching down the slipway was uneventful, and in an instant Dark Ice was under tow. At that moment many of the myriad of doubts that populate the hearts of all boat builders were dissipated. The boat floated correctly on her waterline with a perfect trim, in spite of the three stocky crewmembers staying on the cockpit.

When the motor yacht surpassed Dark Ice's hull speed, Eduardo felt the rudder too heavy to steer, giving him the impression that it required balancing. This, as soon as the boat started to sail, was proved to be unnecessary, and in the circumstances of being under tow, all that would be required was to lift the blade a bit, which in the case of the Pantanal 25, has infinite adjustment.

Jorge, despite a slight increase in heartbeats, was seeing for the first time his creation sailing close-hauled. And how nicely she performed; in five knots of wind the boat was sailing at practically the same speed. The initial stability was excellent and the boat seemed to be crossing the small seas effortlessly, leaving behind a very clean wake.

Demonstrating very good pointing ability, the boat came about showing impressive acceleration in the new tack. Jorge exulted from the fly-bridge, blaming his damned knee for not being able to be at the tiller at that moment.

The wind increased in strength to about twelve knots, and then the boat, which up to then was quite stiff, quickly lost some stability, heeling to a bit more than 15°. Being a narrow boat with her beam on the water line almost the same as her maximum beam, this was foreknowable, but the good news was that she was perfectly balanced, accelerating without the rudder loosing its grip.

The return trip was useful in testing the boat in a broad reach. The wind was light and the asymmetrical spinnaker wasn't capable of showing all its potential, but that was just the first trial, and many others will follow soon. The photos Jorge took from the motor boat are not spectacular, since the sky was overcast and the atmosphere misty. But that was only Dark Ice baptisms and we still are expecting a lot of good news about this design.

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How does the Pantanal 25 look like?

The Pantanal 25 is one of the most comfortable trailerable sail boats for camping purposes available as stock plan for amateur or professional construction. With two cabins, enclosed heads, a handy galley and a spacious dinette, she is a fast boat with creature comforts seldom found in a boat of her size. Perhaps for these reasons the Pantanal 25 attracted the interest of so many potential builders. Just a few months after the introduction of the plans we received orders from boaters from many different countries in four continents.

Now the first Pantanal 25 units are being concluded and in the next couple of months some of them will be sailing. This is very exciting and we intend to inform you, who visit our home page regularly, about the latest news of the class.

The hottest news at the moment is the Pantanal 25 produced by Intaschi Nautical Performance.

The two brothers, Jorge and Wagner Intaschi, from Sumaré, State of Sao Paulo, Brazil, decided to build industrially the Pantanal 25 under the trade mark Performance 25. (See their site: www.intaschi.com.br.)

They only began to build the plug to make the necessary moulds for series production in the beginning of 2007, and now, less than one year from the day they started to work; they already have their first unit ready for sea trials

The Intaschi brothers are new at the trade; however they are experienced entrepreneurs, running three other companies which allowed them to finance establishing this new plant, producing first class tooling and top quality infusion lamination. In March 2007, when the construction of the plug achieved a stage of near completion, they acquired a boot at the Sao Paulo Boat Show, which was scheduled for October 2007, to expose their future model.

You can imagine they had to run not to loose the show and for shear bad luck, Jorge fell from the plug's deck, rupturing all ligaments of one of his knees. He went to the boat show in a wheel-chair because he didn't accept to be operated on before the event was finished. Now he is recovering from the surgery and we hope soon he will be testing the first Pantanal 25 to sail, which he had to delay for a while due to his injured knee.

This January our partner Luis Gouveia, who is presently running RBYD office from Perth, Western Australia, came to Brazil on a business trip and took the opportunity to pay a visit to their plant, and could witness personally the high standard of their work. It wasn’t for luck that the Pantanal 25 had been one of the stars of the boat show, with a permanent queue of hundreds of persons waiting to climb aboard. At the end of the event they had 15 firm orders and also managed to have a report published by one of the Brazilian most prestigious yachting magazines.

Luis talked to Jorge about the possibility of offering their boat as a kit for further completion by the purchaser and he showed great interest in doing it. At the moment Jorge is intending to sell the boat ready to sail in a version he will call Performance 25, and the kit as an unfinished boat in four stages of completion. Since the plans are intended for amateur construction, as well as professional, with a building manual explaining step by step how to construct and assemble the whole boat, we believe there is no obstacle for the amateur to complete the job, in whatever stage of construction he chooses to acquire the boat.

Jorge sent us first hand photos of the Pantanal 25 n° 1, which we are proud to publish in this report, and next, as soon as we have the photos we are so anxious to receive, we will show the first tacks of this new design sailing full canvassed in the South Atlantic.

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Pantanal 25. Our pretty baby is essaying her first steps.

The Pantanal 25 is surprising us since its introduction in 2006 as a stock plan for amateur and professional construction. We never dreamed with such a quick acceptance by the general public of our 25 foot trailerable sail boat. We don’t know if it was because she could be stored in the home garden, this way saving expensive marina fees, or if the reason for such a good start was the fact that she possesses unrivalled accommodations for up to six persons and an adequate headroom for her size, about one foot above the average of similar designs available in the market.

In less than one year we had already dozens of these boats being built, by amateurs and professionals alike in five different countries up to now. By sheer coincidence the first plan we sold was to Australia, the country to which our office was going to move a few months after.

The first hulls didn’t take long to be completed and then Intaschi Nautical Performance, a company from the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, www.intaschi.com.br, decided to build this design commercially, and next October will be exposing their first unit at the Sao Paulo Boat Show, under the trade mark Pantanal/Performance25. (We are illustrating this article with some photos of their tooling)
Meanwhile the first Pantanal 25 to be completed was launched in Turkey, and a new boat builder will start producing the model in Santiago, Chile.

Together with the various amateur constructed units close to being launched, soon we will have sufficient number of boats in the water to establish a new class and we hope, with the contribution of the professional builders, that very soon the class will be well established in many sailing centres.

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Pantanal 25 will be produced in series.

Barracuda Náutica, from São Paulo, Brazil, is starting a commercial production of the Pantanal 25. The factory intends to build these boats in sandwich, exactly as specified in the plans, employing the infusion system of lamination. Their intention is to produce a light boat with uniformity of weight and structural integrity, which is an important factor for the class.
The Pantanal 25 is quickly becoming a recognized success, with boats being built in various countries. It seems that a trailerable cruiser-racer with its characteristic was really missing in the nautical market, therefore the great enthusiasm for the design. We have already Pantanal 25 builders starting the construction in various parts of Brazil, in Australia and in Europe. We soon hope to establish the Pantanal 25 International Class, and considering that in less than six months the first boats are expected to be launched, this achievement will probably happen in 2007.

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Pantanal 25 class News

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Pantanal 25 interior rendered images.

Last year we introduced the trailerable sail boat Pantanal 25, a versatile cruiser-racer designed for amateur construction.
This design obtained an immediate response from the market and in a very short time we had builders starting to construct this boat in different places.
We have completed the design of the interior layout in 3 D rendered images showing in detail the amazing comfort of this arrangement.

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Meanwhile the first builders begin to show their work. One of them, Barracuda Naútica, from São Paulo, Brazil, sent us photos of the plug they built to produce a mould for series construction, employing the infusion building method. This is good news, since we can be sure that this boat will be available commercially in the next few months.

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For more information about the Pantanal 25 click here

Pantanal 25 will be produced in series.

Barracuda Náutica, from São Paulo, Brazil, is starting a commercial production of the Pantanal 25. The factory intends to build these boats in sandwich, exactly as specified in the plans, employing the infusion system of lamination. Their intention is to produce a light boat with uniformity of weight and structural integrity, which is an important factor for the class.
The Pantanal 25 is quickly becoming a recognized success, with boats being built in various countries. It seems that a trailerable cruiser-racer with its characteristic was really missing in the nautical market, therefore the great enthusiasm for the design. We have already Pantanal 25 builders starting the construction in various parts of Brazil, in Australia and in Europe. We soon hope to establish the Pantanal 25 International Class, and considering that in less than six months the first boats are expected to be launched, this achievement will probably happen in 2007.

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FIRST PANTANAL 25 HULL ALREADY PLANKED

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PANTANAL 25 A TRAILERABLE BOAT FOR AMATEUR CONSTRUCTION IS ALREADY AVAILABLE

This article is being simultaneously published in our site
and in www.amateurboatbuilding.com.

Pantanal 25, the ultimate camping sail boat.

1 - Trailerable sport boat with sleeping accommodations for up to six adults.
2 - Variable draught. Max. 1.65 m. Min. 0.625 m
3 - Performance typical of a racing boat
4 - Comfortable interior arrangement difficult to be matched by boats of the same size.
5 - Ecologically correct. No trough-hull flanges.
6 - Her eight foot (2.44 m) maximum beam doesn't require a special license when on the road.
7 - Easy to build. Strip planking sandwich is considered one of the best methods for amateur construction
8 - Affordable cost of construction. Her light displacement represents an important saving in cost of materials.
9 - Her ample cockpit affords maximum open air enjoyment.
10 - Versatile boat capable of sailing wherever there is a lake, river or sea..

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Since we designed the Samoa 28, our state of the art boat for amateur construction, we were determined to produce the plans for a trailerable sail boat that could be trailed by a mid-sized car. The great advantage of this type of boat is the possibility of storing it at home, this way dispensing expensive marina fees. Besides, a boat like this can be launched in any locality where there is a boat ramp, which increases remarkably its usage scope.
Considering the profile of the persons who consulted us about the availability of trailerable sailboat stock plans, we arrived to the conclusion that most potential owners of a boat of this category are sailors with a small families, probably accustomed to high speed one-design sailing, who are looking for a camping boat of outstanding performance under sail which at the same time is capable of taking their families out for a coastal cruise in safety and comfort.
To make the boat the most attractive possible, we provided an interior arrangement with a cozy and functional layout. A double berth at the forward compartment joins with two settee berths in the saloon, omitting any partition that could jeopardize the feeling of amplitude inside the cabin. Abaft the two settees a heads compartment with door and a compact galley complete the saloon arrangement. A second double berth placed under the cockpit area provide full usage of space in the whole interior To prevent divorce claims, contrary to the majority of boats of this type, we assured a 1.70m (5'7") headroom in the main saloon, an acceptable figure regarding elbow room, if you have to stay aboard for a prolonged time. As the most requested area of the boat is the cockpit, we made it the longest possible, for that matter designing a practically vertical transom. We reserved the area under the cockpit seats abaft the double berth for storage of boat gear and other equipments. The Pantanal 25 is provided with a bulbous drop-keel, together with a pivoting mast, to simplify launching without neglecting stability
A boat to be stored in the home garden should be able to be constructed in its garage. Having in mind this possibility, the plans for the Pantanal 25 were defined to be built by the amateur, dispensing expensive moulds or special skills to accomplish this goal. The building method employed is the so called sandwich of strip-planking, using PVC foam or light wood strips as core material. The whole boat weighting only 1 000kg, including fin-keel, the Pantanal 25 is still sufficiently light to be trailed by a medium-sized car, an important factor to be considered.
But the main factor to be considered about the Pantanal 25 is its sailing ability. With a large roach full-batten mainsail and a good sized asymmetrical spinnaker hoisted from a carbon fibre bowsprit, our new design is capable of exhilarating performance.

How to build the Pantanal 25

The Pantanal 25 is specified for strip-planking sandwich construction, the so called speed-strip construction method. Preferentially she is intended to employ PVC foam as core material, but optionally PVC foam may be substituted by light wood, resulting in a heavier hull with a consequent small loss in performance, especially when under sail. This method of construction is easy and quite quick to be accomplished, resulting in a light and sturdy hull.
Sheets 0 which are supplied in CD, or, if required, printed in paper, contain the full size patterns for hull and deck moulds, as well as the full size drawings for the transverse bulkheads. Moulds and bulkheads when precisely cut by numerical control have their heights above the building grid correctly defined, so positioning them on it becomes an easy task. The CNC file supplied in CD allows the fabrication of the moulds by means of laser or miller cutting. If these processes aren't available locally, there is no restriction in resuming to the traditional method of cutting the moulds and bulkheads with the jig-saw. The smaller precision thus obtained is negligible regarding the final quality of the boat.

Label the position of moulds on the upper face of the building grid according to the following spacing:
The first mould is positioned at station 0.5. The fourteen other ones are placed at 480 mm intervals and the transom mould 400 mm abaft mould number fifteen. Fix the moulds in their places, taking care to match their positions, from first to ninth with the fore face of the moulds coinciding with the 480 mm spacing line and from there aft, reversing the moulds position. Beveling and fairing aren't required when proceeding in this way, representing an important saving in time of construction.
It's important to protect the edges of the moulds with an externally non-adhesive tape to prevent any spilled glue to stick to them.

Attach the moulds to the building grid, taking care to ensure that they stay plumb and perpendicular to centreline. Next install the stem base mould, which is also supplied in full size pattern and joins to the first mould. The stem is made with two pieces of PVC foam, being the one closer to the forepeak built with high density foam, since the forestay chain plate will be attached there. If high density foam is difficult to be purchased in small quantities, marine plywood may be employed in its place. After firmly fixing the moulds in their places, the hull is ready to be planked with the strips.

Prepare 60 mm wide strips from 15 mm thick 80kg/m3 PVC foam. (The width is reduced to 30 mm if wood is employed). Fix the first strip with its lower edge coinciding with the sheer line. Then proceed applying other strips until reaching about two thirds of the hull's girth.. Use temporary nails to fix the strips to the moulds and apply epoxy with filler (colloidal silica or micro sphere) to join their edges and ends. Then start applying the strips from centreline until reaching the ones that were already laid in place.

Once the boat is completely planked, the temporary nails are removed and the outside face of the foam is sanded to ensure a fair finish. Make a 2 mm rabbet with a circular sander on the 75 mm next to the sheer line to allow for the overlap of the deck lamination. (See detail in sheet 5B).
Now the hull is ready for the fibreglassing of the outside lamination. Employing epoxy resin to saturate the glass, apply two layers of 500g/m2 bi-ply material, overlapping 500 mm to the other side of the hull, this way duplicating in this area the thickness of the lamination. Finally the false stem at the lower tip must be installed. First bond a foam triangular patch already roughly faired to the lower part of the stem. Then, after the glue is set, carefully complete the fairing in place and apply over this patch the same lamination specified for the hull, overlapping the first layer in 50 mm and the second one in 100 mm. Sand the whole hull's surface after the resin is cured. When peel-ply is employed this is practically unnecessary.
Then apply an epoxy primer over the whole surface, except for the 75 mm rabbet next to the sheer line, since at this margin the hull is going to be bonded to the superstructure. Don't paint also the area around the bearing tube hole on the starboard topside, where the bowsprit will be attached.
When this task is completed, it's a great occasion to call the close friends for a barbecue, since it's time to turn the boat upside.

Remove the moulds after turning the hull upside. Then sand the interior and remove with a chisel the foam at the central area where the keel case will be attached, and also a patch where the shrouds chain plates will be installed. The lamination is single skin in the keel area and reinforced where the chain plates will be fixed. On that spot high density foam is inserted to reinforce the chain plate region. Before inserting the high density foam it's important to apply at the shroud chain plate location where the foam was removed two rectangular patches of cloth on the bottom of the rectangular hole opened there, laying on the inner side of the external lamination. Then apply two other cloth layers overlapping the hole walls which should be chamfered. Only then insert the high density foam and apply the inside secondary lamination. (See detail in sheet 5A). If wooden strips are employed there is no need to remove the strips, but it will be required an extra external secondary lamination over the hull's outside lamination.

Building the interior

Once the internal lamination is completed, the next task is the installation of the keel trunk, floors, bulkheads and furniture partitions.
The keel trunk, a rectangular box with rounded edges, is made over a male plug. The easiest way to make it is to apply the first layer of lamination around the plug and cut the after face vertically with a sharp edge tool. Then open slightly the laminate, remove the plug and proceed with the application of the remaining layers of lamination. After installing the keel Delrin or UHMPE (ultrahigh molecular-weight polyethylene) bearings, the case is ready to be installed. Apply the secondary lamination specified in sheet 5B to bond the keel trunk to the hull bottom. After doing it, open the hole for the lower bearing. One way to make it is, after marking the rectangular area to be cut, to open four holes, one in each corner, and cut the rectangular hole with a jig-saw. There is no inconvenience if the cutting line isn't absolutely precise. If a small gap is left it can be filled with epoxy putty as far as the keel trunk is correctly positioned. The bearing slot for the fin-keel must have a 0.3 mm maximum tolerance at each side, to prevent undesirable noises when the keel tilts.
Floors are installed only after the keel trunk is firmly fixed to the hull bottom. Prepare the shape of the floors with rigid polyurethane foam and encapsulate them with the lamination specified in sheet 5B. Finally install the PVC foam sandwich brackets which join the floors to the keel trunk, as specified in the plans, attaching them with secondary lamination.
Next the transverse bulkheads, which full size patterns are given in CD, are constructed in sandwich over a lamination table.
Carefully mark their positions on the interior with a pilot pen and fillet with epoxy with filler both sides of their edges. When the putty is cured, apply fibreglass tapes according to information given in detail in sheet 5B.
The remaining furniture partitions and the anchor rode well are made in a similar way as the transverse bulkheads, except that for them there aren't full size patterns. When finishing this work the interior is ready for the finishing work. The apparent edges of all bulkheads should be covered with a light cloth tape and then the whole interior is ready for sanding and to receive the finishing paintwork.

Building the Superstructure

Once again the moulds are fabricated by laser or miller cutting. They are also assembled over a rectangular grid, which in case the hull and the superstructure aren't built simultaneously, may be the same one.
The deck is built in a similar way to the hull, except that instead of strips it's employed foam panels. The radius between the trunk coach roof and the sidewalls is too small to allow for foam panels to bend over the moulds. On that place it's necessary to apply foam strips, as were employed during the hull construction.

When putting the foam panels in place, the bonding of a panel to another is made with sharp angles. The concave angle is later filleted according to the radius specified in the plans and the convex one rounded to specifications with a sanding tool. (A surform plane or a pad with sandpaper are quite adequate for the job, but with skill and some care, an electrical sander may also be employed). Only then the secondary lamination is applied. Insert high density foam, or, if not available, marine plywood patches, where fittings will be installed. (This is shown in sheet 5A.)
The outside lamination is applied after fairing the foam. When the fibreglassing is concluded, the whole superstructure is sanded. Then the deck is ready to be turned turtle for the inside lamination. Again round the convex edges employing a sanding tool and fillet the concave ones with epoxy with filler. The inside lamination is applied in the same way as the outside. After sanding the internal surface, cut the lifting-keel beam foam core and bond it to the ceiling. Then laminate it integrating to the superstructure.
Following, the hull is bonded to the deck. When lowering the deck on top of the hull, the bulkheads will fit very close to perfection under it. If in any particular point bulkheads and superstructure don't fit as a glove, if it's left a gap, this will be filled with epoxy putty, but if there is a lump instead, this lump requires to be removed with a surform plane, rasp or sanding machine.
First bond the topside edges to the underside of the deck, employing the same epoxy putty used to join the foam edges. Next fillet the inside edge all around the boat and apply the internal deck to hull secondary lamination. Then fillet all bulkheads to the superstructure and apply the secondary lamination tapes at their both faces. Finally make the round radius specified along the sheer line and apply the hull-to-deck joining lamination, overlapping the topsides lamination along the 75 mm rabbet
The bowsprit bearing tube is fixed at this stage.
Only after applying the finishing coat of paint, systems, fittings, drop keel and rudder gudgeons are installed. Next step is to invite your friends for the first trial.

Very many thanks for the study plans. I have been out on site for the last two days so have only just opened your email. I like to study plans for a little while just to familiarise myself but the plans are excellent and I have no concerns. I certainly do not profess to be any sort of expert but I have so far built 5 dinghies of various sizes and construction (sailing catamarans, dinghies and my last one is a canoe (sailing rig when required). I have just finished building two outriggers for my canoe for when I sail it in winds above force 3-4, a somewhat hairy experience!!

I am very impressed not only with your website which I find to be informative, inspiring and easy to navigate around but also with your plans. I am honestly really excited about the prospect of building the Pantanal 25. Would it be possible to send me the building manual as well, it would be greatly appreciated. I need to sell my current boat, one I did not build myself, so I can start on this project. She is 22ft long, somewhat slow but a great sea boat. However I begrudge the charges that I pay to the boat yard for winter layup and have to travel a 60 mile round trip to carry out maintenance!

It's fortunate that I came across your website as although I had already decided to build a trailer sailer, the design I had chosen was very much a compromise and although I love building boats and sailing them, it was not really a design that I had tremendous enthusiasm for but it was the best of an indifferent bunch of designs.

I love the lines of the Pantanal 25 and can already visualise the admiring glances that I know she will receive, even better to build her myself and the joy of sailing her.

Sorry to ramble on! Look forward to hearing from you .

Regards

John
J.W.Williamson
Dorset, England. By e-mail

Hi,Just a quick note to let you know that plans were received today Tuesday as noted in your last email,although I have only had a brief look at the drawings I am already very impressed.I can see the value of many years of experiience on these drawing sheets.I commend you and your team of architect and draughtman on a highly professional presentation.Also congratulation on Brazil's well deserved victory over Austalia in the football(we call it soccer).It was televised here at 2am -4am in the morning,and meant for me and half the nation a sleepless night and a very weary day at work following the game.

Robert Boyd
New Lambton. NS.W, Australia. By e-mail