REBUILDING ZEST
quickly remove as much material as
possible, before finishing off by hand
using a chisel. I also use the chisel for a
final clean up between the laminated
frames, ensuring an offcut from the
plywood used for the new bulkhead would
just fit between them.
Martin then cut the scarf on a 12:1 taper,
using a combination of planes and
grinder, ready for the new section to be
glued into place. But first we needed to
create a template for the new bulkhead.
This process is easily done using strips
of cheap 4mm plywood cut into strips and
then glued together in situ using a hot
glue gun. The outer points of the template
then provide the position of a series of
dots that are marked onto the new
plywood and joined together to show the
a shape that needed a minimum of final
shaping to achieve a perfect dry fit.
Gluing in a new section
For ease of handling the bulky piece of
plywood Martin screwed on a couple of
handles to the new bulkhead (screw holes
could be filled and painted over later).
ABOUT ZESTZest is a 36ft one-off design by Rob Humphreys that was launched in 1992.
She is built of epoxy and 10mm strip cedar planking, plus two outer layers of
approximately 5mm Douglas fir double diagonal planking. There is a
protective epoxy and glass outer layer. It’s a very lightweight, yet stiff,
construction method that in its day could only be significantly bettered by
carbon. Zest is owned by Kass Schmitt, who is entering her in the next
OSTAR from Plymouth to Newport, Rhode Island, in 2020.LEFT The ply strip template for the new
section of the bulkhead
ABOVE Martin cutting the scarf on the
new bulkhead sectionLEFT The new
section of
bulkhead glued
in place, ready
for final shaping
around the
doorway to the
forepeak.RIGHT The
finished result,
also showing the
new frame for the
chainplates