Flicka FriendsFall - 2000

Part One, Start With The Hull

One Way to Get A FlickaVolume 5, Number3

add through-hulls, or easily repair it. Ihad heard horror stories about homebuiltferro-cement hulls that didn’t turn outwell and it was recommended thatprofessionals lay up the cement aftercompletion of the wire mesh.

I decided to avoid all that by buildingmine in fiberglass and went out andbought a 55-gallon drum of resin, rollsof woven roving, and tons of sandingdiscs for my grinder. Actually, I didn’tneed any of that for a while, while I builtthe mold.

I hung up the full-size lofting sheets onthe dining room wall (my parents werevery understanding) and, after tracingthese onto wax paper and cutting themout, transferred the lines onto 13 or 14mold ribs cut out of plywood. These ribswere then set up in the side yard at about18” intervals to form the frame of themold.

I bet my parents were secretly veryhappy when I finally moved out of thehouse in Rochester, New York (after

By Dave Kenyon

My dad built a small plywood sailboatwhen I was a toddler and I grew up onever larger sailboats since then. At aboutthe age of 17, I decided to build one too.In late 1974, Rudder Boat Plan wasselling a neat little Bruce Bingham 20footer and my dad suggested that design.I paid $110.00 for a complete set oflofting sheets and drawings for a ferro-cement Flicka. When I started, I naivelythought I could build this boat in a fewyears for a thousand dollars. Hey, I wasonly 17. I figured that I could build anice boat for about half the price ofbuying one and it be that hard, right?

Thirteen years later, I launched the QEDand it cost about half of what it wouldcost to buy one, sort of. See, whenPacific Seacraft purchased the Flickaplans and started production, the boatcost about $15,000 (back in the late70’s). By the time I finished, in 1987,the Flicka was selling for about $30,000and guess what, I built mine for about$15,000 in materials.

So in a way, I was right, I built the boatfor about half what it would cost, nevermind that I could have taken out a loanin the late 70’s, bought a Flicka andsailed it for 13 years for about the samecost. But then I wouldn’t know everyinch of that boat and I also wouldn’t haveas much to write about.

I saw a homebuilt Flicka about the timeI started (I think it was in Annapolis) anddecided to build the hull out of fiberglass,rather than ferro-cement. Ferro-cementis obviously very strong, however, youhave to lay up the cement in one dayand then you can’t make any changes,

add through-hulls, or easily repair it. Ihad heard horror stories about homebuiltferro-cement hulls that didn’t turn outwell and it was recommended thatprofessionals lay up the cement aftercompletion of the wire mesh.

I decided to avoid all that by buildingmine in fiberglass and went out andbought a 55-gallon drum of resin, rollsof woven roving, and tons of sandingdiscs for my grinder. Actually, I didn’tneed any of that for a while, while I builtthe mold.

I hung up the full-size lofting sheets onthe dining room wall (my parents werevery understanding) and, after tracingthese onto wax paper and cutting them

out, transferred the lines onto 13 or 14mold ribs cut out of plywood. These ribswere then set up in the side yard at about18” intervals to form the frame of themold.

I bet my parents were secretly veryhappy when I finally moved out of thehouse in Rochester, New York (aftercollege) to Connecticut (and my first fulltime job) and they got rid of the messyboat building project.

Anyway, the frames were then coveredwith lath to form the shape of the hull.I wasn’t sure what to do next and mydad suggested screen covered withcement (I guess I just couldn’t avoid

Continued on Page 4

Attaching the lathe to the mold frames - the QEDbegins to take shape, but there is still a long way to

go to complete the mold (let alone the boat).

ContentsOne Way to Get a Flicka 1

Dave Kenyon

Contents 2

A New Flicka 3Bruce P. Bingham

From the Publisher 3Tom Davison

From the Editor 3Tom Davison

Small Craft Advisor Article 3Joshua Colvin

About Flicka Friends 3

One Way to Get a Flicka cont. 4Dave Kenyon

Flicka Profile: BEN MAIN, Jr. 6Tom Davison

Adding Another Room... 8Tom Davison

Installing a Radar... 10

More About BEN MAIN, Jr. 12Tom Davison

Installing a Radar... 14T

Subcription Form 16

Mailing Address 16

Next Issue

Page 2

Flicka Friends - Fall 2000

One Way to Get a Flicka,Part 2

By Dave Kenyon

Women’s Issue of Friends

By Tom Davison

Dennis has been very busy this summer.After retiring last spring, he traveled toPuget Sound to help with his son’scharter business. While there, he put hisIllinois house on the market and beganbuilding another one. By fall, he wasmoving into an apartment, getting hisdaughter off to college and sortingeverything else for the move west. Inanother year or so, the family willrelocate to the Seattle area.

In Michigan, several feet of snowblanket much of the state. The water isbeginning to freeze along the shore ofLake Michigan with temperatures fallingbelow zero and summer seems distant.

This issue and the previous one are thelargest issues of Flicka Friends so far. Itis great to be able to print issues this bigand I’d like to continue if at all possible.Thanks again to all of the people whohave taken the time to send an article orphoto to me.

From the Editor

By Tom Davison

Some time ago, Jill Geary proposedputting together an issue of FlickaFriends dedicated to the women who sailFlickas. This sounded like a great ideaand I offered one of the next issues forthis project. There are roughly thirtywomen on the mailing list and hopefullythere will be enough interest and supportto fill an entire issue.

If you would like to help Jill with thiseffort, contact her at:

Jill Geary10077 Riverhead DriveSan Diego, CA 92129

orflickas@pacbell.net

Two Great Stories...By Tom Davison

There are two great stories about s/vRAPPORT’s Passage to Hawaii on theinternet (see the Flicka Home Page).

The first is by Jack Harding (“Captain”)and the second is by Don Marken(“crew”). Both are about the same tripand provide great reading about anextended trip offshore aboard a Flicka.

Small Craft AdvisorBy Joshua Colvin

Our new magazine is featuring a reviewof the Flicka in the current issue. If youown or have owned this fine sailboat,we would love to send you ourquestionnaire. We rely heavily on ownerfeedback for our reviews.

If you are interested, please drop me ane-mail and I’ll return the survey.

Sincerely,

Joshua ColvinManaging EditorSmall Craft Advisor907 AnchorMorro Bay, CA 93442(805) 771-9393

www.smallcraftadvisor.com

llcraftadvisor@thegrid.com.net

AboutFlicka Friends

Flicka Friends is a subscriptionnewsletter written specifically forthe people who own, crew aboardor are interested in the Flicka, aBruce P. Bingham design.

Based on the Newport Boats ofBlock Island Sound, this little shiphas been built from variousmaterials since the 1970’s andremained in production today.

Hulls have been completed byhome builders using plans suppliedby Bruce Bingham. More than 400plans were sold and many Flickascan be found in New Zealand,Australia and Sweden.

Commercial builders for the Flickainclude Nor’Star, Westerly Marineand Pacific Seacraft (Fullerton,California) has built more than 430Flickas.

Flicka Friends is publishedquarterly. Please note the date nextto your name on the mailing label.It indicated when your subscriptionneeds to be renewed. The cost ofan annual subscription to FlickaFriends is $1.00 US and can bemailed directly to the editor.

© Copyright 2001 - Flicka Friends

Dennis Pratt - Publisher8537 N. Milwaukee Ave., 2-WestNiles, IL 60714-1909(847) 736-0066dennis1492@aol.com

Tom Davison - EditorP.O. Box 922Sutton’s Bay, MI 49682-0922(231) 271-5111flickafriends@traverse.net

Volume 5, Number 3

Page 3

A New Flicka!By Tom Davison

In August, Bruce P. Bingham contactedFlicka Friends Publisher Dennis Prattand Flicka Home Page WebCaptain RodBruckdorfer about his plan to build anew Flicka. He also expressed an interestin sending a number of unpublishedFlicka articles to this newsletter forpublication. This is great news

Bruce described the new Flicka as alarger cruising boat that will sail verywell. It will be larger than the currentFlicka, allowing for improvements inspeed because of the longer waterline.

This change in length will also allowadditional space below. The two Flicka

interiors (open and enclosed head) typeswill be blended together so that the headof the new Flicka does not infringe onthe salon area.

One thing Bruce would like from currentor former Flicka owners are commentsabout what is right about the Flicka. Heis also interested in hearing about whatmight be changed or added and of courseany suggestions for improvements.

You can forward your comments directlyto Bruce via the e-mail address listedbelow. Look for more information infuture issues of Flicka Friends.

Bruce_Bingham@ij.net

By Tom Davison

In the previous issue of Latitudes &Attitudes, I noticed that their BoatBooksreview section included Charlie Dewell’sbook “KAWABUNGA!’s South SeaAdventure. This is (of course) the storyof sailing a Flicka into the South Pacificfrom San Diego and returning to themainland via Hawaii.

If you do not already own this fine book,contact Charlie for your copy at:

South Sea Publishing14025 Panay WayMarina del Rey, CA 902092(800) 440-8001

www.southseapublishing.com

s/v KAWABUNGA!

The Flicka is Back!By Tom Davison

Recently, there was some great news onthe Flicka Home Page, Sail Net and onthe Pacific Seacraft Home Page. PacificSeacraft is putting the Flicka and theDana back into production. There wasenough interest in both designs to bringthis about.

Pacific Seacraft sent me the specificationsheet for the Flicka. The base price is$59,000 with a Yanmar diesel inboardand enclosed head.

The initial comments made it sound likethe Flicka might be spartan. Afterreview-ing the information, there are stillplenty of options available ranging fromroller furling to shore power, a lightningground, a B & G instrument package anda trailer.

You can find the specifications on thePacific Seacraft Home Page:

www.pacificseacraft.com

One Way to Get A Flicka...

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Flicka Friends - Fall - 2000

Continued from Page 1mixing cement). That worked pretty wellbut the mold wasn’t real fair. So Icovered the cement with plaster of paristhat I could then sand (endlessly) to geta clean, fair mold.

Finally, I painted the plaster and applieda thin coat of mold release agent (itturned out to be too thin) and my moldwas complete. Of course, I was alreadywell over a year into the project since Icould only work on the mold in thesummer (Rochester, remember) and Iwas busy graduating high school,starting college and working as a waiterin a restaurant to pay for all the materials.

For the next two years I laid up between10 and 12 layers of woven roving,sanding the rough edges endlesslybetween each one. Successive layers ofroving were applied in alternatingdirections, vertical, horizontal anddiagonally. After building up about 3/8inch thickness, I decided extensivesanding between layers was too timeconsuming (not to mention itchy!).

Also, I had read about the favorablestrength of using alternating layers offiberglass mat (fiberglass stands pressedtogether in random orientations)together with cloth, where the strandsare woven together. I decided to flip thehull over and continue adding layers onthe inside without the need to sand eachlayer smooth.

I tested the separation of the hull andmold and found that there was no way Iwas doing to be able to lift the hull off.I previously had ideas of saving the moldand selling it, however, I ultimatelyended up removing the mold fromunderneath the hull, piece by piece. Themold had to be destroyed and in somespots scraped away from the hull.After adding a few temporary crossbraces (the empty glass hull was veryflexible) I got as many friends as I couldgather and we lifted the empty hull up,

After framing the mold, I attached screento provide the foundation for the cement and

plaster which then completed the mold

Wetting out the cloth with resin requires quick work and aproper mixture of resin to hardener - too slow and it does

not set properly, too fast and it hardens in the jug.

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Volume 5, Number 3

moved it onto the grass and basicallyrolled it over into the wooden cradle Ihad built on top of the upside-down hull.This wasn’t actually that difficult with alot of hands as the hull was relativelylight.

Now that I could work on the inside, Iadded four to six more layers of glass,alternating mat and cloth (a lighter-weight cloth than the woven roving).The mat was laid first and thoroughlysaturated with resin and then the clothwas laid on top with the mat still wet.

By squeegeeing the cloth onto the mat,any excess resin was soaked up by thecloth to make a very solid double layer.I had to work with small sections tocomplete this process before the resinhardened, however, it worked very welland I was able to quickly build up thefiberglass thickness, especially in thebilge.

Next, I considered molding lead for theballast, however, I decided it would beeasier to use lead ingots instead. I bought10 - 100 pound ingots that looked likelarge bricks with interlocking ends.These were placed in the bilge and thenfilled in with cement. Finally, the ballastwas covered with more fiberglass tosecurely enclose it so it could nevermove. I think I ended up with about 1200pounds of internal ballast.

This completed my hull, about the timeI graduated from college. I got my firstjob working on the Hubble SpaceTelescope at the Perkin-Elmer Cor-poration in Danbury, CT. I paid a fewhundred dollars to Orville Mill ofLakeview Boat Haulers to move the hullto Connecticut for the next phase of theproject - the deck.

This is the first in a series of articlesabout the construction of a Flickafrom from the ground up.

Start With The Hull

The partially completed hull after removing the moldand rolling it over. My son says I was a lot thinner then!

Here I am sanding (again) the hull - notice thelong sleeves, gloves, hat, and mask, all in an

unsuccessful attempt to avoid the itches.

Adding Another Room to

BEN MAIN, JR’s. dodger / bimini / side curtain enclosureadds a considerable amount of living space. The greysunbrella matches the hull of this classic little yacht.

The wooden mast, gaff, and boom rest in the lazy jacks and clearthe top of the bimini. The sails are already stored for the end of the

season and the boat is being readied for indoor winter storage.

By Tom Davison

Since 1985, Richard Shepperd has beensailing BEN MAIN, Jr. (Pacific SeacraftFlicka # 315) out of Sutton’s Bay Marinain Traverse Bay (Lake Michigan).

He is the second owner of this Flickawhich was ordered new from the factoryand sailed on Lake Michigan by BenMain. Richard Sheperd was been aboardthis Flicka since its arrival in Michigan.Two years later, he purchased the yet tobe named Flicka from Ben Main’swidow and named her BEN MAIN, Jr .in tribute to the original owner.

Looking up and down the docks of themarina, almost all of the other sailboatshere are marconi sloops. The exceptionto this observation is the Bristol ChannelCutter that is berthed almost directlyacross from BEN MAIN, Jr.

The grey hull color is something youdon’t often find on a sailboat. BruceBingham couldn’t recall hearing ofanother one. The gold scroll-work andmatching cove stripe stand in contrastto the hull color.

As one of the eight Pacific SeacraftFlickas that were built with a gaff rig,this sailboat doesn’t share its sail planwith most of her class. This Flicka isreally a gaff rig with a stays’l and rollerfurling 120% genoa.

The varnished wood mast and boomstand out in the forest of aluminummasts that line the docks. All of the linesare lead aft to the cockpit, eliminatingthe need to go forward for sailadjustments or changes.

To help balance the gaff-rig, Richard hasadded a small trim tab to the aft edge ofthe rudder and uses it to overcome anysail imbalance. Interesting enough, thesail reduction chart contained in TheSail-maker’s Apprentice by EmilianoMarino recommends a trim tab for the

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Flicka Friends - Fall 2000

s/v BEN MAIN Jr.

When sailing with a main and no head sail, Richard created atrim tab that helps balance the tiller. A single solid cable

pushes and pulls the trim tab as required.

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Volume 5, Number 3

primary helm trim for gaff rigs. Richarddeveloped a single cable system thatpushes and pulls. The cable is really ashort motor boat steering cable. Thecontrol end of the cable is run to a brassplate located on top of the tiller.Loosening a single wing nut allows thetrim tab to be adjusted.

His Flicka is one of only eight built byPacific Seacraft with gaff rigs and maywell be the only grey Flicka out there.Bruce Bingham couldn’t recall anotherone. BEN MAIN, Jr. is equipped witha dodger, bimini, and with side and aftcurtains that enclose the entire cockpit.It adds another room to the boat. (Thisis the subject of a future article).

Richard has a matching Trinka dinghynamed LITTLE BEN . It has matchinghull, waterline, and bottom paint colors.It currently has air bladders known asDinghy Dogs located along the gunnels,improving the stability and buoyancy.

The dingy is often used to reach his“other” sailboat, a Sea Pearl tri-marranthat is located out in the bay on amooring. Richard says this little sailboatcan reach fifteen knots if sailed in a goodwind. A number of years ago, Richardand BEN MAIN, Jr. were the topic of alocally produced television show aboutsmall boats. They featured a story abouthis Flicka and another story about hisSea Pearl.

Sailing BEN MAIN Jr. is a joy. The trimtab gets some use when only a main sailis flown. Unfurling the 120% genoaeasily balances this classic Flicka andmakes sailing easy.

Regretfully, Richard may be selling hisbeloved Flicka next spring because ofhealth concerns. He is often describedby many of the boaters and marinaworkers as a very nice guy. I hope thathe and his Flicka will again be one ofthe familiar faces and boats in the harborthis summer.

Like many other Flickas, the name is located onthe aft quarter rather than on the transom. A small star

adds to the finish of the bow sprit.

Installing A Radar On

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Flicka Friends - Fall - 2000

By Eric Jungemann

I sail s/v HOTSPUR (Flicka #386,formerly “SENIOR FROG”) on SanFrancisco Bay. I have done a fair amountof short-handed sailing (Single-handedTranspac, Double-handed and CrewedPacific Cups) and wanted a strong, smallcruising boat with trailering capability,low draft for rivers, canals and shallowanchorages, and an ocean pedigree. I hadalways admired the Flicka and foundmine through California Cruising Yachtsin Alameda (who did an excellent job asthe broker and act as a hub for PacificSeacraft sailors in our area). My previousracing boat had a radar that I took withme when I sold it and I decided to mountthe radar on the Flicka. I know that anumber of Flicka’s have radar but I hadnot seen a specific article so I decided torecap my installation as a possiblesolution for other skippers. Bob Sansone,a great sailor, medical doctor andboatwright (what a combination!) helpedenormously on the planning andinstallation.

As you can see in the photos, the Furuno1621 Mark II Radar is mounted on anEdson Standard Radar Mast with anEdson Basic Radar Platform and anEdson cockpit flood light. The low-endradars in general have small radomes,small LCD displays and low powerconsumption and are also the leastexpensive! The radar mast is mountedon an Edson Pivoting Mast Mount so itcan be stored for trailering or for lowbridges with about three minute’s effort.The decision for a mast mounted,backstay mounted or tower mountedradar is a series of tradeoffs. I like theidea of a tower mount, particularly oncanals or rivers, so that the radar can beused independently of the mast being up.Also, the windage aloft is reduced andthe installation is a little easier. But I canalso understand the approach for a mast-mounted radar including lower overallweight and greater radome transmissionvisibility.

The radar was installed on an Edson post located on the star-board side of the cockpit and is supported by the aft pulpit.

The picture shows the base of the Radome support postand the watertight electrical connections. The wires

run forward to the display located just inside the cockpit.

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Volume 5, Number 3

One aspect of a tower mount is thedecision of what height to mount theradar. Each radar will have an angle oftransmission that must be taken intoconsideration. Ideally, the higher themast, the better the installation but thereare real world tradeoffs. Since the Flickais initially tender, a taller mast increasesthe weight aloft in terms of absoluteweight and position. Also, a taller mastneeds greater support. I have the mastrelatively low but at a height that stillkeeps the heads of crew out of theradiation near the radome. Equally, wefeel that while the radar is on, the crewwill be in the cockpit or below, probablyseated or the radar will be off or instandby mode. These are all tradeoffs thateach owner needs to take intoconsideration.

We mounted the radar on the starboardside because of ease of cable routing andbattery connection. The radar tower isnear the stern ladder but doesn’t reallyinterfere with the ladder’s infrequent use.The tower is outboard and aft of the splitbackstay so it doesn’t interfere with themainsheet or tiller. We mounted the mastpivot abeam vs. fore and aft. Wepreferred a fore and aft orientation butthe possible locations and hull curvaturemade this installation preferable. Edsonprovides a backing plate for the pivotfitting. You will probably need a deepsocket to tighten the nuts as well as asocket extension. To drop the radar mast,disconnect the pulpit supports (necessaryin any case) and pull the pivot pin andlay the mast down. Be sure to allowenough slack in the cable before the deckconnectors. CableClam connectors wereused as through-deck fittings (Blue SeaSystems and available from WestMarine). There are two connectors: onefor the radar and one for the deckfloodlight. It is possible to use oneconnector but it won’t be as water-proof.Leave a little slack underneath the deckas well as enough slack above deck tolay the mast down. The deck floodlighthas a separate watertight switch.

The picture shows the backing plate for the LCD mount. Thecable routing into the locker just behind the head. The excess

cable is coiled there next to the holding tank hoses.

The picture shows the swivel mount for the LCD display.The pivot arm is mounted very close to the companionway

bulkhead with just enough room to adjust the arm.

s/v HOTSPUR, # 386

Dennis PrattFlicka Friends8537 N. Milwaukee Ave., 2-WestNiles, IL 60714-1909

To:

Please add my name to the Flicka Friends and those who are interested in the Flicka, a Bruce P. Binghamdesign. Your name will not be given to any other publication at any time. This newsletter is not for profit.Any fees collected will be used to produce and distribute the newsletter.

To start a subscription, make a $10.00 check payable to Flicka Friends or Dennis Pratt and send to theaddress on the bottom of this page. The date after your name on the label is the expiration date of yourcurrent subscription. Thank you all very much.

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CITY _______________________________________ STATE ___________ZIP__________

TELEPHONE ________________________ E-MAIL ___________________________________

Do you own a Flicka? YES NOYear: _________ Bingham / Nor’Star / Pacific SeacraftHull Number: _________Boat Name __________________________ Home Port ______________________Rig : ________________ Fractionnal / Marconin / Gaff / Cutter / OtherInterior: ________________ Open / Enclosed Head / CustomEngine: ________________ Inboard Diesel / OutboardHull Color: ________________

F L I C K A F R I E N D S

“Flicka Friends” © 2001 by Dennis Pratt. All Rights Reserved

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Flicka Friends - Fall 2000