RG 65 Round Ranger BuildAfter
enjoying my Vanquish65 build I decided to build another RG65 to try out
some new ideas and to lend to other club members to try and get them
hooked on this great little class. After looking for RG65 stuff on the
web I came across Breaking Wind Boats (http://breakingwindboats.webs.com/)
based in the USA. This is Craig Huzways company and was supplying 2
designs although this is expanding all the time. The Round Ranger was
designed by Bill Hagerup and is an adaptation of a footy design. The
Simatara which was also available is designed by Brian Sims and looks
more like a shrunken IOM. Both boats are vacuum formed out of .040"
(about 1mm) High Impact Polystyrene. Craig sells a hull and deck for a
very reasonable $30 which unfortunately ended up costing £30 after
postage and import taxes were added. This is fantastic value and my
thanks go to Craig for offering this service. Three hulls were formed
for me the day after initial contact and arrived three weeks later
wrapped in brown paper in a strong cardboard box. The two designs are
very different showing the diversity in the class. The Round Ranger is a
narrow light rounded hull with a displacement of only 800g. The Simatra
is an altogether bigger boat with a designed displacement of 1100g. To
my eyes the Simatra it is the more attractive hull with pronounced vee
fore section and flatter rear. Polystyrene is a new material to me and
the hulls are about 30g heavier than a well moulded fibreglass one but
look far more durable in my opinion.
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