Sticky Weekend

The latest of the now-regular Cherub Sticky Weekends was on the 20th and 21st January 2007, in Weston-Super-Mare at the business premises of Paul Croote, keeper of Cheese Before Bedtime, to whom many thanks.

The aforementioned Cheese Before Bedtime has had a really amazing makeover, combining new speed enhancing modifications, a great-looking restoration, and still being down to weight - an impressive attainment!

The main agenda was to learn and teach garage-engineering tips and tricks, while making some useful Cherub related items. These included a mast repair, a boom, a boom extension, a daggerboard rebuild, some vac-bagging of some carbon fronting plate and some alterations to a bowsprit.

On Saturday morning each task leadr explained their task to the less experience participants, and got to work. Everybody took their opportunies to spend a few minutes doing some of every jobs under expert supervision. Early on it was sanding and other prep-work, followed by cloth cutting and then, just after lunch it was time to get sticky.

The boom went together in finely choreographed style with Gavin Sims in charge of a rotating team including Stu Hopson and Phil Kirk. Simulatneously to this a beautifully restored (now oak trailing edged!) daggerboard from Dangerous Strawberry got the carbon treatment from Stu Tinner supervised by Lucy Lee and Tim Unerman.

After this the boom extension was made on the fat end of a pole mandrel by Tim Noyce, a mast was repaired by Tom Kiddle, and a flat sheet of very heavy carbon was wetted out and vac bagged (this is used for making rudder stocks and things).

Saturday was rounded off with a fine curry, and when Sunday morning came (too early for some), the five separate projects that had been going off overnight were inspected and removed from their various moulds/mandrels and vac bags. Some admiration and congratulation was spread around as peelply was peeled off along with heat-shrink, and things came off mandrels with varying amount of ease.

The prize for the weekend goes to Stu Tinner, who most correctly guessed the weight of the finished boom at 1500g. The real weight was 1428g.

So much was learnt and so much accomplished that requests have been made to have another of these valuable opportunities organised. Sticky Weekend Part Deux is the 10th and 11th of March in Hertfordshire. Be there to learn how to do it in your garage.

Paul Croote with his new boom, made by members of the cherub class assocaition under supervision of class experts at the latest class 'sticky weekend'.