Klaus Sussenbach

CHARLOTTE

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Klaus Sussenbach built and sails this Norwalk Island Sharpie, “Charlotte”.

Norwalk Island Sharpies (or NIS’s as they are known) were designed by Bruce Kirby in the US and are one of the North American style sharpies that are rigged as cat‐ketches with un-stayed rigs and centre boards. Klaus launched his boat in 1998, having commenced construction two and a half years previously, in 1996, and has covered a lot of sea miles since.

Vital Statistics;

  • Length –  26 feet
  • Draft -0.4 m of water, board up and a generous 1.8 m, board down
  • Rig – cat rigged with two masts
  • Sail area – 31.6 sq metres
  • Ballast – 500 Kg
  • Design reference – refer website www.nisboats.com

To find out more about the building of Charlotte, refer to the Feb-Mar 2015 Newsletter in the “Library” section of this website.

This project begun with 1/10th scale model of Charlotte. It shows the internalconstruction viewable through cutaway sections of the model. The imperial plans were converted to metric.

 

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Bulkheads assembled on the building frame, chines and gunwales in place and the centrecase being lowered into position. Klaus noted that the chines were fabricated from two pieces of timber<br />

Klaus sanded the hull with the long boards previously procured and used an air supplied breathing apparatus during this process.<br />

 

 

The big moment arrives and the finished hull is rolled over using a lay shafts and pulley technique in the workshop<br />

The first of two curved skins that form the cabin top is glued into position over the completed frames. The cabin top is two layers of 4mm ply with the second layer vacuum bagged on. Note the cabin sides are already completed including window cutouts.

 

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Filling and sanding proceeds on the hull, deck and superstructure and primer is applied.<br />

 

 

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