RE: Star 45 build started
A brief update on the Star project- It's all framed up, and just finishing putting all the stringers in the bottom/sides. I've obtained some Western Red Cedar planking for the sides/bottom and Yellow Cedar planking for the deck from a guy on eBay- Northwest Precision Lumber.... he did a nice job- the planking is approx. 5/16" x3/32". Purchased the Spektrum Marine reciever for it, and the sail winch is from Servo City- a powerful geared-down servo winch based on a Hitech HG servo. I also have the wood for the mast/boom- some beautiful 1/4-sawn Sitka Spruce from Aircraft Spruce Company, have it cut to laminate the mast blank out of, which will be final tapered/shaped with a razor-sharp blockplane.
I need to start thinking about hatch size- any guidance as to how to determine hatch size requirements will be appreciated.. obviously, one has to be able to access/remove/reinstall anything below deck. Part of my concern is the size of the winch- it's a bit longer than the distance between the frames- it's that large... so its location is pretty much going to dictate the location of the main hatch- to access it and the receiver, which will be velcro'd to the inside of the deck in the vicinity of the mast. I suppose I'll need a 2nd hatch to access the battery pack (NiMh) and the rudder...