Yep that’s right… after weeks of deliberating I decided to settle on good old white for the Ninja for a couple of reasons… First off, it’s officially the first white Ninja out there (although Mike is building one at the moment for someone!)
Secondly, with all those black MACH2s out there, I figured that to go against the crowd would be to go to the opposite end of the spectrum. Let’s face it, it won’t be too difficult to stand out now on the racecourse!
With any luck, the Europeans will look like a chess board of boats if we can get more white ones to attend!
Thirdly, metallics were out as they would end up heavier due to the extra coats of lacquer required.
Finally, I didn’t want to choose a colour that I would later regret.
Final hull weight fully painted ready for fitting out came in at 10.8KG which according to Mike is spot on.
I’m pleased with the final result as I am not that confident with a spray gun however, after reading up online and doing a few trial runs adjusting the gun, the finish came out perfect and glossy.
The new tramps from Hyde are now fully laced on and they are lovely. The wings are pretty small which makes sense now as the boats are so much more manageable that you do not need to shift around so much (fore and aft).
At this point I am waiting on the juicy bits (foils etc) to come off the production line. Before then, I begin the long road of physical training starting tomorrow.
Plenty of hill climbing on the mountain bike to get strength back in to my desk bound feeble legs, Yoga and running. I am contemplating blogging about it to keep myself motivated as otherwise I think it could be short lived.
Jonnie is also threatening to join me on the downs. (mmm we’ll see!)
I’ll be heading up to QM this weekend for the training sessions armed with video camera. Jonnie has also kindly offered to give me a stint in his boat to get back on the water while I finish mine off.
Comments
Hi Phillippe – she looks great. Well done! I was talking to Simon at the weekend and he says they have made a white and a silver Mach2 recently. But don’t worry – all in the UK are definitely black.
You are the second White Ninja as the first one was painted last week…
You fiend…. You’ve robbed me of my moment of individuality
noticed you’ve used tramp lacings to the gunwales. can you tell us about the gunwale structure to support these?
Hi there,
The structure is as follows: an outer layer of 200gm twill weave, a second layer of 200gm biaxial both wrapped around a fibreglass rod at the outermost edge the vacuum bagged. I can send you a drawing if you like.