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Raceboat Cockpit
Construction Notes
Page Two
Foam Layer

To prevent the cockpit from bonding with the form, you may want to cover the form with plastic sheeting, or cover the individual battens with plastic tape.

I used 1/2" foam cut into 12"-wide strips (initially) and heated it with a heat gun to bend it onto the form. This was a slow process. There are probably easier ways to do it, such as slitting the foam with a knife, but would likely lead to more seams that need to be filled later. I did use narrower pieces farther forward, where the bend is sharpest.

If you are making an unreinforced cockpit, 1/4" foam should be adequate, and should bend on much more easily.

Attach the foam with a bare minimum number of screws to ease removal of the cockpit from the form later.

It is not necessary to carry the foam all the way to mold #4. Looks like I went high enough to meet the "crease" in the raised side.

That long, wedge-shaped gap in the side will have to be filled with a sliver of foam.

All the foam in place, and the cockpit opening traced on.

Trim the foam flush with mold #1.

I formed the tip of my cockpit with a piece of 1.5"-thick pine. Alternatively, the tip can built up with several layers of foam.

Before attaching the wood or foam, put tape or plastic on mold #1 and on the ends of the battens so that the tip does not become bonded to it. The tip must be attached to the edges of the foam only.

Shape the tip. The lower part of the tip will be trimmed away when you fit the cockpit to your boat.

Fill the seams with epoxy thickened with silica. OR, if you are making a non-reinforced cockpit, and will be opting for polyester resin and fiberglass, you may want to use a polyester-based filler. Using polyester over epoxy doesn't alway work well.

As you can see, I used a small lead weight and a stick propped against a table to hold the foam in place in a couple of troublesome locations.

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