Rocket Hydroplane Boat Building Update June 2020 

Thanks Alan, we launched her this weekend just gone. I'm working on getting some bits of video together so you can all see her running.

Yeah it's getting there, about time too!

Thanks Leon, are you making plans to start yours yet? :)

Thanks John!

@@DanLeeBoatbuilding When I was a wee kid my Nanny used to walk me round the boathouse at a county club my parents were members of. I marvelled at the powerboats, especially the wooden hulled ones, mesmerised by the sheen on their mirror-like varnished finish. I was fascinated by the sexy names of the outbord engines: Evinrude; Johnson; Mercury. When she held me up to peek at the wooden dashboards with their neatly arranged gauges and intruments, the smell of leather upholstery and varnish melding with that of petrol coming from the engines is still ingrained in my mind 40 years later. Watching you build boats has been something of a regression to these sweet childhood memories and I am much obliged to you for having documented and shared them. Cheers and all the best.

Great! It's amazing how some smells can trigger such strong memories. Like you say the combination of wood and petrol. I have a little fibreglass Shakespeare and every time I work on it I'm reminded of my Dad's boat from when I was young, the combination of fibreglass and two stroke fuel I think!

It was a pretty busy month!

Cheers! Yeah that will be a bit of a worry, however I'm very much for having boats to use, if it does get marked then it's not the end of the world, it can always be touched up. I have put in plenty of fender points and rubbing strips on all exposed edges to give me a fighting chance too.

Yes I probably wouldn't recommend Rocket for a first build. The other boat I built (named Lady S) is a great one for beginners. As its outboard powered the mechanical side of things are far easier, just bolt on an engine and go almost! I am currently working on a modernised plan set for that design as well which will make the whole daunting, lofting process much easier.