Peter Wood, July 2023
Last summer I decided to put a 1997 Riverside Marine-built 2.4mR on the market. I purchased it a number of years ago as a second boat for sailors in our club who expressed an interest in the class but were not ready to make the commitment to buy their own. I used the boat during COVID when my boat and trailer were stuck in Florida. The boat has ISAF sticker # 48. It is an early Norlin Mark 3.
The purchaser was Stéphane Joubert, a skilled craftsman who had rebuilt a few sail boats in the past. Stéphane had contacted the class through our website and drove down from Mirabel QC to check out the boat and go for a sail at Nepean Sailing Club. It was love at first sight and he purchased the boat and towed it home immediately.
This summer Stéphane brought his boat back to Nepean Sailing Club for a “give it a try” Saturday. I was impressed with the repairs and upgrades that he did himself over the past twelve months. Stéphane provided me with some pictures of the significant things that he did. Stéphane is a recreational sailor and not a racer and usually sails independently, so some of his adaptations are not suitable for competitive sailors.
The first picture shows the original with both tiller steering and foot pedals, a manual pump on the steering post and a very disorganized dashboard. The tiller steering has been removed, the manual pump has been replaced with a pump in the floor board and the dash board has been replaced with a clear acrylic dashboard. The cleats have been mounted in a more organized layout. Stéphane made a new splash board and a collar for the mast opening. Small Harken turning blocks and cleats for the pole hoist and main sail cunningham are mounted on the deck. The cockpit was sprayed with epoxy paint and the seat was rebuilt. The hull was buffed and polished.
The original Riverside Marine 2.4mR had two small through deck bushings for adjustable forestay and jib Cunningham. The ropes chaffed through the fittings and the bushings allowed water into the bow compartment. Newer boats replaced this with a small stainless steel channel. Stéphane made his own fitting from an aluminum channel and added a small strap to protect the bow from dock collisions. He re-sealed the inspection port to give access to the bow area.
The battery for the original electric bilge pump was located on a tray behind the seat instead of in the bilge (as the newer boats are configured). Stéphane replaced the tray with a watertight container that he mounted behind the seat. All the plugs are water resistant.
Stéphane has also installed netting between the dashboard and the front bulk head to store personal items he takes with him while sailing.
I have discussed with Stéphane some additional things to optimize his boat. He has 165 Kilos of ballast in his lead keel weights. The next step will be to weigh the boat in accordance to class rules to see if he can add additional ballast to get the all up boat weight closer to 254 Kilograms and the keel ballast weight closer to 181 kilograms.
Finally we are encouraging Stéphane to try racing with our fleet. He now has a great looking boat which is worth a lot more than his initial outlay.
Peter Wood