Kyosho Sea Wind Fiberglass Hull

[evlwevl]

Does anyone have either an SE kit or the fiberglass hull only... or know of any still around?

[Aten W Arthog]

I found two at a hobby shop in Champaign Illinois, Slot & Wing Hobbies; light blue glass hulls, very thin, light and flexible, but very pretty, look like America's Cup racer hulls. Minor spiderweb cracks in the surface finish.

I bought the one hull and have been looking for all the other main parts to finish it out. Hatches, keel parts, etc. I can make my own hatches, keel, and rigging, but was especially looking for the decorative parts like helm stations, etc. and a pdf of the manual.


Of the two that were there, I picked the better one: they both looked like they'd been squeezed in the mail, mine had hairline cracks and a chip in the tip of the bow, I just added more epoxy over them with a teeny brush where it was chipped, sanded a bit and it should be perfect after some paint. Topsides looked cherry.

The hull I left behind had some crazing and hairline cracking in the outer finish amidships, more than I needed to deal with, but certainly salvageable... I didn't see it there last time, might have been buried, or sold, they did have a bare fairwind hull for $30, & one or two Nirvana's, hull only, maybe a Paradise in there, saw a little blue aristocraft Americas cupII pocket sized yacht hull, with the built in wing keel, had a little heat damaged flat spot on one side, but looked re-moldable.....

I like this shop a lot, it's one of the biggest and best stocked for about 100 miles...

they get stuff that's been returned to Tower Hobbies under warranty, broken or danaged in shipping, etc, excellent deals in the scratch and dent room if you know what you're doing. Tons of spare Kyosho parts and Hobbico stuff, some Great Planes parts.... I made up a whole Fairwind out of parts there over a year or two's time, under $100. Have had years of fun out of it. Still looking for more cosmetic parts for that, the helm, the railings, etc. I also have a Bennateau sailboat hull and a black Victoria (?) hull from the same place, same low prices. They have some large sailboats there on consignment, very nice ones, I think one's a Marblehead, but I'm not up on my recognition outlines:-)

I don't race, nobody else sails in my town, I just like relaxing cruising, so I don't care if my kitbashed boats are regatta-legal or not, they run very nice anyhow...

Perhaps you could look up the shop and call to see if they still have the other hull for sale by mail. It will take them some time to dig for it. My guess is they will deal if you pay by credit card in advance. They are shrewd negotiators, be warned, and good luck:-)

And no, not selling mine:-)

[evlwevl]

Thanks for the reply,
After searching tirelessly on the web for fiberglass hulls, it just seems they really dont exist anymore and ABS is the standard now for sailboats. Maybe I'll give them a call and see what they have. I've also been told by others to stay away from the fg seawind hull, but 'glass just seems so much more substancial, whereas ABS feels like a toy. But again, thanks for the lead, Ill check it out.
Rob

[Aten W Arthog]

Best of luck with that. FWIW, I put the glass Seawind hull next to the black ABS plastic Victoria hull, roughly the same size and proportions, and the ABS, while a *little* heavier, is WAY more sturdy and stable. It's my understanding that the special edition glass Seawind hulls were discontinued partly for economics, partly because they were so fragile they didn't survive shipping too well, and had a lot of flex under the stresses of racing.

You would probably have to add back the saved weight by running carbon fiber mat or strip inside her to get comparable strength. Like I said before, none of these things is an issue to a casual sailor like me, but if you are looking for a competition edge, methinks perfecting the sail rig and sticking with an ABS hull would get you better, more durable results.