Rapier1.

When the first lock-down came along I dug out a couple of old wrecks that had been thrown away and had been saved from a skip some years previously, and this looked like a good time to see if they could be rescued.

The first was a badly built and abandoned LesRo Rapier (shown here after the rebuild as my photos showing the full rebuilding sequence will not load).

The LiPo tray carries two large 2C 5600Mah LiPo cells, but only one is connected up at a time - the unused LiPo acts as ballast to keep the hull running straight, but makes for a nice quick change when the first one runs down 😀

Any basic tools that I may need when I am "pond side" to change a prop or brushless motor are carried on small magnets in the rear compartment to save me forgetting to take them with me and this has proven to be very helpful!

Bob.

LesRo Rapier.

Since the addition of the new forward hatch I have been able to balance the high speed attitude of Rapier1 using a small amount of roofing lead sheet shaped to conform to the bottom of the hull inside the void.

This lead sheet has been covered with some tight fitting removable buoyancy foam cut to size.

The stainless steel trim tabs that I had been using to control the high speed attitude of the hull are no longer needed and have been removed.

Bob.

LesRo Rapier 1.

This old Rapier model was discarded by its last owner some years before the Covid Lock-Down period that confined us all to stay at home for a while, and had previously been consigned to a skip....but it did have an interesting history.

Unfortunately the boat had not been put together very well by its original builder (thought to be sometime in the 1960's) and one side of the boat was built with a twist in it.

A later owner had crudely "fitted" a petrol engine into it and covered the inside of the hull with some sort of shellac to help prevent the fuel soaking into the hull.

Some of the bulkheads had been roughly hacked-out to make space for the oversized engine and its fuel tank etc and it was in an overall sorry state.

The petrol motor had at a later date been ripped-out of the hull (causing even more damage to it) and the boat had been abandoned for several years before it was given to me to dispose of.

I rescued this hulk back from the skip and took it home during the Lock-Down to give myself a "challenge" - something to think about when I had plenty of enforced time to see if I could do anything with it.

One of the first jobs was to chip away the uneven and thick shellac that was smothered all over the inside of the hull. This was very hard and looked like the sort of coating the could be found covering a "toffee apple" - but much harder.

Some of the shellac could be prised away from the inside surfaces that it covered, but most of it adhered quite well and took a few days of chiselling to chip it all away without puncturing the hulls side and bottom skins.

The remains of the cabin sides were cut out and used as templates to cut some new complete replacements from 4mm birch ply.

One side of the hull had to have the deck removed to give access to the stringers so I could push them out into a position that would straighten the twisted hull side.

The new cabin sides were inserted and the bulkheads were restored to what would have probably been their original shape to fit the cabin sides squarely back into the hull.

With the new cabin sides fitted and the bulkheads now complete again, the deck could also be refitted.

At this stage the hull now looked "straight". The twist had been removed successfully and I was inspired to actually make new cabin tops and all the other things that were needed to complete the rebuild.

These first pictures show the bulkhead shapes being restored to fit the new cabin sides….and painted grey to help hide all the new wood inserts…….

Bob.

LesRo Rapier 1.

The wheelhouse windscreen formers were rebuilt and a new wrap-around screen "mask" was cut from 2mm ply to replace the original window construction.

The original kit wheelhouse roof was only a bent piece of plywood skin. I wanted to replace this with fully constructed roof that could be lifted on and off to improve the access as well as to give a more "finished" look to the boat in this area.

A new plywood base was cut for this new wheelhouse roof and some formers were made to replicate the curvature that I had used for the front and rear removable cabin roof assemblies so that all the to surfaces of the boots cabin tops were in unison with each other.

Bob.

Rapier 1. Covid Colour Scheme.

I just found this old video that was taken of Rapier 1 during its first run after being restored.

The boat run OK, but the balance was not quite right causing the bows to "bob" up and down slightly and it was noticed that the longer the boat was run, the worse the "bobbing" became.

When the boat was brought "back to shore" after this run the hull was found to be full of water !

The hull was checked and was seen to be undamaged and after further investigation it was seen that the new water cooled alloy motor mount had a leak(!) - so the longer the boat was run, the more water was being pumped into the hull.

As the water weight built up and sloshed about inside the hull the weight transfer caused the eratic handling seen here.

Fitting a replacement alloy water-cooled mount stopped the leak and allowed the boat to run smoothly. Apart from this faulty new component (that was quickly changed) Rapier 1 has run really nicely since it was restored and I have been very pleased with it.

After the Covid restrictions had finished, I was able to buy some red paint and the colour scheme was changed a little to the one that the boat has been seen with ever since.

Bob.

Rapier 1.

Here is another old video of Rapier 1 running in her new colours, and with the large air scoop on the foredeck.

At this early stage Rapier 1 was still running with the adjustable trim tabs fitted.

Soon after this, the trim tabs were removed as the hatch I cut in the foredeck would be used to balance the boat with cut and shaped pieces of roofing lead to adjust the balance of the boat.

The large air scoop was also replaced with a flat hatch - but it was cut down and added to the cabin roof as an air-con intake.

Bob.

Hi Boatshed,

Since your question about the performance of Rapier 1 (in your last comment) I searched and found this for you.

Here is a video of Rapier 1 running as she is now with the lower power Surpass motor on a 2cell LiPo battery.

The original motor was too powerful for the small Southport club lake and the duration was only 7-8 minutes at best.

Although not as fast, she drives beautifully and gives more running time per battery charge.

The lower speed still gives a good driving experience within the confines of the small club lake.

Towards the end of this short video, you can see that I throw the boat around a bit (pure abuse) to show it’s tight turning ability coupled with its outstanding stability.

Les Rowell did a really good job when he designed this hull - it works perfectly - not so sure about the cabin shape - but the hull is really good.

Bob.

Rapier 4.

Another LesRo Rapier was attracting very little attention on an eBay advert a little while ago, and feeling a little sorry for it, I put in a sensible bid......and bought it.

So I now have another LesRo Rapier in my fleet and it looks like it will take a lot less work to get back on the water than my original twisted and fuel soaked "Covid Project" - although like all Rapiers, it will need a decent wheelhouse cabin top making to replace the single thin layer of plywood skin that is specified during the kit build to act as a roof.

This one had a piece of clear plastic wrapped over the wheelhouse to replace the kits thin ply skin wrap that is specified as a roof. I have not seen this done before.

I properly constructed (and removable) roof will be crafted to replace this thin "wrap-over" to make a better looking boat and to improve access.

Another "mask" to wrap over the front wheelhouse windscreens will also be made to tidy-up another weak area of the original (but otherwise superb) design.

The hull is also devoid of strakes, so I will have to make some more and fit them too............actually, the more I think about it, the more I find to do to this Rapier, so maybe it will not be a quick restoration after all..................

Bob.