Talk:Top Hat 25

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Rewritten

This article needs to be re-written.

I believe that this is simply a fibreglass version of the original. [1]

The Top Hat was designed by Captain John Illingworth of England [2], and was originally built of timber. It was NOT an Australian boat, although some were made there.

My friend and I built one in Sydney, using hot moulded veneer in 4 layers, some time in the 1970's. The outer and inner layers were mahogany (fore and aft and u shape, the two inner were cedar in a crossed diagonal. The king plank was spotted gum, and the deck was oiled teak. The hull was built upside down, and turned over (holding our breath!) to complete the boat. The furnishing was 5ply marine plywood capped with Victorian ash, and the cleats were hand carved from spotted Gum ( hard as iron, a dreadful task). We used an Al mast and boom, with SS fittings and Gal. rigging.

Although we never met Capt. Illingworth, we had several 'phone conversations with him, and found him to be a very nice man indeed and very helpful. To cope with Sydney's notoriously rough offshore seas, we added a breast hook to strengthen the bow.

History

December 2013. I'm doing the Top Hat history, could you contact me thro the Top Hat site please. Note the new URL http://www.tophatyachts.com.