When John Davis, the editor for ModelYachting, suggested that I do a featurearticle documenting the building of mynew Gambit US One Meter, my initialreaction was “yea sure, just what’sneeded, another over written piecedetailing how to build a boat with theobligatory picture of a hull in the moldwith juxtaposed clothes pins lined up likeNutcracker solders ringing the top of themold.” (Editors note: I really do likethose shots... with lots of clothes pins.)John knows that I am a has-been bigleague sports photographer so hecleverly appealed to my visualorientation by saying that since my boats

Building Gambitby Dennis Desprois

are so unique in their construction, thepiece could be primarily a photographyproject. I didn’t want to admit that, afterthirty years of shooting Major LeagueBaseball and the NFL, making a pictureof anything that isn’t moving can easilyturn into a rather challenging endeavorfor me. However, since there were acouple months until Spring Training herein Arizona, it was a chance to dust offthe cameras and use up some of theoutdated film taking up space in arefrigerator. I agreed to photograph anddocument my next build.

As luck would have it, I had just startedbuilding a Gambit US One Meter with araised foredeck and skiff aft deck. This

The completed Gambits. The Standard version has a raised foredeck and skiff aft-

deck. The skiff version has a full skiff deck.

The carbon fiber cloth is fitted into the

mold with a minimum amount of excess

material (the stuff is a bit pricey) and

then wetted out with epoxy resin.

Because a laminated structure makes for

a stronger part, a layer of 2 oz fiberglass

cloth is laid over the carbon fiber and

wetted with epoxy to gain the proper

stiffness.

The Gambit hull is made with three

molds. The hull and foredeck are laid up

in female molds, while the aft deck is laid

up on a reverse mold. Before a part can

be laid up, the molds have to be cleaned,

and polished with several layers of wax

applied. Here, the mold is being waxed.

Trimmed carbon fiber cloth, ready to fit

into the hull mold lies in the foreground

on the table.

Wetting-out the aft deck. Because epoxy

resin generally sets more slowly than

polyester resin, I prefer to use epoxy resin

to wet the carbon fiber cloth. He gains a

longer working life than if he used

polyester resin. Therefore it isn’t a race

to get the part wetted out before the resin

goes off.

The inside of the Orco hatch is cut out

and its outside trimmed. The shape of

the hatch is then cut in the aft deck and

the hatch fitted under the deck before

being bonded in place with epoxy.

With the Orco hatch installed in the aft

deck and a slot cut for the mast tubes,

both the aft deck and foredeck are ready

to be bonded to the hull with epoxy

one was fitted with Swede Johnson’sOrco hatch and I had an order for anotherGambit US One Meter that would be abit different in it’s construction. ThisGambit was going to a skipper inGeneva, Switzerland who wanted tohave the only US One Meter sailing inthe Alps (I liked that). Since his localpond happened to be Lake Geneva withpotential big winds and constant chop,he wanted all of the electronics to be

After the excess cloth has been trimmed

from the mold, a balsa brace (strake) is

glued to the top of the hull to hold its

shape and act as a base for the decks

when they are installed. The vertical

bulkhead, keel box, and mast tubes have

also been installed.

After the foredeck has been installed and

trimmed around the hull, the edge over

the vertical bulkhead is sanded.

Protective tape prevents damage to the

carbon fiber finish. A carbon fiber

reinforcement plate has been added to

the top of the keelbox for strength where

the keel attachment bolt will be.

The Gambit hull with mounts for the

internal electronics. The Futaba S-5801

holder box is installed with a battery

holder.

The completed foredeck after it has been

trimmed and the seam has been sanded.

Before it is attached to the hull, the

carbon fiber jib rack and a support for

the fairlead are resined in place under

the deck.

For the hull with the internal winch,

mounts are made for the rudder servo,

so it can be easily bolted to the underside

of the aft deck just behind the hatch.

The hull with the Orco hatch. The aft

deck is ready to be resined to the hull. A

balsa brace is tacked inside the transom

to prevent hull distortion when the deck

is taped on. It is removed when the

transom is resined on.

Before resining the aft deck to the hull,

tape is applied to the hull to shield it from

resin overflow and to protect it while

trimming and sanding the seam. A clamp

is used to hold the mast tube in the middle

of the deck and to the plate on the keel

box. The deck is also held in place by

tape. The lines on the table are a sail

pattern.

Once the aft deck is resined onto the hull,

the overlap is trimmed, using a Dremel

tool with a cutoff wheel, and then sanded.

During any sanding, the value of the

protective tape is obvious

The carbon fiber chain plates are made

of several layers of cloth and molded

under pressure. A slot is cut into the deck

near the hull and the chain plate is then

resined to the inside of the hull.

tucked away inside the hull. My boatsare continually evolving so the idea offiguring out how I’m going to get frompoint A to point B with the modificationwas something I was looking forward to.Since I have never liked making a radioboard, I ended up machining a four-partaluminum mold for a carbon fiber pieceto go inside the hull. It fit the shape of

Here is a hull with a completed Orco hatch. Before it is detailed, I like to put all of

the components together to see what everything looks like.

With the keel fin in place, a guide hole is

drilled in the deck of the finished hull to

mark the spot where the threaded bolt in

the keel trunk will be located.

The aft deck of a Gambit with an Orco

hatch. The rudder post is installed before

the transom is resined in place. A carbon

fiber plate is added around the rudder

post for strength. The Pekabe block is

for the sheet return.

The foredeck with the carbon fiber jib

rack. The Pekabe block is for the sheet

tension line. The hole in the bow is the

internal drain. The drain-hole plug is a

rod that extends above the deck to act as

a water splitter. It helps keep the bow

from plowing under (submarining) in

heavy weather.

A completed hull with an Orco hatch. The seams have been sanded smooth. The

hull and deck have been completely polished, and the trademark gold trim has been

added.

The Gambit hull with an internal winch

box. The Futaba S-5801 winch and

batteries are in place. Unlike the model

with the modular Orco hatch (where all

of the sheeting is above decks), in this

configuration, the winch is inside the

boat, and the sheet runs from the winch,

under the aft deck to an exit at the stern.

An elastic tension line and sheets are

positioned above deck. The jib sheet and

tension line then pass through the

bulkhead and exit on the foredeck aft of

the jib sheet fairlead.

the Futaba S-5801 drum winch perfectly.This “winch box” holds the winchsecurely but allows it to be simply liftedout if necessary. As a side task, I wasalso making a mold for a completely newand rather radical full-skiff deckconfiguration for both the Gambit 36/600and US One Meter. So in fact, I wassimultaneously working on threevariations of the same theme.

Because the first two boats, one withthe Orco hatch and one with the winchinside the hull, were at different stagesof construction, keeping in sequence, Itook the liberty of co-mingling thephotographs of the two different boatsso don’t get confused when you arelooking at the pictures. The full-skiffdeck version was completed shortly afterthe first two, so in a short period of time,I had three versions of the same boatsailing. For guys who design boats, thatis about as good as it gets. The jury isstill out as to which deck version is thefastest, but since the deck isn’t going tohave all that much influence on how fasta boat goes, I suspect it will be a wash.Most importantly, my concerns aboutwater pooling on the deck of the radicalfull-skiff deck, proved to be unfounded(a relief since it looks really cool!). Andthe report on the version sailing on LakeGeneva is that it is easily the secondfastest boat on the lake, the fastest beingAlinghi.

What sets my boats apart from theothers is that they are made completelyof carbon fiber and except for a few parts;literally everything is made in my shop.Laying up carbon fiber does take timeso how long it takes to make a boat isdependent on how many of the ancillary

Some of the ancillary, molded, carbon

fiber parts and their molds: the mast tube

minus the mandral, the Orco hatch cover

with its two-part mold, the S-5801 winch

holder with its four-part mold, and the

keel box with its two-part mold.

Parts out of the molds. Keel box, mast

tube, Orco hatch cover, and both halves

of the S-5801 winch holder.

The Orco hatch and hatch cover in their

molds. The hatch cover is laid up first,

trimmed, and put back into the mold.

Then the hatch is laid up inside the cover

for a perfect fit.

Completed Orco hatch with the winch,

rudder servo, receiver, and batteries

attached to the underside. An On/Off

switch with a waterproof cover and a

sheet-exit bridge complete the hatch.

Completed aft deck of a Gambit with an Orco hatch. The sheets, tension line, and

all of the components are above deck for easy access. The rudder arm is milled

aluminum (since modified) and the rudder shaft is a carbon rod with an adjustable

clevis on either end. A knurled nut holds the fin and a carbon fiber tab washer holds

the front of the hatch. The antenna wire goes up the shroud.

The two halves of the molded, hollow,

carbon fiber booms are trimmed before

they are sanded and resined together.

After the fin is out of its mold, the trunk

is roughed out and placed in an

alignment mold. Resin is added to form

a trunk that is matched to fit the keel box.

Completed fin with the treaded rod that

extends through the deck where it is

secured in place with a knurled nut.

parts I have pre-made... like the masttube, keel box, bulb and so on. Myapproach is that things take as long asthey take and the best you can do is beefficient in the building sequence. If youcount every nut, bolt and bowsie, thereare about a hundred and forty parts inthe Gambits (fifteen to eighteen of whichare multiple part carbon fiber). Most ofthe carbon fiber parts come out of the

Sand casting the lead bulb is a multi-step process. First, screened sand goes over a

half mold of the bulb in a frame. The sand is packed tightly, and the process is

repeated for the other half. A spout for pouring lead into the pattern is positioned,

and the patterns are removed. The two frame halves are carefully put together and

the lead poured. Once it has cooled the bulb has to be trimmed, and a slot cut for

the fin. The last step is to smooth the bulb.

he Gambit US One Meter sailing on Lake

Geneva, Switzerland.

mold in two pieces and have to be resinedtogether to make the complete part.

I don’t mean for that to sound at allcavalier because anyone who has builtor even assembled a boat knows thatputting together or installing a partsounds simple but in reality meanstrimming, sanding, looking for a tool,gluing or resining, fumbling for a 2-56bolt, dropping the church key under thefridge and answering the telephone withjust mixed resin waiting for immediateapplication.

I find the most complicated and time-consuming part is building the fin. Minetakes four separate and somewhatcomplicated lay-ups with each taking aday to cure before trimming andpreparing for the next mold. The endresult is a light, very stiff fin, so it is wellworth the time.

When talking about sails, I often quoteBob DeBow, the dean of R/C boatdesigners and builders, when he declares,“sails are a sailboat’s motor and youdon’t want to put a Pinto motor in aCorvette!” Some skippers like to maketheir own sails. which is something Iencourage. However, there is anundeniable learning curve to sail makingand anyone making their own sailshopefully realizes that there is a very bigdifference between assembling sails andmaking sails. My Walrus sails are madewith a 1.4 polyester film that shapes well

and with no sewn seams they have aremarkably smooth surface. Making myown sails allows me to experiment withdifferent rig aspects and ratios. Aftertrying a couple different rigs, I can prettymuch compliment the boat with the sailsthat I think are going to make it go thefastest in each condition.

Since this is specifically an articleabout building the Gambit US OneMeter, I resisted getting into designtheories or even commenting on myideas of what makes one boat go fasterthan another. For those skippers whohave an active imagination, the allure ofthe development classes is that any ideayou may have can be transposed to hisor her boat. As Swede Johnson says,“Either it works or it doesn’t.” The joyis that you get to try. Now that’s fun!

To see the other boats, etc. that Imanufacture, visit my website at:www.rc-yachts.com.

Bulb ready to be attached to the fin.

The Gambit US One Meter, with the

raised foredeck, sailing in light air.

The Gambit US One Meter with full skiff

deck.