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Pantanal 25
How to build the Pantanal 25
The Pantanal 25 is specified for strip-planking sandwich construction, the so called speed-strip construction
method. Preferentially she is intended to employ PVC foam as core material, but optionally PVC foam may be
substituted by light wood, resulting in a heavier hull with a consequent small loss in performance, especially
when under sail. This method of construction is easy and quite quick to be accomplished, resulting in a light
and sturdy hull.
Sheets 0 which are supplied in CD, or, if required, printed in paper, contain the full size patterns for hull and
deck moulds, as well as the full size drawings for the transverse bulkheads. Moulds and bulkheads when
precisely cut by numerical control have their heights above the building grid correctly defined, so positioning
them on it becomes an easy task. The CNC file supplied in CD allows the fabrication of the moulds by means of
laser or miller cutting. If these processes aren't available locally, there is no restriction in resuming to the
traditional method of cutting the moulds and bulkheads with the jig-saw. The smaller precision thus obtained
is negligible regarding the final quality of the boat.

Label the position of moulds on the upper face of the building grid according to the following spacing:
The first mould is positioned at station 0.5. The fourteen other ones are placed at 480 mm intervals and the
transom mould 400 mm abaft mould number fifteen. Fix the moulds in their places, taking care to match their
positions, from first to ninth with the fore face of the moulds coinciding with the 480 mm spacing line and
from there aft, reversing the moulds position. Beveling and fairing aren't required when proceeding in this
way, representing an important saving in time of construction.
It's important to protect the edges of the moulds with an externally non-adhesive tape to prevent any spilled
glue to stick to them.

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Attach the moulds to the building grid, taking care to ensure that they stay plumb and perpendicular to
centreline. Next install the stem base mould, which is also supplied in full size pattern and joins to the first
mould. The stem is made with two pieces of PVC foam, being the one closer to the forepeak built with high
density foam, since the forestay chain plate will be attached there. If high density foam is difficult to be
purchased in small quantities, marine plywood may be employed in its place. After firmly fixing the moulds in
their places, the hull is ready to be planked with the strips.

Prepare 60 mm wide strips from 15 mm thick 80kg/m3 PVC foam. (The width is reduced to 30 mm if wood is
employed). Fix the first strip with its lower edge coinciding with the sheer line. Then proceed applying other
strips until reaching about two thirds of the hull's girth.. Use temporary nails to fix the strips to the moulds and
apply epoxy with filler (colloidal silica or micro sphere) to join their edges and ends. Then start applying the
strips from centreline until reaching the ones that were already laid in place.

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Once the boat is completely planked, the temporary nails are removed and the outside face of the foam is
sanded to ensure a fair finish. Make a 2 mm rabbet with a circular sander on the 75 mm next to the sheer line
to allow for the overlap of the deck lamination. (See detail in sheet 5B).
Now the hull is ready for the fibreglassing of the outside lamination. Employing epoxy resin to saturate the
glass, apply two layers of 500g/m2 bi-ply material, overlapping 500 mm to the other side of the hull, this way
duplicating in this area the thickness of the lamination. Finally the false stem at the lower tip must be
installed. First bond a foam triangular patch already roughly faired to the lower part of the stem. Then, after
the glue is set, carefully complete the fairing in place and apply over this patch the same lamination specified
for the hull, overlapping the first layer in 50 mm and the second one in 100 mm. Sand the whole hull's surface
after the resin is cured. When peel-ply is employed this is practically unnecessary.
Then apply an epoxy primer over the whole surface, except for the 75 mm rabbet next to the sheer line, since
at this margin the hull is going to be bonded to the superstructure. Don't paint also the area around the
bearing tube hole on the starboard topside, where the bowsprit will be attached.
When this task is completed, it's a great occasion to call the close friends for a barbecue, since it's time to turn
the boat upside.

Remove the moulds after turning the hull upside. Then sand the interior and remove with a chisel the foam at
the central area where the keel case will be attached, and also a patch where the shrouds chain plates will be
installed. The lamination is single skin in the keel area and reinforced where the chain plates will be fixed. On
that spot high density foam is inserted to reinforce the chain plate region. Before inserting the high density
foam it's important to apply at the shroud chain plate location where the foam was removed two rectangular
patches of cloth on the bottom of the rectangular hole opened there, laying on the inner side of the external
lamination. Then apply two other cloth layers overlapping the hole walls which should be chamfered. Only
then insert the high density foam and apply the inside secondary lamination. (See detail in sheet 5A). If
wooden strips are employed there is no need to remove the strips, but it will be required an extra external
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secondary lamination over the hull's outside lamination.

Building the interior

Once the internal lamination is completed, the next task is the installation of the keel case, floors, bulkheads
and furniture partitions.
The keel case, a rectangular box with rounded edges, is made over a male plug. The easiest way to make it is
to apply the first layer of lamination around the plug and cut the after face vertically with a sharp edge tool.
Then open slightly the laminate, remove the plug and proceed with the application of the remaining layers of
lamination. After installing the keel Delrin or UHMPE (ultrahigh molecular-weight polyethylene) bearings, the
case is ready to be installed. Apply the secondary lamination specified in sheet 5B to bond the keel-case to the
hull bottom. After doing it, open the hole for the lower bearing. One way to make it is, after marking the
rectangular area to be cut, to open four holes, one in each corner, and cut the rectangular hole with a jig-saw.
There is no inconvenience if the cutting line isn't absolutely precise. If a small gap is left it can be filled with
epoxy putty as far as the keel-case is correctly positioned. The bearing slot for the fin-keel must have a 0.3 mm
maximum tolerance at each side, to prevent undesirable noises when the keel tilts.
Floors are installed only after the keel-case is firmly fixed to the hull bottom. Prepare the shape of the floors
with rigid polyurethane foam and encapsulate them with the lamination specified in sheet 5B. Finally install
the PVC foam sandwich brackets which join the floors to the keel-case, as specified in the plans, attaching
them with secondary lamination.
Next the transverse bulkheads, which full size patterns are given in CD, are constructed in sandwich over a
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lamination table.
Carefully mark their positions on the interior with a pilot pen and fillet with epoxy with filler both sides of their
edges. When the putty is cured, apply fibreglass tapes according to information given in detail in sheet 5B.
The remaining furniture partitions and the anchor rode well are made in a similar way as the transverse
bulkheads, except that for them there aren't full size patterns. When finishing this work the interior is ready for
the finishing work. The apparent edges of all bulkheads should be covered with a light cloth tape and then the
whole interior is ready for sanding and to receive the finishing paintwork.
Building the Superstructure

Once again the moulds are fabricated by laser or miller cutting. They are also assembled over a rectangular
grid, which in case the hull and the superstructure aren't built simultaneously, may be the same one.
The deck is built in a similar way to the hull, except that instead of strips it's employed foam panels. The radius
between the trunk coach roof and the sidewalls is too small to allow for foam panels to bend over the moulds.
On that place it's necessary to apply foam strips, as were employed during the hull construction.

When putting the foam panels in place, the bonding of a panel to another is made with sharp angles. The
concave angle is later filleted according to the radius specified in the plans and the convex one rounded to
specifications with a sanding tool. (A surform plane or a pad with sandpaper are quite adequate for the job,
but with skill and some care, an electrical sander may also be employed). Only then the secondary lamination
is applied. Insert high density foam, or, if not available, marine plywood patches, where fittings will be
installed. (This is shown in sheet 5A.)
The outside lamination is applied after fairing the foam. When the fibreglassing is concluded, the whole
superstructure is sanded. Then the deck is ready to be turned turtle for the inside lamination. Again round the
convex edges employing a sanding tool and fillet the concave ones with epoxy with filler. The inside
lamination is applied in the same way as the outside. After sanding the internal surface, cut the lifting-keel
beam foam core and bond it to the ceiling. Then laminate it integrating to the superstructure.
Following, the hull is bonded to the deck. When lowering the deck on top of the hull, the bulkheads will fit very
close to perfection under it. If in any particular point bulkheads and superstructure don't fit as a glove, if it's
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left a gap, this will be filled with epoxy putty, but if there is a lump instead, this lump requires to be removed
with a surform plane, rasp or sanding machine.
First bond the topside edges to the underside of the deck, employing the same epoxy putty used to join the
foam edges. Next fillet the inside edge all around the boat and apply the internal deck to hull secondary
lamination. Then fillet all bulkheads to the superstructure and apply the secondary lamination tapes at their
both faces. Finally make the round radius specified along the sheer line and apply the hull-to-deck joining
lamination, overlapping the topsides lamination along the 75 mm rabbet
The bowsprit bearing tube is fixed at this stage.
Only after applying the finishing coat of paint, systems, fittings, drop keel and rudder gudgeons are installed.
Next step is to invite your friends for the first trial.

Roberto Barros Yacht Design

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