Pricing and Availability

The yacht is available direct from the builder, as bare mouldings, or to various levels of completion.

This is the interior layout. (The outboard powered version would not have the engine box).


 
 

Progress report on development of Airwave 9.9m yacht

In the small Northern Lagoon at Jumpinpin at the Northern end of South Stradbroke Island

At Sandhills on Moreton Island dried out on the sand

sailpast with spinnaker at Green Island

Spinnaker up for the first time at Green Island

Sailing upwind at Green Island on Moreton Bay with Garrie and Steve

The Airwave at the ramp shortly after launch. It really can be motored in about 250-300 mm (10-12 ins) of water

The yacht has now been launched, and seems really good in all aspects. The helm is slightly to weather
as hoped, and the bow and stern are just a few inches out of the water at rest. Electric raisable rudder,
along with all other systems, works well.

We put the sails on the boat to check that all is ok there. As yet there is no insignia on the mainsail.

After some initial jamming caused by slight narrowing fore/aft of the centrecase, the keel is through and
goes all the way up and down with no problems.

This is the pulley system to raise and lower the keel. 4mm rope looks very thin and flimsy but apparently
has a breaking load of 2059kg and so is stronger than the winch. However we have removed one of the
four circuit breakers to hopefully reduce the ultimate strength of the winch so it can't break the rope.
Keel goes up and down very easily which makes us think we could have used a lighter winch.

The 4500 pound Superwinch has been installed in the bathroom near the top of the centrecase
to raise and lower the keel.

We don't want to 'dunk' the trailer when launching and retrieving because the saltwater might ruin the
electric brakes, so we have made a guide on the back of the trailer to lift the nose of the boat up onto
the trailer on a shallow ramp. It hinges up to give clearance from the ground when not in use.

The wheel assemblies have been cut off the trailer and attached temporarily to angle iron bars, so the wheels
can be slid back or forward to achieve about 330kg weight on the towbar. When we find the right spot
we will weld the wheel assembly back onto the trailer frame.

The keel has been put through the centrecase but the winch to raise and lower it has not been installed yet,
but will be in the next few days.

The keel has been suspended from the jib and lowered into the boat

The keel is now finished ready to drop in. However first we need to move the wheels of the trailer forward
to solve the problem of too much weight on the towbar when the keel is in place.

The keel has been filled over the lead and partially faired

here the keel components have been joined and the squeeze out joining putty has been used to cover
the portside of the lead section.

The keel top has been made and the jig for joining the keel has been made, and here the components
are aligned in the jig.

Here the lead bottom for the keel has been cast. It normally has a weight of 700kg.

here the keel frame is shown against the mould for the lead bottom section, with the portside of the mould removed

the keel frame has been welded up, shown here against the keel plug for the keel in the configuration
which has the bulb on the bottom. That's not the keel we are using  for this boat, but is useful for measuring
and planning purposes.


The galley is progressing, and the bathroom goor has been fitted.

An aluminium cockpit brace frame has been added aft of the aft double berth which along with the
companionway steps and the vertical components of the back lockers will hopefully prevent the
cockpit and aft deck from moving in relation to the hull.


Mast is up for the first time here

we have driven the boat to Brisbane and had the mast fitted. Here I am winding it up with a winch using
a jockey pole and two side tangs fitted to the cabin to keep it from moving sideways

Over the weekend the pulpit bowrail was made, just needs polishing and bolting on. We need it on
the boat for picking up the mast which will be fitted in Brisbane on Thursday.

This transom picture above may look like the previous picture below, but since the below picture we have made
a mould of the back section, made an article from that mould, and spliced it onto the back section to
replace the back seen here, which was patched together from bits and pieces.

The transom has been made into the final shape, with a lot of detailing to be done.

There is now a completed aft double bunk, 2.5m in width. Latest decision is to leave it open  to enable access
from either side. Originally a back shelf and wall for the galley was planned.

Front cabin is finished carpeting and cushion installed

Inner window trims are now fitted, and the bathroom bulkhead can be seen joining onto the centrecase

The bathroom has been installed, the composite pvc foam/glass bulkhead having been built around
the fibreglass/foam sandwich door.

Mastpost has been made and installed. It is mounted to the base of the centrecase, which saves making
a structural floor vertically beneath the mast.

Windows have been installed.

The front cabin bulkhead has been installed, as well as the front bunk.

Galley has been fitted ready for properly bonding in


Portside bulkhead has been fitted which will be the front wall of the shower compartment


Toerails have been fitted and chainplates have also been fitted


The hull and deck have been joined together for the first time so we get to see the final shape of the boat


newly joined hull/deck from the back. Open transom has yet to be constructed.


Comparison of the keel lead moulds for the Airwave and the Ross 780. The comparison is deceptive, as whilst
the big keel mould is 1.4m high, it will only be cast about 950mm deep to get 700kg for the trailable version
of the yacht.However it will be able to be made heavier for those who wish to have a stiffer boat for ocean racing
or whatever.
 


vacuum pump is used to pull the cabin liner onto the deck


Makeshift vacuum pump made from bits lying around....an old milking pump and a 4 hp 3-phase engine


Deck has been released from the mould and trimmed

Deck from back. We have to make the open transom so it just stops....


New Hull


Hull shape seems very satisfactory

The foam sandwich has now been put onto the laminate and the edges sanded to a taper.
 


The first layer of 300g/sq m chopstrand matt has been applied over the gelcoat


The deck has been sprayed with light grey gelcoat.

The galley is taking shape with the module that will support the stove and Cobb cooker in place. It will also give us more storage.

The deck mould is now ready to go and we will spray on the gelcoat on Monday
 

The deck mould has been brought in for modifications before making the first deck. Companionway has to be sealed off and provision made for the stormboards.

The cockpit has to have a large extra lid fitted, and a mould made for that.

The cockpit recess for the liferaft has to be sealed off with a section of normal nonskid floor.

The transom will be opened and remodelled once the deck has been mounted on the hull.

The furniture mouldings have been loosely placed in the boat. We now need to have the deck in place to make

decisions about the precise location of the furniture, so we may now commence making the deck.

Shower side showing new aft water tank (104 litre)and minor bulkheads

galley side furniture with icebox and minor bulkheads

First pass on the portside furniture. Reinforcement around the locker lids:

First pass on the galley

Starboard side furniture which includes galley has been gelcoated following many weeks of preparation of the mould. The round

disc-like insert in the mould of the galley is a recess for the rubbish bin that drops into the galley top. Note the inserts for the

locker lids and door insert in the front of the galley.

Portside furniture mould has been gelcoated. This mould includes the shower floor which will be modified to run right across

to the centrecase.(see interior plan)

Galley mould modified  by resetting front face of galley back away from centreline, to increase clearance walking past the centrecase

The basic laminate is now complete, with just a rovings,chopstrand layer down the centreline still to go.
 
 

Coremat /chopstrand layer laminated on port side.
 
 

Coremat cut for port side, after first pass, and chopstrand/woven roving layer. Note overlaps in centre to provide strong spine for trailer rollers.
 
 

Hull mould has been gelcoated ready for first pass
 
 

Centrecase has been completed, and ready to go in before laminating the hull.
 
 

Hull mould polished
 
 

Hull mould finished, but now needs polishing
 
 

The new shape of the hull is now becoming apparent.
 
 

The tooling gelcoat has been applied
 
 

With the new nose in the mould it's time to re-constitute the mould around the new shape.
 
 

The section of hull has had its' final coat of 2 pack paint ready for moulding. The yellow colour is to provide

contrast with black tooling gelcoat
 
 

Bow section is now ready for a final sand and polish, and the front of the mould has been cut away
 
 

nearly there now, lots of pinholes to fill, and still a few undulations to fix.
 
 

several layers of filler have been applied, and today the sanding begins. Lots of dust!
 
 

the foam has been sealed with fibreglass ready for filling and fairing
 
 

Foam filling has been attached aft of the new bow section
 
 

A section of Ross 780 Bow is in place to be spliced on for the nose job. Once this is fair and finished, it will be put back in the mould with the altered area of the mould removed, and a new front section of the mould will be made around the new bow section.
 
 

A section of the original bow is moulded and removed, ready for alteration
 
 

finished smoothing and polished
 
 

sprayed after glassing, ready for polishing.
 
 

...And clamped straight ready for reglassing
 
 
 
 

The Aft end of the mould is split open and stretched wider 230mm each side
 
 

Deck mould has had a supporting frame and wheels fitted
 
 

The mould is wheeled in for modification in December 2003
 
 

we now have the trailer for the Airwave. Compare with the Ross 780 trailer on the left.

Ross 780

The Ross 780 has been a quiet achiever in the trailer yacht scene in Australia, with so far 53 boats being made since the mid eighties. The Ross in its present form is the inspiration for the Airwave 9.9m yacht, with the aim being to make the big boat a natural follow-on from the smaller one, with all the controls being in similar position.

Sirocco and Only Time in Coongul Creek

Sirocco sailing across the bay. 30 seconds after this picture was taken these seemingly friendly looking

people started throwing things at us because we were catching them up.

 Sirocco at Big Sandhills

our last Ross 780 "Only Time" crossing Moreton Bay

"Only Time" parked in Coongul Creek, Fraser Island, our favourite place in the world.

Cockpit sundowner drinks at Sandhills of Moreton Island.

Our Earlier Ross 780's

Our third Ross 780 "The Serenity" was the first Ross 780 to have 1.9m headroom and the hot shower setup.

Our second Ross 780 "Getting There" was the first Ross 780 with the open transom

Our first Ross 780 was "Greystoke"
 
 

Ross Interior

PULLDOWN TEST

While we were in Coongul creek on one trip we decided to do a pulldown test on the Ross 780. This particular boat had a 243kg

bulb as an experiment. According to the formula in the AYF Blue book the Ross should require a minimum force of 48kg to hold

the boat on its' side from the hounds. As the scale shows it took about 84kg to hold it down, so the boat far exceeds the

AYF pulldown test. The normal keel which is 300kg in a lead section in the bottom of the keel we estimate would result in a

pulldown force of about 75-78kg.

Contact me at reichelt@airwaveyachts.com.au