SOLING 50 CLASS YACHT RE-CONSTRUCTION
By…Stan Ogden, Soling 50 Class Secretary – October, 2006
When I discovered that Tom Protheroe had available the first Soling 50 ever made by Vortex
Manufacturing, I jumped at the chance to acquire the boat. This would give me the chance to
show how the Soling 50 Class model yacht could be updated and be competitive even though
the basic fiberglass hull was 35 years old.
HULL, KEEL AND RUDDER - The exterior hull and deck were all gel-coated fiberglass in
practically perfect condition, cream colored with orange striping on the hull. It was missing a
keel, but did include the original aluminum rudder. Inside the bottom of the hull were fiberglass
pads used to mount the old Sail Control Unit Drum Winch, which, in my opinion had to go. I
purchased an aluminum alloy keel from a local Soling 50 sailor/builder, cut out the fiberglass
pad inside the hull and installed the keel using two wooden blocks shaped to the bottom of the
hull. After some considerable cutting, sanding and shaping of the keel and the rudder, they
were both installed. The final weight of the cast aluminum keel (11 lbs. 12 oz.), the hull (4 lbs.
9 oz.) with aluminum rudder (5.3 oz.) and fiberglass hatch cover (3.6 oz.) produced a total
weight of 18 lbs 4 oz. With sails and rigging installed the total sailing weight is 18 lbs. 12 oz.
This is about 1-3/4 lbs heavier than most other Soling 50s, (Minimum weight 17 lbs.) but the
fiberglass on this boat is so thick it will probably last forever!
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With all of the cutting and shaping completed, I painted the inside of the hull the same color as
the orange stripe. In addition, I filled all of the excess holes on the deck and repainted the
deck to match the hull. It was now ready for all my attention inside the hull.
After installing the keel with the pre-shaped blocks in the bottom of the hull, the radio-servotray was ready to install on the four (4) pre-assembled bolts in the Keel Mounting Blocks. A
brass tube was installed on the forward keel bolt to the underside of the deck for mast support.
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The radio-servo-tray was fabricated from clear “Lexan” plastic material. The Sail Servo is a
HiTech #HS 645MG installed with a Robot Zone 501 ratio gearbox #SG22051S. The Rudder
Servo, on the left is a HiTech #HS 311. The Jib Trim Servo is also a HiTech #HS 311. A
switch is incorporated and marked “OFF” and “ON” as shown in the picture. The pigtail for the
battery pack goes forward for attaching to one or more battery packs as desired.
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The receiver is attached with “Velcro” to the underside of the servo to keep it away from any
water that might accumulate in the hull under sail.
The Servo Tray Package is installed on the four bolts from the Keel Mounting Blocks.
Once the Servo Tray Package is installed, the Gear-Drive is mounted together with a plastic
shield over the top to prevent any sheets from getting entangled in the gears, etc.
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Next the Sail Arm was fabricated from “Lexan” plastic material. I used pulley blocks on the
ends of the arm for the Jib Sheet and Main Sheet to reduce friction on the sheets. The underdeck end of the Main Sheet goes from the Sheet guide through the Sail Arm and then through
an eyebolt screwed into the rear Rudder cross-support along with a bowsie for length
adjustment. The Jib Sheet goes through the Sail Arm then to another eye bolt installed
forward of the mast support tube, then to the Jib Trim Servo with a bowsie for adjustment.
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An additional plastic shield is installed over the Jib Trim Servo to prevent the sheets from
getting tangled.
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Finally, here is Soling 50 #1 under sail in Bakersfield, California. Rigging and sail details will
come later.
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