Update

I have had no time to do any work on the boat this past week, but I have been in some research. It is amazing that so many people want to help out with this project.

I would like to thank Mr. Robert Astrove for his assistance in putting me in touch with so many fine Lightning people. I will going out the burbs this week to look at a wooden mast.

I plan on doing some sanding on the parts that we removed from the boat last week. They were a little damp and I really don't want to dig into removing varnish and attempting sanding until these items have dried.

A lot have people have given me some great ideas about the boat. I realize that I project like this needs a plan. The plan is still under developed but I will have a good vision ( and drawings) in place in the next few weeks. While my initial intention was to do a true restoration on the boat my mind is telling me differently. I will stay true to this era of boat building by utilizing techniques and materials that made early 20 century American craftsman and artisianship what they were, true beautiful works of art. Rest assured, I will not be putting an aluminum rig in this boat. I will sacrifice some performance for elegance.

My plan will include some modern rigging techniques and devices but will be hidden from plain view. This will give the crew a better racing advantage. I have been involved in doing complete rebuilds of Etchells and J24s and I really enjoy starting the rigging concept with a blank canvas (or veneered wooden deck). I also plan on getting out on the water for racing later in the summer. I do not have a ton of experience in the Lightning and this will be an important step in diagramming the setup.

Any of you out there have ideas are more than welcome to shoot me an email.
jbone@carltontechnologies.com