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List all topics --> Sailing Dinghy Forum --> Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
Sailor'sDad
13 June 2006 14:20:28 |
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Joined: June 2006
Location: Clear Lake Shores, United States
Posts: 1
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Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
Hey guys, I need some help from all you seasoned veterans out there. I am not a sailor, but my 9 year old daughter is interested, and she was very fortunate to be awarded a scholarship to a sailing camp last summer at one of our local yacht clubs. They used an Opti, and they were provided by member's of the club.
The other day at a Garage Sale I came across what is basically a dinghy with a sail, and the old guy told me he bought it in England 40 years. It has a new sail and all the parts appeared to be there, at least to me. It says "Durafloat" on the side, and the tag inside says "Wembley 3001 by Clerex". It is about 9' long.
I bought it for $100 and my daughter is now the proud owner of what my neighbor described as an "expensive planter box". I am determined to make this thing sail. Is it even worth $100? Who knows, done is done
I put it all together the best I could, and that is where the questions start. There is single mast, no probelm. There is also a boom, but no way to physically attach the boom to the mast. Is it just rigging, or is there some fitting I am missing?
Also, what is the proper way for rigging it the whole set up? Does anyone have a diagram or a sketch? There are 4 eyelets on the sides of the boat, 2 on each side. There are also eyelets on the boom, so there must be some connection there and a proper way to rig it.
I poked aroung on line and hit nothing but dead ends. I would really appreciate any history and information you may have on this tub, and any help you could give me as far as proper rigging, sailing, etc. My daughter would appreciate it also.
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Anonymous user
29 July 2006 00:55:58 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
Hi- I've had a durafloat in the early seventies, it was my favorite of the five dinghys I owned. Absolutely safe, quiet fast and dry. As far as I can remember, the boom just ties to the mast. Modified with a few snapfasteners, I was able to get the boat of the car, into the water, and ready for sailing in about two minutes. If your daughter ever gets tired of the boat, I gladly double your investment, and pick it up for the grandkids. Although it looks like a bathtub, it was designed by a respected designer for Lucas Industries, as a boat fit to sail in the English Channel. I hope you and your daughter get as much enjoyment out of this strange boat, as I and my children did. Good luck, Eb.
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Anonymous user
10 August 2007 14:59:19 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
E-mail me if you are still struggling with your Lucas. I've been sailing all July with my nine-year-old daughter in our Durafloat twin to yours. My parents bought it new in 1973, and I've just resurrected it from 26 years of being overgrown with plants, and it sails as good as new. I know exactly how to rig it, if you haven't yet figured that out, and as the other e-mailer said, it's worth the effort.
larry
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Anonymous user
23 September 2007 02:06:53 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
Larry,
I just bought one of these boats that was restored. I was wondering if you know where you can find information on this sail boat. I paid quite a bit, but it was redone top to bottom.
Thanks,
David
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Anonymous user
24 September 2007 16:30:58 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
Apart from this posted exchange, I haven't found anything on the web about Lucas Durafloats... and in looking for parts, I haven't found anything either. My brother lives in England, and I had him poke around there, also with no luck. If you want history or specs, I can't help you, but if you have specific questions about the rigging or sails or features of the boat, I can offer my experience from sailing it since 1973. Ask me any of those questions and I'll try to answer, but I'll also ask my father what he recalls from the time of purchase.
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Anonymous user
24 September 2007 17:27:00 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
Thanks for your reply. If I have any problems with the function of the boat/sail I will contact you.
This sail boat seems to have the same history. This is what was wrote when I bought the boat.
This is a very rare 9 ft English sailing dingy. It was designed by a respected designer for Lucas Industries in England, as a boat fit to sail in the English Channel. It has high sides, a high bow and is filled with foam so it is unsinkable, very safe, and dry.Verry easy to set up and sail 5 minutes or less and your in the water, IT CAN ALSO BE USED WITH AN OUTBOARD MOTOR UP TO 4HP! My grandfather bought this dingy new in 1963, while in England on business, and brought it back with him to America. It has been in my family ever since. I ended up with this boat a few years back when my grandfather passed away. Since then it has been kept well and has had no use. I had lots of fun with this boat as a kid so I decided I should restore it to its original condition as best I can, and sell it to someone who will enjoy it with their family and friends as I did. It took a long time, but I finally finished the project. The whole boat has been repainted inside and out with special epox y paints. All the wood seats, dagger board, and rudder are solid mahogany and have been sanded down to bare wood and completely refinished. The sail is still in very excellent usable condition! As you can see in the pictures, this dingy is now in excellent new condition and has had many hours put into it's restoration
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Anonymous user
25 November 2007 20:41:19 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
Hi! i bought a durafloat rowing dinghy at the internatioal boat show London in 1964. The design was revolutionary most boat were still made of wood! The durafloat was unsinkable one was actually rowed around the lake at Earls Court after being cut in half with a chainsaw! I still have the original brochure given to me in 1964. If you are interested e-mail me and I will send you a copy. Incdentally Wembley 3001 was the firms phone no. in wembley London.
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dadter
04 February 2008 21:03:55 |
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Joined: February 2008
Location: Leyland, United Kingdom
Posts: 3
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
Just aquired a Durafloat. It has stainless plate on the transom for outboard mounting, but no apparent fixings for a rudder. No mast or sails etc.A moulding exist in the keel for a dagger board but it is not cut out and there is no box. There is stepping for the mast in the forward thwart and keel. I would appreciate details of rigging etc to enable me to equip it for sailing. It looks a solid little vessel.
____________________
tj
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Anonymous user
05 February 2008 00:58:37 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
I'd love a copy of the original 1964 brochure. I'm very intrigued.
Please mail to L. Green
CFT 209, Faculty fo Fine Arts
York University, Toronto, ONtario
Canada M3J 1P3
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Anonymous user
05 February 2008 01:03:07 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
There should have been two brackets on the Stainless steel plate, one above the other, for the rudder, and the centreboard "trunk" in mine is a wooden "shaft" that is attached to the seat at one end. I could describe the sails and rigging, but maybe getting a copy of this brochure from the other chap who posted would be the most useful. The mast drops in through a whole in the front seat, into that mould in the boat's "floor" and the mainsail has a sleeve that goes around the mast. There should be a few other cleats and eyelets for the sheets around the boat, but it sounds like those, too, are missing from yours. I think it can handle a 12.5 hp outboard.
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Anonymous user
05 February 2008 23:09:22 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
If you dont mind, please email me a copy of your brochure of the Durafloat.
Thanks,
David
dmrusso35@aol.com
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dadter
06 February 2008 19:20:43 |
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Joined: February 2008
Location: Leyland, United Kingdom
Posts: 3
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
Thanks for the info. I too would love a copy of the brochure and any other
literature.
terry.bullard@gmail.com
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tj
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complexplastics
28 March 2008 16:28:29 |
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Joined: March 2008
Location: County Durham, United Kingdom
Posts: 1
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
Hi all, a little bit of history regarding the Durafloat boat, Originally made by Clearex Plastics of Wembley in the 1960's. Clearex then moved to the North East of England (Fencehouses) around 1968-9, The Durafloat was made, in two different sizes 3.6m and 4.1m, from two vacuum formed sheets of plastic, Once moulded, the gap in between the sheets of plastic were then filled with a polyurethane resin (the reason why you could cut one in half and it would still float) The boat was designed and the mould made while Clearex were still in Wembley, (way before Lucas / Evode owned the company) and continued in production in the Fencehouses factory until around 1977, I have some literature somewhere and maybe some pictures, we still get enquiries at least once a year for the boats!
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www.complexplastics.co.uk
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dadter
28 March 2008 21:23:54 |
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Joined: February 2008
Location: Leyland, United Kingdom
Posts: 3
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
thankyou for another piece of the jigsaw!
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tj
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Anonymous user
19 April 2008 18:55:36 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
From memory in the dim and distant 70's my parants bought me one of these, unstayed two piece alloy mast, boom fitted to the mast with a rowllock type fitting with shock cord to hold it in place. made from ABS type plastic fill with foam between the two skins, so unsinkable but they do get fragile with age, hope this helps.
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williamevans
17 May 2008 08:22:42 |
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Joined: May 2008
Location: Wrexham, United Kingdom
Posts: 1
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
Hi i have just aquired a wembley 3001, it looks in good condition the mast is there the rudder is missing, and it does have not have a sail. i hope to get it back on the water, any information would be helpful
regards Keith
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K J Evans
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Anonymous user
27 May 2008 19:06:29 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
hi, you have purchased a piece of boating history here the durafloat boats came on the scene in the 1960' made by the clearex company of wembley london. it sounds as if you have one of the orignal boats if it has wembley 3001 on it. i have the original brochure scanned into my computer of these unusual boats e mail me if you want a copy.
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Anonymous user
27 May 2008 19:22:44 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
Would you have an idea of what one of these original boats would cost if you bought one in really good shape?
Thanks,
David
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Anonymous user
29 May 2008 08:51:43 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
sorry david i have no idea what a boat would be worth- i cant remember one being offered for sale for many years!
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Anonymous user
02 June 2008 22:28:55 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
Hi I would like you to send me the original paper work on this boat. cheers.
k.j.evans@talk21.com
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Anonymous user
09 July 2008 16:23:34 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
| complexplastics Wrote: | Hi all, a little bit of history regarding the Durafloat boat, Originally made by Clearex Plastics of Wembley in the 1960's. Clearex then moved to the North East of England (Fencehouses) around 1968-9, The Durafloat was made, in two different sizes 3.6m and 4.1m, from two vacuum formed sheets of plastic, Once moulded, the gap in between the sheets of plastic were then filled with a polyurethane resin (the reason why you could cut one in half and it would still float) The boat was designed and the mould made while Clearex were still in Wembley, (way before Lucas / Evode owned the company) and continued in production in the Fencehouses factory until around 1977, I have some literature somewhere and maybe some pictures, we still get enquiries at least once a year for the boats!
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Anonymous user
09 July 2008 16:26:54 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
We have a Durafloat 330m but no idea how to rig it. Can anyone help?
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Anonymous user
18 August 2008 03:38:33 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
I just obtained a Durafloat 3.60 with all the accesories and would very much like a copy of the brochure floating. Please email to neilgunn@shaw.ca
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Anonymous user
19 August 2008 22:10:30 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
I've got a 3.60 and can probably help you - what problems are you having with the rigging?
The main sail has a sleeve into which the mast fits. The boom sits against the mast with the eyelet closer to the mast on top, and thisis tied with a short rope to the mainsail. The eyelet under the boom, a foot closer to the stern, attaches to the mast lower down, with a short bungie cord, to keep the boom under control. The seats have eyelets rather than cleats, and one sheet goes from one side of the boat to the other through the larger eyelet on the underside of the stern end of the boom, the mainsail's foot ties onto the eyelet just above this. The eyelets (rather than cleats) on the middle seat are for the sheet which wraps aroound the mast through the foot of the jib (and the jibs leading edge is tied onto the eyelet on the bow. The other two cleats on the bottom of the mast are for securing the raised sails, obviously. Does this help?
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Anonymous user
20 August 2008 06:22:58 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
Can anybody who has rigged one of these things describe how its done with perhaps a sketch ot two. I just obtained the 3.6m version with a main sail and jib and it doesn't seem quite obvious.
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Anonymous user
22 August 2008 04:00:21 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
I gave a try at rigging my Durafloat 3.60 on my front lawn. Here are some pictures. Perhaps someone can tell me if I have it right.
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Anonymous user
22 August 2008 14:40:41 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
NIce photos. Your jib is rigged exactly as mine. It looks to me as if you either have a later model with different rigging for the mainsail... or the previous owner made some after market modifications. My 3.60 doesn't have the pulleys, nor is the boom anchored to the centre seat. Instead, the sheet to control to boom simply slides through the eyelet on the underside, sterne end of the boom, and then, like the jib, drops down into the two unused eyelets in your photographs, on either side or the rear seat, and this allows the boom to run out either side to the full length of whatever sheet you're using. There are no jam cleats on my boat, like yours, so once on a course, I simply slip-knot the sheet at the desired length, until I need to change course. However, the rigging with the pulleys that you have looks more like a hobie cat and other designs, which of course works well, and may even be an improvement on what the original offered. Tighten up your sail to the boom with the eyelet on top of the stern section of the boom. Also, for the jib, sometimes I knotted the sheet as you have to help me "pull" the job across, but without the knot, the jib can just slide along the sheet to wherever the wind takes it... do you follow? You look ready to put it in the water, you just need a plug.
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Anonymous user
22 August 2008 14:42:47 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
Me again... also I just noticed, you can "spin" the bottom of the mast in its little seat, so that the cleats for the halyards are facing forward and to the side, and the eyelet that you have the bungie cord in, faces the stern and the boom.
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Anonymous user
22 August 2008 16:32:14 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
Thanks for the comments. I figured out that I could turn the mast after I took the pictures.
I didn't install the plug, the tiller, or the dagger board for the pictures
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Anonymous user
22 August 2008 16:54:38 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
I was joking about the plug...
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Anonymous user
22 August 2008 16:57:09 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
i love this forum
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Anonymous user
22 August 2008 20:54:18 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
Lovely to see photos, so much detail cannot be seen on the brochure.
All I need now is a photo of the rudder and the dagger board and I'm away!
Mine is a very early rowing version lacking all the sailing gear. What gauge
of ally. is the mast by the way?
In the meantime I've a 1970 4hp Seagull to noisily propel mine along.
I too love this forum
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Anonymous user
23 August 2008 03:55:01 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
Here are some pictures of the tiller and dagger board. Note the convenient plug storage on the top of the tiller. I discovered an extra pin for the tiller clipped under the rear seat.
I measured the thickness of the mast and it appears to be 13 guage aluminum (0.072").
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Anonymous user
25 August 2008 19:47:51 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
Wonderful detail, Is'nt it all beautifully simple? I will get some bits made this winter . Thankyou for pics.
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Anonymous user
01 September 2008 23:08:34 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - HELP!!!!!
how good it is to see pictures of the boats again. they must be about 35 years old but stiill look good and serviceable
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Anonymous user
02 September 2008 02:58:51 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - tiller anchors
If any of you guys have suggestions, my boat went out of commission this weekend. In a very strong wind, the boat was clipping along when the top tiller anchor on the stern ripped off completely. Your photos show the detail particularly well. On further examination, someone used non-galvanized screws to do a repair, maybe thirty years ago, and the rust weakened the clearex "coat" and also rotted away some of the bouyancy foam inside. I scraped out the bad stuff, replaced it but the snapped and cracked clearex coat is damaged beyond repair... and in a too vulnerable spot. I did a fibreglass repair (wider than I needed to because of the several other "cracks" in the stern from 35 years of weathering) and got some new galvanized screws with coarse self-tapping threads... but still, I wouldn't trust it to hold under torque.... and don't want to do irreparable damage if there's another incident. Any ideas? I was thinking of some kind of plate or board, somehow affixed to the stern, with enough thickness to it to be the new "hull" for the tiller anchors... but how to affix it to the boat?
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Anonymous user
02 September 2008 21:08:55 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - tiller anchors
there is probably a "proper" way to do it, but I would be thinking of a stainless steel plate (2mm thick?) on each side to make a "sandwich" bolted together through the transom with tube spacers in the holes a little bit shorter than the
transom's thickness so as not to sqash it.
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Anonymous user
04 September 2008 08:56:31 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - tiller anchors
hi! its interesting to note that my durafloat 7 being an outboard rowing version was supplied by clearex direct from the factory with a plate accros the transom to strengthen it for use with an outboard. The boat was so kwik with my 3 horsepower johnson that i was banned from the local canal - still thats another story! i,ll see if i can dig out a photo!
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Anonymous user
04 September 2008 18:10:53 |
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Re: Clerex Durafloat Wembley 3001 - tiller anchors
My boat also has this metal plate, but only on the inside, like the one featured earlier in this forum. Thanks for the design suggestion - the tubes, if waterproof would prevent water from getting into the foam... which is what I was worried about. I had thought of the sandwich idea, either with metal or some other material, but worried that the bolts would eventually lead to weakening the hull through decay...so i was puzzling how to do this right. This is very helpful, though, thanks.
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