As you know the basic process is to make the hull as one piece with closely spaced bulkheads then saw them appart. That does sound as though there would be some accumulation of materials in making that all right. I guess a good 410 budget might be required. The Gougeon designed and built Adrenaline was campaigned in europe for a bit on the F40 cicuit, and the boat was about 4or so feet too long. The nose was on and off repeatedly. they used a joint they seem to prefer which consists of turning a taper on stainless tube, and then those are bonded into both sides of the joint with the tapered end having release on it.

Another option would be to build segments of the hull as Rob did on the original Harry, finish them waterproof (not even a challenge if they are foam and glass). On a strip boat this is actually how some halves are assembled in the first place with glass tapers. In that case a lot of work would end up being done out of doors. Which might or not suit. But it isn't so bad if the boat reaches a certain stage of completion where it never again needs to be threatened by bad weather. It is the early stages when it is fragile. However, a less comprehensive approach would be a scaled up version of what Rod does with his crash ends, where the bitter end of the hulls is a foam prothetic. OK, maybe 10 feet of that is a bit much, but it could be something a little more solid, and just glue it one there,and you are off to the launch, ok paint first...

I think something a little more flexible could be worked out. We get pretty crazy about the finishes we want on boats. I think something like a folding knuckle could be arranged, and yet the disturbance in water flow would probably not be any more than someone draging a hand in the water. As a canoeist, hand dragging gets to me, but it isn't all that noticeable on a 40 or 70 foot boat.

Another idea I had, not for the 70 footer was to make a scarph in the middle of the LW an overlap, screw it together with nice big marine grade acme screws, anchor it with the tube that secures the spar. So the hulls could be reduce almost by half, for demountability. Not trailer sailing, but at least an occasional reduction in length.

--- In harryproa@yahoogroups.com.au, Doug Haines <doha720@...> wrote:
>
> I don't understand the decoupling of a hull, ie. taking thebows off to fit a container or wrkspace.
> I see why you may see it as a soloution to a problem, but how is it done without some wobble, and sticky out parts underwater?
>  
> Doug