The designer of the Europe Dinghy, Belgian Alois Roland, originally built them in wood. When Rolands company went bankrupt, his assistant, Giuseppe Christalli continued building beautiful wood Europe dinghies. When the Europe Dinghy class went Olympic the wood boats were no longer competitive and the class became plastic and has remained one where the new boats are entirely made out of glass.
History of the Europe Dinghy from Classic Classes by Vanessa Bird.
My Dutch friend, René de la Rie, sent along photos of his stunning wooden Europe which is not a Roland or Christalli but a Tebberman. Tebberman was known primarily for his rudders and centerboards, and only built a few Europe Dinghies, but what lookers his Europe Dinghies were! Beautiful deep mahoganies were matched with contrasting lighter inlays to create masterpieces.
George A of Mid-Atlantic Musings also owns a woodie Europe, whilst not as stunning as a Tebberman this hull is very pretty. The lineage of Georges wooden Europe is also open to question. On his blog George A tries to identify the builder of his "woodie" Europe dinghy. George unveiled his woodie with a new Bosquet foredeck at this years Brigantine regatta.
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History of the Europe Dinghy from Classic Classes by Vanessa Bird.
My Dutch friend, René de la Rie, sent along photos of his stunning wooden Europe which is not a Roland or Christalli but a Tebberman. Tebberman was known primarily for his rudders and centerboards, and only built a few Europe Dinghies, but what lookers his Europe Dinghies were! Beautiful deep mahoganies were matched with contrasting lighter inlays to create masterpieces.
George A of Mid-Atlantic Musings also owns a woodie Europe, whilst not as stunning as a Tebberman this hull is very pretty. The lineage of Georges wooden Europe is also open to question. On his blog George A tries to identify the builder of his "woodie" Europe dinghy. George unveiled his woodie with a new Bosquet foredeck at this years Brigantine regatta.
Once back from a morning in the lab, I turned to the task of preparing for glassing the interior. As for the exterior, this involved some sanding. Actually, considerable sanding, in order to clean up some drips of epoxy that had worked through the stitch holes from the exterior. Also, I hadnt yet sanded the scarf joint on the center panel, so that got smoothed out. Once the bottom panel and first strake were clean and ready for glassing, I vacuumed out the interior (I have got to get a shop vac). Then the joint between the first and second strake was masked with packing tape to protect from epoxy overruns.
After days of prep work, the hull assembly began today. The method of construction of this boat is called "stitch and glue", meaning the individual parts are wired together before being sealed with epoxy at the seams. First, matching pairs of strakes are stacked up and 1/16" holes are drilled every 4 inches along the rabbet edge. A simple cardboard gage helped space the holes. Once the four pairs of strakes were drilled, stitching began.
In the calm, cool morning air, my Passagemaker Dinghy got her long-awaited first coat of varnish. For the bright finish, I am using Interlux Schooner varnish. This product will give a high gloss, while also giving UV protection to the underlying epoxy. On the whole, I was pleased with how the first attempt went. I was able to experiment with the application characteristics of the varnish on the daggerboard, which got a first coat some time ago. There certainly is a lot of surface area on the inside of this boat! I used a roller to cover some of the larger, flat expanses. But a foam brush was still needed for tipping in, and also for the many tight spots and corners. Keeping the coat as thin as possible, I think I managed to avoid many drips and sags. The entire interior and exterior transoms and sheer strake took just about one-half quart to coat. I have three quarts on hand, which will give me enough for the recommended 5-6 coats that are needed for a durable finish. Even after this first, I am encouraged with how things look. And now, Im more eager than ever to get out on the water! Total Hours 90.50. 
Tonight I wired in the middle bulkhead. This was more of a job than the bow bulkhead yesterday. The port side strakes didnt want to form up tightly to the shape of the bulkhead, and several extra stitches and some muscle was needed for a good fit on that side. But several broken stitches later, things seem pretty close to being in place. Some further tuning might be needed before I start sealing the joints between the strakes this weekend. Total hours 31.75.
Scarf, scarf, scarf! For some reason, I really like the sound of the word. Sometimes I think the reason Im drawn to all things nautical is because of the terminology. I mean, just try to say "baggywrinkle" out loud without smiling.
Just ahead of a possible rare snowfall in the Birmingham area, I finished the job of glassing the interior of the boat. The first step was to apply a fillet of wood flour-thickened epoxy to the joint between the bottom panel and the first strake. This filled the gap that existed in some spots, and also created a smooth radius to accommodate the glass cloth. This had to be done carefully and neatly, since it will be visible underneath the cloth and the bright (varnished) finish that will be used in the interior. With the fillet freshly applied, the cloth was laid over the bottom and first side panel and wrinkles were smoothed. At the beam, the cloth is just wide enough to cover. At this point, the unthickened epoxy was mixed, poured, and carefully spread and worked into the cloth. Wrinkles and bubbles were worked out, and the result was satisfactory. I found that I had to keep a watchful eye especially on the joints and stitch holes, as new air bubbles kept appearing underneath the cloth. These are easily removed, but more kept appearing for an hour or so before everything became saturated. In a couple of hours, the epoxy will reach gel stage, and the excess cloth can be trimmed off, as before on the exterior. The third photo below below shows a closer view of the fillet and glassed bottom. For a novice, a decent job. Total hours 46.25.
