It is always surprising and astonishing what people and hobbyists can do to a wooden Star boat. We knew that we were talking about a lot of time and effort when we acquired the 5114. The hull was covered by a very unprofessional applied GRP coat and plenty of filler had been used trying to fair the surface with limited success.

Not without reason experts call this kind of treatment “shroud” (in German: “Leichentuch”). Fortunately the Star has probably never been in the water after the coating and kept more or less dry under a cover. Nevertheless the coat was partially bubbled and lifted from the wooden surface.

Because of this coating it was very difficult to get a clear picture about the actual condition of the wooden planks outside, nor it was possible to identify the kind of wood used for the planks. But the very detailed inspection of planks and frames from inside gave us hope that the hull, with most of the planks and frames might be saved.

Star boat experts will notice that the keel looks a little bit irritating, but it has been dropped and stored separately over the years, so it was just lifted on the trailer for transport. The keelson didn’t look good at all and we assumed that it would have to be replaced.

The plywood deck had been repaired many times and obviously in a haste and without sufficient means and material.The deck had suffered a lot, much more than the hull. Most parts were rotten and without the necessary stability. We decided to replace and refit the deck. Without the deck closed also the restoration of the hull inside will be more convenient.

The hull was stripped and, with the GRP coat disappearing, very healthy wood in excellent condition was brought forward and we saw a beautiful wooden hull. The wood used caused some confusion: While the keelson, chines and bow was made of mahogany, we had never seen such a wood used for planks. At the end we were quite sure that it is Abachi, a light wood with good stability but not very robust. Surprisingly it survived the past 40 years quite well and only 2 very small planks had to be renewed.

After several days of careful sanding the hull looked like brand new.

The construction details are quite different to the Star 4614:

While the planks of the 4614 are of full length of the hull, the planks of 5114 are of several pieces. The planks itself are comparatively small. The joints between the planks are flat and the joints at the keelson and chine are more simple.

The mahogany keelson is quite strong and has not to be replaced. The inner keel plank however will have to be renewed.