What a Full Refit Actually Looks Like
The hard coordination of marine refitting. Integrating composite repairs, deck layouts, electrical architectures, and telemetry networks.
Refitting a classic racing yacht like Mr. Jumpa (Bruce Farr Design No. 66) is not a cosmetic task. It is a complex engineering operation that requires coordinating composite materials, electrical architectures, plumbing, and edge telemetry networks into a cohesive, sea-worthy system.
When you peel back the layers of a 50-year-old cold-moulded hull, you are looking at wood grains, historical fiberglass patches, and corroded brass fasteners. Modernizing these structures requires a structured, step-by-step approach.
Step 1: Structural Integrity & Composites
Before installing electronics or engines, the hull must be sound. For Mr. Jumpa, this meant checking the kauri wood skins, scraping old bilge paints, and laminating structural reinforcements around the keel joint using epoxy resins and biaxial fiberglass cloth.
Any structural fittings — like our custom bowsprit — must be designed with load paths in mind. We modeled the bowsprit attachment points in CAD, verifying that the compression loads would distribute evenly across the wooden stem.
Step 2: Electrical & Telemetry Layouts
A refitted vessel needs a modern power system. We replaced old copper wiring with marine-grade tinned wire to prevent salt corrosion. The house battery bank was upgraded to lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) cells, managed by a smart shunt.
To make the boat a true digital twin, we routed ESP32 sensor cables alongside standard power channels, ensuring the hull remained clean while providing data coverage for every bilge compartment and battery box.
Step 3: Systems Verification
A refit is only complete when it is tested on water. This means running system tests under full load: hoisting sails, testing the bilge pumps, calibrating depth transducers, and checking that our telemetry signals route smoothly through local gateways.