Not in the boxing sense, of course, but an update on our spar-making projects.

After glueing up the four planks to make a 28 ft length, the design of the spar was plotted out by James and Tom who then set to, to mark it out and cut it to size on four faces, before taking it to an octagonal section and then a 16-sided section. After that, the spar was rounded using sandpaper.

A knot in the wood became loose and needed repairing. Tom scalloped out a section to remove the knot and then scarfed in a laminated infil. The end result was superb

Mark and I were given the ‘poisoned chalice’ – a previously-made spar that matched the dimensions for the Victory class racing boats, but was otherwise far too thick for the club’s requirements.

It’s one thing making a square piece of wood round, quite another to thin down a spar with a pear-shaped cross section.

All the time, we had to keep the spar level, and carefully reduce the diameters at key points, then ‘join the dots’ to get it tapered and straight.

The four of us were all thrilled to hear that the Chair of the Victory Class Technical Committee has measured and checked our two masts and passed both as suitable for the club.