Taking some time over the holidays to do some work on the boat.
The mast is down and I just finished sanding it down to the bare carbon ready for a new clear coat. That should start tomorrow. Three or four coats should do it. I'm taking advantage that the Doyle loft is shut for the week and they have been kind to let me use it. Indoors should be easier on my and should help with faster curing.
Having the standing rigging looked over to see if it needs replacing, hopefully it is good for a couple more seasons.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Saturday, December 18, 2010
South Beach YC Winter Series - December Race
Today we went out to race in my old stomping grounds, the home of the South Beach YC and the World Series Champs. It will be the last race of the 2010 season. The forecast for today was less than ideal, with rain scheduled all day, however the wind forecast was a respectable 10 - 20 knots from the SW, shifting to the S.
Rob was back from school, and he joined Andrew and myself to round up the crew. Started the day with our now traditional breakfast at Ole's, and after some good pancakes, waffles and bacon we were off to the boat. Loaded the boat up and started the motor to San Francisco from the Estuary. It was overcast, but no rain. Maybe the rain would stay away. We had a nice ebb out of the Estuary and got to South Beach with enough time to hang out at the guest dock for a little while.
We followed Wasabi and Wild One out of the marina and headed to the start area. Course 12 was called, which had us going around Treasure Island, either way, and back to the finish. We got a jump on the start and the big kite went up immediately. Our lead was short lived as Wasabi quickly caught up. We were a little higher and holding our own particularly during the gusts. Wild One was close behind and constantly threatening. The 3 lead boat all chose to round TI to port. There was much change in position or distance between the boats, until we got under the bridge and the winds lightened up. In this area every boat got to extend their lead on the boat following, opening the gap between the boats. A few hundred yards from the bridge we dropped the kite to start making our way toward the end of the island.
Breeze was now consistent between 10 - 12 knots and with the help of the current we were making good speed. We got around the the north end of the island but stayed close to shore on the west side to stay away from the ebbing current. We followed Wasabi close to shore, but Wild one headed to the city side. Right before crossing the bridge we were able to host our reaching kite for maybe a mile, but soon we were back to white sails to make the finish. It clearly payed to stay close to the shore of TI as we had made a huge gain on Wild One. We were the second boat to finish behind Wasabi and corrected to first place. Not a bad way to finish the season.
Merry Xmas to all, we will be back in the new year ready to go again.
Rob was back from school, and he joined Andrew and myself to round up the crew. Started the day with our now traditional breakfast at Ole's, and after some good pancakes, waffles and bacon we were off to the boat. Loaded the boat up and started the motor to San Francisco from the Estuary. It was overcast, but no rain. Maybe the rain would stay away. We had a nice ebb out of the Estuary and got to South Beach with enough time to hang out at the guest dock for a little while.
We followed Wasabi and Wild One out of the marina and headed to the start area. Course 12 was called, which had us going around Treasure Island, either way, and back to the finish. We got a jump on the start and the big kite went up immediately. Our lead was short lived as Wasabi quickly caught up. We were a little higher and holding our own particularly during the gusts. Wild One was close behind and constantly threatening. The 3 lead boat all chose to round TI to port. There was much change in position or distance between the boats, until we got under the bridge and the winds lightened up. In this area every boat got to extend their lead on the boat following, opening the gap between the boats. A few hundred yards from the bridge we dropped the kite to start making our way toward the end of the island.
Breeze was now consistent between 10 - 12 knots and with the help of the current we were making good speed. We got around the the north end of the island but stayed close to shore on the west side to stay away from the ebbing current. We followed Wasabi close to shore, but Wild one headed to the city side. Right before crossing the bridge we were able to host our reaching kite for maybe a mile, but soon we were back to white sails to make the finish. It clearly payed to stay close to the shore of TI as we had made a huge gain on Wild One. We were the second boat to finish behind Wasabi and corrected to first place. Not a bad way to finish the season.
Merry Xmas to all, we will be back in the new year ready to go again.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Nose and Tail Job
This season we did a few upgrades to the boat to improve handling and lighter air performance. The boat always rocked on strong conditions (over 18 knots), but we suffered a bit on the light airs. Boat still moves well but its hard to race to its rating when in displacement mode as we are normally bunched with boats with larger waterlines.
We also had been suffering from a bit of helm. The boat will always want to turn to starboard if the tiller was let loose. It took a while to realize what was wrong, but after some close inspection it was obvious that the rudder was off the vertical axis of the boat. I'm not sure it affected performance much, but going 18knots with the kite up, the last thing I wanted was for the boat to want to round down. I could have just repaired it by realigning the rudder post, but since the saws-all will be coming out I decided to upgrade the steering system on the boat, with a new rudder, beefier rudder post and bearings and a new composite tiller. I already had the original designer of the boat, John Swarbrick, working on a design and production of a new bowsprit for the boat, so I added the new steering system to the order. The rudder is a little deeper than the original and tracks quite nicely compared to the original one.
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| Original tiller |
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| New tiller and rudder assembly |
The second improvement was a new bowsprit, It is 3' long and we got an A2 and A5 to fit the new dimensions. We got everything installed just before the end of the season and it is looking very promising. We'll know more after a full season in 2011. The bowsprit is pretty nice looking, and makes the boat look a bit meaner than it already looked.
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| Side view of bowsprit |
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| Bow view of bowsprit |
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