Archive for July 2022
After weeks of inclement weather we have had a couple of delightful races in very pleasant conditions. Last Wednesday at the RANSA race our clubmate Joli did a bolter and shot off from the start like a TP52. Within a few minutes she was two minutes ahead and stayed there all day. Well done to Adrian and the crew on Joli.
The breeze for the day was on the margin for our No 3 jib and being a little undermanned we made the conscious desison to play safe. That choice showed on the downwind leg to the heads where we arrived behind mid fleet. Rounding behind Allegro, Brittania and Fidelis we carried on as far as possible to the rocks before tacking for Steele Point. With some good fortune of our own we tacked onto a lift which gained some ground immediately. After the long board to Steele Point we tacked back on another lift and managed to catch both Allegro and Fidelis. After that there were not many passing lanes and try as we might we could make no impression on Love Byte and Brittania. Our sixth place on handicap was consistent and we clawed back a few points from the massive lead of Allegro but let Brittania off the hook by another three points.
Happily we are in third place and yet to have a really favourable wind.
Today was the West Harbour Winter Series for which event we were down to just three crew, Elaine, Frank and myself. The breeze when we were preparing for the race was a few knots so we went for our old 1.5 genoa which is higher clewed and easier to skirt. For the start we opted to play safe with a late start on the committee boat but that did not stop Matagi barging in late. Not wanting to force the issue we called them through and started last in gusty conditions . Fortunatly for Passion X only the last work from Birkenhead to Long Nose was tight and for the rest we could crack the sheets off a few inches and concentrate on dropping the main in gusts.
Despite the fresh breeze mid river the condition around Manns mark were chaotic with big swings in direction and plenty of holes. This is where we passed Maxishambles who had to tack back to round the mark and do so in no breeze.
I could not see what happened on the second rounding of this mark but it appeared both Maxishambles and Ophir had similar bad luck. On the second rounding of Manns we made up ground on Another Planet and Bear Necessities but not enough. As we had to give these two yachts time we could manage only a third. I mean we were deligheted to score third place given the small crew.
On the boat building front we lost three days with sailing and other social activities so if it seems to you my progress has been slow it seems that way to me.
A day was spent fairing the strongback back to beyond the keel and a day was spent cutting the first four panels for the bottom. It was another long day fastening and gluing the first two panels at the bow and this was a day that went long after dark.
Cleaning up the keel floor while I can attack them from above and below has been a priority. Also I needed to complete the keel bolt holes through the kingplank and these activities have taken up at a good part of two days of work time.
Next on the schedule is completing the keel floor cleaning and applying a couple of sealing coats of clear epoxy. At the same time I want to epoxy the limber holes through the floors while the channel is still accessible from above. I would like to seal the timber and have a slippery surface through the limber holes before the ply goes on and limits access. The keel floors are 125 mm wide and 150 wide along the strongback and the spaces between the floor are less so no post ply access will be possible
I have a good record of the progress I made building Passion X and that is a handy guide to my progress on the new build. Last night while checking photos to see what internals I had installed before plating the hull I noted that I seem to be six weeks behind.
Comparisons can be difficult because on the new build I have already painted a lot of the interior which I did not do until much later in the build on Passion X.
Even allowing for the extra work already competed on the new build I feel that I am behind. The weather is in no small part to blame as this has to be one of the most consistently wet seasons in a long time. I am fortunate that the middle of the yacht is under the awning which was not installed at this stage of the build on Passion X but despite the cover the weather has been too wet and windy to do any meaningful work in many days.
Ther is also more work on the new build including more laminates in the keel floors and more packers between the keel floors and the 12 mm ply skin.
I have some optimism that I will make up the time later in the build. Summer is coming and with it longer days more can be done. Also with the experience of the first yacht behind me I may have less thinking to do on how to fit the internal furniture. Then there is the interior finishing that has already been completed including sanding priming and painting as well as filleting of the hull to the bulkheads.
Only time will tell if I catch up and in the meantime I cherish every moment of fine weather.
With the Winter Wednesday series at RANSA we have been lucky to escape the worst of the weather although a lot of the fleet seem to have given up.
With a smaller fleet and some good performances we have crept up the series score sheet to be third behind Allegro and Brittania. Of course this has not gone unnoticed by the handicapper and good results will be harder to get from here on. The handicapper is doing a good job however and placings are separated by seconds so any mistake is well punished.
We had a double win on Wednesday with a first and fastest at RANSA where a depleted fleet of just six yachts and crews braved the wet conditions. Full marks to all the hardy souls who turned up especially my loyal crew. Top comment of the day was from Don when I offered to pick him up at his door step for the ride to the club. “So it is too wet for me to walk but not too wet to sail!” Yes Don that’s right.
For a second week the wind angle suited Passion X. We don’t do so well when there is long tacks directly into the wind but when the course is just a few degrees free we hit our straps and so it was that we took off from the start and while Allegro and Britannia gave us good competition we had a big enough lead going into Rose Bay that we were able to defend that lead. We did get nervous whenever the breeze dipped into single digits as our No 3 jib needs at least 12 knots for us to hang in with the fleet.
Looking at the forecast from here there may not be a race this week and if there is it will be a hard slog home and not our favorite conditions.
On the boat building front it has been a very trying time. The week was wet up to the Wednesday race and Thursday was overcast and cool. By Friday the neighbour suggested that I spread the covers out on the lawn and dry them and the hull out. I took his advice and did the same today, Saturday.
These last two days were ideal boat building weather with lots of progress making the 192 spacers that go between the keel floors and the 12 mm ply skin. So good had progress been that I have almost caught up with my self imposed target of two weeks to finish the task. The forecast is however for rain again tomorrow so I will make excuses already.
In the wet I confined myself to the comfort of the garage and made four frames for the water tank lids. The aim is to have the lids identical including the screw holes as I found it frustrating that the four lids on Passion X were bespoke. To achieve my aim I made up a gluing guide and ensured that the four frames were as near as identical as possible and am pleased with the result.
With the wind and rain forecast for the coming week I am reluctant to set myself any hard goals but I hope to finish the packers even if I have to wait for fine, warm and dry weather to glue them in place.
Other jobs I can do are to finalize a plumbing diagram as the route for the plumbing is quite different to Passion X and I need a route that does not go through the keel floors. And then there is the route for the fuel and throttle controls and for the wiring from the battery bank to the switch panel. A lot of these holes are best drilled before the ply skin is attached and at a time when the holes can be well sealed with epoxy.
I have 192 individual packer to make to go between the keel floors and the 12 mm ply bottom. The grain of the packers runs across the hull and each floor has six segments that need packers each made up of four individual blocks. Each set of four packers needs to have a neat limber hole against the stringer. Fortunately each of the four blocks in each location are of similar size so the blocks can be mass produced and trimmed on site for the final fit.
Yesterday I made packers for two locations and hand fitted a few sets of four for proof of concept.
Today the rain and cold returned but I was able to continue working on the packers as they are in the middle of the awning. Along the way I got distracted from the mass production and started fitting the packers on the large floor that runs from the keel to the chainplate frames. These are approximately 560 mm radius so I marked up shapes with an appropriate radius and proceeded to cut the curves with the jigsaw. By afternoon tea I had cut only eight packers or the equivalent of two of the 12 spaces on this long frame. I got even more distracted and started cleaning up stringer connections to the bulkheads ready for epoxy fillets and plywood doublers where needed.
Realizing that time was getting away I set up the bench saw and went into full mass production mode.
With a disciplined approach to producing the packers I finished cutting two thirds of the required packers by knock off time.
I will have to be disciplined to keep up this production rate as i do have a lot of stringers to fillet to bulkheads and I am tempted to progress the water tanks by fitting the flanges for the tops and glassing the interior. It will have to be completed before the radius chine section is moulded in place so there is several weeks time on the critical path but it is a job that is staring at me and almost begging me to finish it first.
Today, Saturday 2nd July, the weather tuned rather wet and cold so the above photo shows the tarpaulins pulled back just enough for me to work on the spacers.
Did I mention that we won the race at RANSA on Wednesday? It was a fresh breeze with a fair bit of north in it so a single beat to the top mark and a broad reach home. We did particularly well to windward until Allegro worked out from under or rather a large header put us in their dirty air. We still made the mark in a single board and on the way home poled out the genoa to leeward with a short whisker pole. As we pulled away into Rose Bay we ran with the short pole and kept ahead of Cuckoo’s Nest and Allegro into Rose Bay.
On the work around the island we came unstuck when we tacked early and had to take three sterns. We got one back on the starboard board into the mark but Cuckoo’s Nest was away and Meridian and Agrovation pulled even further ahead. We tried to run down Allegro but she was too good off the stick. Nevertheless with our more favorable handicap we scored a first by a few seconds and a much needed confidence booster.