Archive for August 2023
In two weeks of racing at RANSA we have gone from a first place to a twelfth place due to a combination of a poor start, a flat spot in the breeze around Shark Island and a more challenging handicap. Even the twelfth place did not give any handicap repreive so we will have to be on our very best form for the next races. Agrovation and Foreign Affairs have significantly tougher handicap while the occasional starter Meridian also has a tough one but then it is line ball with Amante and from there on we have to give time to everyone.
On Scratch Foreign Affairs leads the field from Amante and then Allegro and Passion X tied for third. This good position is due to Allegro and Passion X being consistent starters and this having four drops to count. It might have been different if Allegro had not managed to get through the wind shadow of Shark Island and into the new breeze to overtake Passion X on the way home last week but them’s the breaks.
We did have a win on handicap in the West Harbour Winter Series last Sunday despite the crew being just two young men and Elaine and I. We were helped by the wind angle which did not disadvantage us too much for not setting spinnakers and we did get a favourable gust along the Hunters Hill shore on the final leg. It was one very pleasant Sunday on the water and a first on handicap was the icing on the cake.
Between sailing and yacht audits at GFS I have managed reasonable progress on Passion XI. My progress has been helped by the careful cutting of templates for the cabin sides and by a lot of care in setting up the cabin top beams. The old saying measure twice and cut once has become measure many times and double check. Only then cut a template and check again. The angle of the plywood against the sloping deck sides has been carefully prepared in the workshop and the ply panels trial fitted several times. Only then was I prepared to do the scarf join in the ply on a 8:1 angle. The joins have been clamped together on the hull with final trimming after the first sheet is fastened and the second has another trial fit.
The scarf joins have been made in the workshop after trial fitting the adjacent panels and have needed only minimal adjustment on the hull.
As of tonigt the two cabin sides are glued in place and the front clamp on the deck is glued in place waiting for final shaping. I am debating with myself pushing ahead with the cabin top or epoxy coating all the timber that will be exposed after completion. Also I have a lot of doublers to cut out while I can get an accurate measurement off the cabin beams.
We made another good start to the Winter Wednesday racing at RANSA today and set for a long beat up the harbour for the forecast North West wind.
Five minutes before the start the breeze shifted to the East making the boat end favoured so we started towards the boat but out of trouble. We were progressively lifted so that we were pinned down by the yachts lifting from behind but took the first opportunity to tack away right at the north shore. After a brief port tack we tacked back on the next shift to the left under the fleet but well to the lead. Ten minutes later the shift to the left had increased and it turned out to be a persistent shift all the way to the mark. There was not much to do but hang in there waiting for a shift back but it never came. What eventuated was a shift so extreme that we made the top mark on the second starboard tack of the day and the yachts above who were closer to the land ran out of wind or had to reach down to the mark.
At the top we were in a close group of five yachts and elected to run wide while the yachts closer in to the shore seemed to have better breeze. We did manage to run past Allegro and were hot on the heels of Meidian but Foreigh Affairs, Agrovation and Crosshaven had drawn away. The run to Point Piper was very square depending on the shift in the breeze so a gybe was needed. Somewhere in there we passed Crosshaven and managed to keep just ahead of Allegro. Around the island and all the way home we ran alongside Meridian but were unable to pass them. While we battled side by side with Meridian we could see Amante making a late charge together with Allegro, Crosshaven and Britannia but we had enough gap to take the handicap honours by 4 seconds from Foreign Affairs and 11 seconds from Crosshaven. This result moved us a little further ahead on the leader board.
Back home it has been full steam ahead gluing plywood panels in place so that last night all but one 6 mm panel have been glued in place. At the bow I had to install a temporary stringer over the anchor hatch space to get a fair curve so the front section was formed up from two layers of 6 mm ply but not glued to the hull so that once cured it could be lifted and the temporary support removed. I won’t glue this in place until the forestay chainplate is made and installed.
Work will slow down for a while as Passion X has to be slipped for annual maintance.