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.