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
