Another ten days has slipped away with the seemingly endless task of sanding. On the 23rd May after a long sanding session I washed the hull down and took a few photos of the undercoat. The sides and the radius chine look very fair but I was still unhappy with the finish in the bottom particularly at the bow. After more sanding I rolled and brushed another coat of Interprotect over the bottom at the bow and was still not happy. In some areas I had overfilled with filler and more sanding was needed. Much of the problem was due to the light conditions so I applied sanding guide to the whole bow area and to selected patches on the bottom where I had previously applied filler. The sanding guide was a great aid to improving the bottom finish and after another coat of Interprotect sprayed over the whole bottom I am happy with the finish.
In the next few days I will sand any rough patches and apply another coat of Interprotect and leave the bottom until the hull goes to the dock for launching. There I will have a final two coats sprayed both for added protection and for the tie coat to the antifouling.
Inside there has been much sanding of the unpainted bottom from the bow to the stern. Working from the two ends towards the middle the bow to the mast step is primed as is the stern to the cabin top. The bow area has also had the primer sanded ready for the second coat so some progress is being made.
Between strenuous sanding and tedious painting I have been looking for less taxing tasks so little wood working tasks have been added to the job list. A little filleting of furniture to the hull here and there and a few doublers where hinges will be screwed all add to the progress in detail if not in visual impact.
This last ten days have been good for boatbuilding with dry conditions and mostly light winds and the forcast for the next few days look promising to complete the bottom painting.
On the sailing front we have had a couple of very light air races. Last Wednesday we worked the breeze up the middle and seemed to be working out from under the fleet when the breeze came across the course from the opposite side. We had to sit and wait for the breeze to get to us by which time seven yachts had passed us by from the windy side of the course. On the run home we made up some ground and negotiated a larger wind shadow to finish 7th fastest and 7th on handicap. This was a good result considering the ground we lost waiting for the wind to arrive.
Today I studied the tide charts and decided we needed to stay out of the incoming tide. Despite the boat end being to leeward of the fleet it was well out of the tide and had a hotter angle away from the line. Allegro started lowest but at the hottest angle and Joli seemed to follow suite but I wanted to lowest position on the course out of the tide.
Britannia and Monkey Magic had the same idea with Monkey Magic the most aggressive gybing back to the slow tide area. Unfortunately they zigged out of the wind when they should have zagged and waited for a very long time for the wind to return.
Ourselves and Britannia had the best selection of wind and tide and as a result ran away from the fleet. Britannia was first and fastest and we were second and second fastest.
Motoring home from the finish line we were able to see how much of a lead we had established over the field.
What little wind there was up near the heads soon died so we towed Britannia back to RANSA. After detour we could see the fleet in the distance still trying to finish.
Apart from picking a good line up the course we had the crew camped on the bow and to leeward, a very light line on the genoa clew and the backstay on tight to flatten the main and let the wind exhaust from the sail.
After today’s result we are back up to second in the series just one point behind Allegro.