After a long break from posting I feel that I have time to post some blogs again.
It has been a very busy year since launching Passion XI as there was a lot of finishing touches to be added post launch.
We launched Passion XI without the Selden bow prodder, without the bow anchor roller and without the adjustable settee table and each job had challenges. The sails too were just in time recuts of little used DP Hydranet sails from Passion X which had been superceded by carbon sails. As Passion XI is a prototype I wanted to make sure the sailplan was optimum before investing in new carbon sails. After launch there was the process of measuring the yacht for ORC and IRC and getting in some racing.
On the sail front the new main on PXI was produced by adding 1.8 metres to the bottom of the sail from PX. The dimensions were ideal with the longer foot matching the leach angle on the PX sail. The one drawback was the cloth alignment out of the clew of the old sail which was now the first reef point. The cloth at the old clew was now not aligned with the stress angles coming up the from the new clew. Hopefully this will be solved with the new tapes added radiating out of the new clew. The luff round on the sail was perfect for the old mast but the new mast was deeper and the distance between the forestay and the backstay was less giving less mast bend even with maximum backstay tension. We have just recut the luff to better match the stiffer mast and look forward to getting back on the water.
There is a story around the recut hydranet jib which was a very little used No 3 on PX having had not a lot of use and been replaced with a carbon one. The new jib hoist is 2.4 metres higher than on PX and the J measurement 460 mm longer so the jib area is 10m2 more. Andrew O Brien did a magnificant job repurposing panels off the old sail and adding a lot of new panels to get the height and foot measurements. All the cloth in these panels was correctly aligned with the stresses but there had been some cross panel creep in the Hydranet which we had not anticipated. This means there is a bit of a soft spot in the old panels which is fine in light breezes but pretty apparent at high wind strengths.
With lessons learned we repurposed the almost new Hydranet No 4 from Passion X as a heavy air sail on PXI by moving the panels around and adding area. This now looks like it was made from scratch for the rig on PXI.
To address the light and medium air performance we commissioned a new Contender sailcloth ZZC-18 jib. As delivered we felt the jib was too flat for the lower end of the wind range and not wanting to add to our wardrobe we had the luff recut with more round. It probable did not help that we have the rig ultra tight to try to bend the mast for the luff of the main but now with the jib cut fuller and the main cut flatter we should be able to play tunes with the rig and get a bit more luff sag in the light breezes.
We will get the Hydranet No 1 recut with less luff round to match the more saggy headstay and hopefully reduce the bubble from the cross panel creep in the old section. This will make it a good 42m2 medium air jib before we switch to the 32m2 heavy air jib.
That is a lot about the sails now for the hardware.
The bow prodder and bow roller were challenging to fit as the distance from the anchor hatch to the bow fittings was too long for comfort. Indeed I was stuck in the bow locker trying to fit nuts to the bolts and without my phone at hand. After a long wriggle I did manage to work my way out but not without a degree of anxiety.
The problem was solved with threaded washers for the bow roller and threaded inserts for the adjustable bow prodder. Indeed I did the engineering calculations to ensure that the pull out strength of the inserts exceeded the strength of the bolts and it was indeed. The 36 mm epoxy plywood inserts do exceed the breaking strain of the bow fitting and is 150% of the bow ring fitting so that was a win for strength and removabilty.
On line I found the perfect three stage gas lift pedestal for the saloon table. By adding very large cleats to the super strong keel floors and creating a flat space across the keel strongback towards the settee I was able to use the same threaded inserts to secure the base and again the base is removable from above by extracting the bolts.
I have not run out of work yet but the urgent jobs are all complete and we gave PXI a very thorough sea trial by going to Port Stephens and back.
With Passion X our first trip back from Port Stephens was in a 35 knot southerly and we started with three reefs in the main and the small jib. Part way down the coast I lowered the jib and we proceeded on triple reefed main alone. That was in 2017. This time in PXI there was no such test but we did have very lumpy seas going out of Sydney Heads which gave the chainplates and rigging a good test.
The mild conditions on the way back meant a long run under motor and I think all systems are good.
Passion X is for sale. I built it to keep forever and but I had kept the building frame and thought I had one more 12 metre boat in me. I was right but only just as the aches and pains from overuse did become an issue. While these have all subsided I have learnt my lesson and dismantled the building frame. At home I am progressing slowly on a garden shed to house all the spare tools and sailing equipment and reclaim one side of the garage for a car.
In the meantime I am keeping Passion X in good order and we raced her last week at RANSA for a fourth on handicap. In the light air conditions and slightly off the breeze her 160% genoa is more effective than the 110% genoas on PXI and the rest of the fleet so we were up with the usual company and possily to their amazement.
That brings up an issue for PXI on how to manage the light air and just off the breeze angles and I am working on adapting a 200% code zero from PX to a 180% genoa for PXI. It is a bit of a gamble but the rating hit seems so small and the modelled speed gains so great that it worth experimenting with. It will be a couple of metres short on the hoist but I am happy to try a sail that breathes more in the head for this experiment. It will be worth just one offshore race with a long leg at 75 degrees apparent. Perhaps even just one Newcastle to Port Stephens where this sail was so effective as a code zero. However as a genoa even on PX it modelled at 0.2 knots faster at the tight angles and on PXI it models at 0.3 knots faster. I am sure the crew will hate tacking this monster so it won’t come out often.