30 December 2008 | Hobart, Tasmania
09 December 2008 | Swanwick
26 November 2008 | Written in Swanwick but happens everywhere!!
24 November 2008 | Swanwick
23 November 2008 | Hayling Island
A little more news.
09 January 2009 | Hobart
Toby
Not much to write about really, as the weather has been so odd tha racing has been ll over the place.
We are now back on schedule and have completed 8 races but the one race yesterday was shocking as it became a procession very early on. Despite 3 seperate attempts to get the race thrown out it stands which is a joke.
Today was much better, 4 races in a light breeze that was reasonably (by Hobart standards) consistent in direction.
We, unfortunately, were in and out of form and go a mixed bag of results but have clung on to 15th overall. NOt as good as we hoped but not as bad as it might have been.
Anyway, two more races tomorrow so still a little to play for.
A quick update
05 January 2009 | Hobart
Toby
A very quick update...
The third day of the Nationals was entertaining with a complete mix of winds.
Four races were sailed and we managed a mixed bag of results, mainly due to going the wrong way!
The last race was great as the sea breeze finally arrived and we all got to sail Hobart at it's best. The picture is of abo=nother British boat showing the fun to be had - it's a pity they were on their way home having been black flagged!
Monday was a lay day and we spent it cleaning polishing and doing all the little jobs on the boat that have been on the pending list for too long.
Today...
Races 1 and 2
Well in theory anyway. Inreality half the fleet launched and the other half were held ashore as the breeze increased and it became impossible to get off the beach. We were one of the lucky/ unlucky ones held ashore.
Finally the breeze eased enough to get the last few boats who wanted to launch on their way. Having screamed down to the start the Race Officer held us for a while and then sent us back home without starting a race as Gust of 35knots started coming down the race course!
A mad beat home roundes off the day and we are now all safely tuked up and hoping tomorrows forecast of better weather is going to come true....
Speak soon.
Racing has begun!
01 January 2009 | Hobart
Toby
Hello again!
Not quite so much time has passed since the last instalment but plenty has been going on!
New Years Eve passed socially with the Aussies without many international incidents. It was a long night with the final stragglers leaving our flat around 0430! The B14 is a very friendly crowd and we ended up with around 30-40 people at one point.
New Years day was the first of two official measurement days (the second is after the Australian Nationals for late comers to the worlds). Having got our boat through early I joined the sail measurement team for 4 hours of fun..... A quite night was had with every one in bed early!
02 Jan
The first race day is finally here..... and the breezed is still from the West. According to the locals 'it never blows from this direction here', to date it's the only direction the wind has managed since we landed!
The big issue as I've previously said is that the wind comes straight over the top of the mountain and brings in regular huge squalls. Today was no exception!
The first race started in about 15 knots and in traditional fashion soon dropped. We had a presentable start but nothing exceptional but soon managed to find a bit of clear wind and get into our stride. The majority of the fleet tacked early and went right, but a group of us went left. At the first mark the left had paid but not massively and it was around this point the fun started.
We rounded about 5th and took off downwind but just behind us the first of many big gusts was lining the fleet up! As the fleet came down in 25+ knots of wind we were slightly rolled by a couple of boats but nothing to serious.
At the Leeward mark we took an early drop and this worked wonderfully, a lot of people left the spinnakers up to long and ended up with late messy drops. Alan managed to wiggle his way through the mess and suddenly we were in the lead!
The second beat was great. The breeze built all the way up to somewhere in the region of 30 knots. This is over the class limit for racing but someone seemed to have forgotten to tell the Race officer! We built our lead on the beat to around 100m and set off downwind for the second run. This was, despite the still building breeze, quite uneventful and we led comfortably around the leeward mark.
Unfortunately by this point the wind had also shifted. Because of the wind (by now about 35 knots) we decided that tacking was too difficult so held on. As the breeze eased slightly it shifted back to the original direction which let all the boats behind make big gains. One Australian boat got passed us but we managed to hold of the rest. As we approached the windward mark we were nearly flattened by a huge gust that left all the sails flogging, as we set off again we realised that the mainsheet had hooked under the leeward rack at the back of the boat, so we battled for about a minute to get this sorted. This involved me on the leeward side which is not ideal in the amount of wind we were sailing in. Despite this we only lost one more place and rounded the windward mark in third.
We sailed the first few hundred metres without a spinnaker due to the ridiculous amount of wind but then found a small lull ( I use the term lull as a relative description because it was still way over the official racing limit). Another British boat (Dave Hayes and Sean Dwyer) had picked up the lull slightly earlier and hoisted just before us and were able to roll over the top of us. It was at this point common sense left the boat and rather than continuing to sail defensively, we flicked I a quick gybe to clear our air unfortunately it didn't quite work and as we came out of the gybe the spinnaker picked up the new breeze and just tripped us up and in we went.
The recovery was quite quick but was always going to be costly overall. We sailed the last bit of the run to the finish without the spinnaker and only finished about 4 minutes behind the winner but had dropped to 11th. Oh well it's only the Australian Nationals, the big one is still to play for!
All in all we are very pleased with today as there were a number of very good British boats behind us. We are also very please with our speed around the course in wind as previously we had felt this was a weakness in the very windy stuff and suddenly it all seems to be coming together.
Today the second race was cancelled (much to the relief of most of the fleet) so we are faced with four races tomorrow rather than the scheduled three. Thankfully the Race officer is predicting the wind will finally swing South so we should have a more stable breeze to deal with.
Sadly there are no pictures yet but I will get some as soon as possible.
Watch this space for further gossip as it happens!
We've arrived!!
30 December 2008 | Hobart, Tasmania
Toby
Well, at last, we've made it!!!
Having finally completed the seemingly endless flights south (nearly 40 hrs traveling) it was lovely to be able to stretch our legs and breath some fresh air again!
Arrival day was spent doing nothing more than finding our accommodation and staving off the jet lag. Unlike my last trip down here this time I real struggled with the Jet lag. We struggled through for as long as possible but all of us were asleep by 9pm and didn't surface again for about 11 hours.
29th
Finally the great unlocking of the container! Quarantine was cleared easily (despite the small eco systems that had formed inside all the covers as they were sealed into the container soaking wet) and all the boats started getting put together. It was at this point we started to realise just how quirky the weather can be down here. I thought Melbourne was crazy but this is even wackier! Basically something new happens about every 30 minutes!
We spent the day getting the boat together as this was a big job for us as we had completely striped the boat as it was loaded with another boat on top in the container. The Pole had to be fitted, mast built, all the control lines rigged and the whole boat needed a good clean.
The day finished with a good steak dinner at home with 3 other teams.
30th (yesterday)
Having sorted the last few small bits we finally braved the elements and launched... at this point I guess I should point out that as well as the weather being a little quirky, the wind in the current direction is massively gusty and shifty. The shifts are caused by the large hill and small mountain that are close behind us and currently directly in the path of the wind. The gusts are coming under the clouds with the changes in the weather. The current wind speeds are fluctuating between 10 and 35 knots! There is no gradual build in the breeze, you simply have to sit and watch an army of white horses charge across the water at you and deal with it as best you can!
Typically we caught one of these (thankfully not a very big one) very shortly after launching and had a fantastic blast across the harbour with the spinnaker before it dropped away again. Typically after that we caught all the large lumps whilst going up wind not down but I'm pleased to say we didn't swim and nothing broke.
So far the British Team has broken one tiller extension (Mark Watts) and one mast gate has been pushed forward and collapsed a small section of the front bulkhead (Mark Barns). These are both easily repairable and work is underway as I write this and both boats will be back on the water later today.
31st
Not much to do today, we will probably have a sail later but the forecast is suggesting that it could get very windy so we are keeping an eye on things. We have unpacked our new sails and all look great. Hopefully we will get a chance to try them before the Australian Nationals but that will depend a little on the weather. We are also trying to mentally prepare ourselves for what will no doubt be a riotous party with our Australian hosts for the New Year celebrations!
Tomorrow is the first registration day so I will be busy measuring sails all day so probably no sailing for us.
So that's just about for it from here for now, I'll hopefully scribble some lines again very soon.
Secret Weapon
09 December 2008 | Swanwick
Toby
OK, so ths is not exactly a secret weapon and it is certainly not a subtle one! So what am I talking about?
It's our new spinnaker!
As part of the drive to showcase Hyde Sails, we took the opportunity to take the branding of the spinnaker as far as we could to show off the skills of the factory.
I asked the factory to come up with a design idea to show the company logo that was bold and would stand out clearly. The final idea selected was an over sized logo that ran off the edge of the sail.
Whilst this sounds simple in theory the actual construction of the sail becomes very complex. The problem is that every change in colour has to be cut into the sail. In real terms this means that the number of panels in the sail double and it becomes a very skilled job to put the sail together with no loss of shape.
To do this the sail is made in one colour and then the logo laid over the top and then cut in in sections that match the existing seam directions of the sail. Just to complicate matters the cloth of the new logo'd panels needs to be in the same orrientation as the material used in the original sail.
Sail cloth has to be used in specific directions so that the working loads are applied along the strongest lines of the cloth.
The sail is now ready and winging it's way back to the UK. I can't wait to get the sail out and use it in anger!
Thanks to all the team in Cebu (shown in the picture) for their hard work putting the sail together
Bimbling...
26 November 2008 | Written in Swanwick but happens everywhere!!
Toby
I have been hunting for a sailors definition of 'Bimbling' but have failed to find an official definition that applies to the sailing term, so here is a my take on it.
Bimbling - The art of spending seemingly limitless time in boat preperation
I bring this subject up as I fell I should try and explain what happens when I disappear for hours on end fiddling with both my own boat and other peoples!
The B14 is, in theory a simple boat. But this actually makes things harder. Anything that is not right is very obvious and has a very negative on speed.
Prior to loading the boat in the container to send it Down Under, Alan spent a lot of time stripping down and re building the boat (assisted by me when possible). This involved checking every system and structual component as throughly as possible. Ropes and fittings were replaced where needed. Small repairs were made the the gelcoat and a small crack in the spinnaker pole was sleeved.
During this time we also branded the boat! The boat now sports a large sticker on the bow to go with the branded mainsail and the currently 'in build' spinnaker.
Having put the boat all back together again ready for the Plymouth open, it was then completely striped ready for the container, but at least we know everything worked....
Is the bimbling over now the event is so close? Of course not. Firstly, the boat has to be put back together once it comes out of the container.
There is also the rest of the jobs list that was not completed in the UK. When we looked at the jobs list before we started we rapidly came to the conclusion that we could not do it all in the time frame. So a simple decision was made. We did not do the most important jobs first, but looked at the list and decided that there were a number of jobs that would be very pleasant to do whilst sitting in the sun in Hobart! These jobs were simply put off to a later date!
So the tool box has been packed and will be produced before we have even got the boat wet... you can never do too much bimbling!