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Sunday 25 December 2011



Well it seems like an age since that day back in August when we finally got the boat on the water, since then lots of things have conspired against further progress, issues at work, disagreements between myself and the builder over pricing which only really got resolved when some bits got left off and I had no real alternative but to pay what was asked and pick the boat up as they were closing up shop.



So the craft I have is still unfinished, it's rigged, but needs trampolines, the wings need fitting as do the spinnaker blocks, one of the bones of contention being the high cost over what a new set of B14 wings could be purchased for, but i shan't dwell further on the matter suffice to say I'm not entirely happy and leave it at that.


She's now graphite black, which is the colour I wanted in the first place, the jib pole and rigging has changed and the spinnaker pump system appears to work quite well, although a modification is needed to prevent it jamming on the hoist as the spinnaker sock doesn't separate the kite from the pole block and they can get tangled.




The rope and control layout looks like a nightmare to my uneducated eye, but follows a certain logic, it has a proper
kicker something I'm un familiar with, every boat I've owned for the last few years have used gnavs, I see the logic of it and it's very powerful but takes up too much room for my liking.

The cunningham arrangement is also fairly complex and has been brought about by the design of the sail, something I guess I can changed in the fullness of time, it works but will need routing out to the racks as will the other controls.



She's centre sheeted with a big floating mainsheet block which is meant to ensure it'll centreline and sheet block to block, i don't mind that, but again i'm unused to centre sheeting most of my previous craft having been sheeted off the rear.

There's no centreboard trim control yet but i shall rig something now she's in my warehouse rather than down in Romsey, but the main thing is she's ready to travel, I have a trailer and launch trolley and nothing is beyond the wit of man.

So with any luck I shall get her on the water, I had to take all these pics just to remind myself how to put it all back together once she was transported up here.

The hull is all polished and sealed, the centreboard has a forward section flushing strip to stop the water rushing up during that early stage before the boat settles on its centre rocker.

Looking at the new layout I'm now wondering how I'll set about tacking, can't really take the main and the jib sheet round the back and there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of room in the centre. I can't see how I can go through the centre with the tiller extension so I guess I'll have to dump the jib sheet then pick it up once through. Looks like a few things to work out still....



Thursday 25 August 2011


Well, today finally it all became worthwhile.
With the rig raked and re-adjusted we tried again, this time Ash accompanied me, Jamie is busy building B14's and suggested we both went out, so if adjustments had to be made on the water, one could hold it and the other do what was necessary, as there's always something at this early stage in a boats development.

So rigged and ready we took off and almost immediately it became apparent the rig adjustments were bang on, we were trialling a different jib that fitted better and the main had been raked a good ten degrees aft and the necessary adjustments made to the spreaders.

Initially we got some wash up the front of the centreboard but as she moved forward and lifted onto the 2nd rocker stage that disappeared and she began to march on, we started off heading upwind, that having been the problems last time out, she reacted well.

Then we bore off then a gust hit, I nearly got chucked out the back as she sprinted onto the next rocker stage. It was a marked transition, everything came light, (I'd been adjusting the rudder angle to make sure it was vertical just before we took off, she planed with just the two sails, so we couldn't wait to see what would happen with the kite up.

Naturally no sooner than the kite went up the wind dropped, but it did give us a little surge and was only spoiled by the troublesome cleat coming undone suddenly and we lost it, at first not knowing what had happened we stored it away and came back upwind, experimenting with sailing flat and lifting a hull, it planed easily when sailed flat and free, yet also pointed well and was loose with one hull out of the water, but to do this more reliably we'll need to raise the racks a bit.

We bunged the kite up again and this time got some wind, which catapulted her off downwind like a scalded cat. It skips over the surface once it releases, it's going to be fun pushing it hard in the future, but today was about checking everything so upwind again, see if we can get it into irons, it tacks sweet as a nut fumble as we might into the tack. When we did get her head to wind whilst we were fiddling with the plate that had been creeping up and trying to sort the jib cleat that had broken, it was a simple matter to back it out into the direction we needed to go.

Eventually time was marching on, (it always does when you're enjoying yourself) and Ash needed to do a final check single handed so i went ashore, only to fin my phone battery dead so couldn't record much, but i did watch him get one big puff and she flew. You can tell when somethings really moving, by the spray, normally the spray is sugary quite large, when it gets super fine, like it's been ionised, then you know somethings really moving and I mean moving, speedboat fast, I doubt a rib would have held it.

He came back with an ear to ear grin, 'It's mental off wind'.

So there's still a lot to do, but I'm a very happy chappy and getting even more excited at future prospects of sailing adventures, I've never been in anything so stable before, nor with the speed sensation, it'll be interesting finding out what she can do..

Sunday 14 August 2011

Finally got it on the water, late Friday afternoon

After a frustrating day of glitch after glitch and issue after issue, stupid frustrations including the moment we hitch the trailer up to the car it being locked and no-one knew where the key was, we finally got her to the waters edge on a dodgy trailer we had to fit a bar to, to even get it there, Jamie elected to take her out for the first sail, as it was a bit breezy, I didn't argue so we got her rigged, there was a minor issue that made the mast sit a bit to far forward due to a splice not being accessible enough to release to get some rake, this was to prove tricky later on.

The tiller extension as I predicted it would (I hate tiller extensions and it was a massive thing which had hell and damnation written right through it) fell straight off as he left the slip.


Once he got it sorted, he appeared to give it it's head, difficult to spot because by now it was well offshore, but off wind it appeared to be performing quite well, I'd noted it sat well on the water, the release off the stern wasn't 'noisy' (too turbulent) and it appeared to accelerate well. Jamie weighs 96 kilo and it didn't squat, with my 67 kgs it's only going to sit higher in the water, at this stage I was very pleased.



He seems to be making O.K. ground against that ferry and the tide, I missed the kite episode, it apparently went well until the cleat slipped and he sailed over it, hence having to go forward to sort it out and take a swim.

A small crowd had gathered as we arrived, some folk from the local Cat club interested in it's unusual design, it was the last night of Cowes week so there were lots of people down there. 'There,' was Calshot, the tide was low so we'd had to go down to the lifeboat station to launch. It was here that the original Spitfire in its Supermarine sea plane guise was launched so as historic venues go, it didn't get any better. Then another frustration arrived, a couple of the local Rangers, very pleasant started off inquisitive enough but it all got down to me moving my car, then being directed to this absurdly complicated cash machine to buy a park and launch ticket, I'd been videoing the boat overtaking a Ferry which seemed to prove it was moving O.K. in what breeze there was, but ten minutes of my time distracted saw me returning to a very different scene, he'd totally vanished.



As I moved further round the corner to see if he'd gone down the coast, a rather agitated lady came hurrying up the beach from the line of fisherfolk, saying she was going for the lifeboat crew, because a boat had just suddenly flipped over and couldn't get up. My heart sank, ' Er it's an experimental boat' said I 'he could be deliberately testing it where is it?' She pointed, sure enough there he was way out in the channel getting blatted by fast cruising stink boat wakes, upside down stood on the bottom. Why couldn't he right it I wondered, he didn't appear to be even trying, then a rib made it's way toward him. I pointed out that help was at hand and delayed further embarrassment at the hands of the RNLI.
But as the minutes ticked by, I became increasingly dispirited, it had been such a shit day, I checked my watch, the date said 11th (it was wrong as it turned out but nothing was going to halt my slide into depression at this stage) doh, why the 11th, (9yrs ago i'd gotten myself killed on August the 11th at the hands of a kite and the promenade wall for a few minutes), I wished at this stage that something similar would fall on me now to end the humiliation, it was all obviously a waste of time, my unsinkable 'un tip over able' boat was there in perfectly flat conditions at the hands of a very competent sailor, upside down going nowhere, the bottom quite literally fell out of my world.

Eventually they righted it, but he never seemed to try, didn't get out onto the end of the plate, just let the rib pull him over and climbed up the back, it did at least just sit there and not fall over the wrong way, not bad since it had been a windward righting. He then slogged back upwind to the slip.


This last vid as you can see him coming ashore unable to sheet in, having to play the jib right out and sheet on and off with the foil pushing against the flow, nothing working right yet still it moves through the water O.K. the only worry I have is that the racks are high enough. O.K. on this stuff, but in the waves of the channel I can see me removing them and Trapezing or at least lifting them another notch.

Once ashore, he seemed surprisingly chipper, 'did you get me going in?' No said I explaining about the infuriating car and parking machine incident. 'It's like an ice rink' he said 'the primer, I had to go up front to untangle the kite hoist and slipped arse over tit and grabbed at something or other and pissed the whole thing in, it did turtle a bit quick, you're right about those rack covers'.
Thank God for that I thought, 'and it's got massive lee helm I couldn't get on the racks even, couldn't get a footing, it's way out of balance.' 'Nothing unusual' he said obviously looking at my long face '' If it had been any different with this dog rig set up, I'd have been really surprised, I told you not to expect much today (He had but i did anyway not being the patient sort).
"The plate needs to go the next notch forward, the rig needs rake, we need some deck grip there's lots to do, but I've sailed much worse first time out", he then went on to regale me with tales that I can't repeat publicly of incidents with quite well known boats which took up to 27 repeats of what we'd just done before finally sorted, so it looks like I've got a tad longer to wait, he's off on vacation for Salcombe week and I'm up to my ears at work so it'll be a while. In the meantime they'll be finishing the hull and I'll be writing a snagging list and next time, i'm hoping to get a go myself and this time we'll need a rib.

Wednesday 10 August 2011

Failure to Launch

To many snags got in the way of a launch today, but I got a chance to finally see how it's going to be. Had a bit of a sit on it, took a stroll around the deck, lifted it up, tried to imagine righting it in the unlikely event of a capsize, confirmed my feelings about the inadequacy of using B14 washerwoman bits, talked about the jib gnav and how it would function and why it was necessary.

Suggested snowboard toe binding strap and ratchets, that we use on our two part Kayaks as a solution to the quick yet firm fix and or release of the racks for storage and transport.

But it did confirm in my mind that going ahead with it was a bloody good idea, I'm sure it's going to work, saw the massive plate, not finished yet, but the size is bang on what I want. Offwind was never going to be an issue, I just want to be first upwind as well.

It's righting moment is massive at 3.20mtrs rack to rack, it aint far off the righting moment of a 49er they tell me and 18 foot skiffs are only another 1/2mtr and should I decide to trap off the racks it'll go even faster.

Anyway here are the pics, best the iPhone could do in the circumstances, but enough to get the picture...





Monday 8 August 2011

Carbon wing-wang and racks

The first pics that I've found a little disappointing, not from a technical standpoint, more from a cosmetic visual, they look a tad ugly just sat on the deck of a flat grey primed hulk. They'll look better I'm sure when the rest of the fittings are in place and it's duly painted.

I hate the colour of the rack tramps, insipid cream, they'll have to go, they need to be black and mesh or there'll be to much windage if the day ever dawns when she goes over.

So in the essence of warts and all publishing, I give you this latest lot of pics, technically they'll all work well enough, but something will need to be done about the visual. We're due on the water come wednesday for the initial sea trials, if all works out well we'll have to see about tidying up the look.


The wing wang and spinnaker chute mouth, it does need to be big, but it looks so ugly not recessed, maybe when the bags in place and the mouth is all black with the jib mounted it won't look so bad, but it does address all the issues I've had with other wing wang devices, not least weight, it's all carbon with a nylon block which should prevent the pole lifting and make it easier to adjust under load.



Oversized, over engineered and all over my boat, B14 washerwomen racks the downside of expedience.

Well, it's incomplete, so will only get better... Once I've ditched those rack covers, they totally suck and don't even talk about the battleship grey primer, a necessary evil if we're to get it wet before we settle on where everything finally goes..

Wednesday 3 August 2011

More Progress missed in the email box

Some more pics of the laminated hull have been languishing in my email box, it's been that busy recently at work.

These show the final lamination of the hull and the screed fill and fair the surface prior to undercoat, which is now on and I'm waiting for more finished shots, as all the fittings are about ready for assembly.

Hoping to go down at the end of the week and see it going together.






The lines are becoming clearer, showing the hull planing facets, it all looks the way I wanted it, just hope my guesstimate calculations work out with the weight it ends up being and how early it'll get on the plane.






Tuesday 26 July 2011

It's finally flipped and stuck together

More pics arrived today and the two bits are now together and work to smooth the underside in hand.That's the underside of the deck showing the inserts and deck moulding for the racks and fittings
Same thing from another angle
The internals, the centreboard case and bulkheads to reinforce the hull.
Couple of shots of its raw state out of the mould frames...
Prior to sanding.

Next step is to rub and fair the surface
Prior to filling and painting.
Clearly quite a lot of work, these stages which took most of last week.
It is however taking shape, and looking remarkably like the original plans and CAD programmes which although expected, is surprising nonetheless and very assuring.
Looking at the shot of the bow and these stern sections, it looks fully capable of taking what the sea is going to chuck at it. That nose lift should deal with anything and the stern flats look well capable of fast planing, it is a beast, I certainly won't be naming it after anything floral that's for sure..


Monday 18 July 2011

Coming Together



Nearly a month has gone by since the last update and the summer is already flying by. I've lost another chum to cancer since this started and it does lend a sense of urgency to 'doing it while one still can'.

Anyway this is another exciting update, it's been tricky sorting all the fixing points and making certain that the swinging pole swivel works and that the racks won't dig in. They're a little wider than I'd first planned, but that is due at the moment to the expediency of using B14 bits I'm going to guess.

You can see the preparations for the internals and the raising points of the racks and the whole craft is beginning to look a whole lot more racier, it's definitely going to have enough righting moment for my weight, which at the end of the day was the whole deal.



I can see this thing maybe being able to be sailed flat and bang the corners planing like a Formula Board on certain types of water. I can't wait to get on it, with any luck we may even be getting it wet this weekend according to Jamie, although I must admit it doesn't even look close, but then he knows what he's doing.


Just looking at that plan view, it must be 3m 20 wide by the look of it rack to rack, that's going to take some moving across, but then us small folk are nothing if not quick and needs must when the devil drives..






Saturday 18 June 2011


Saw the two bits together for the first time today, which confirmed just how big she is, but it's exactly the parameters I want, long waterline so she'll go upwind just fine, and wide so she'll be stable.

So today was all about decisions, poles, kites, jib, mast position, tillers, centreboards, racks, obviously to prepare the fixing positions for shrouds, mastfeet etc.

We're basing our dimensions on what's going to be a bit of a cross between an RS700 & 800, we're going to definitely go with a wing-wang, a jib boom with a furler, the pump system to hoist the kite and a mix of the fittings of those two boats, the hull itself is already radical enough to best to go with tried systems initially to make it go.

The stern, we've decided to go with carbon racks centred at 1.50m each given 3.00mtrs width and righting moment which should be more than enough to keep her as upright as she needs to be and able to fly a hull. So to prevent the racks digging in they'll need to be set into the deck and wedged.

The centreboard case is going to be and extended plated similar to the RS200, it'll need to be longer to compensate for the tunnel height and high aspect ratio so will extended pretty much the entire length of the tunnel, the case is built already and we've allowed for pivot positions so I can bring the mast back even further if necessary.

It still looks like it could be a potential twin handed thing, but we're still going for the original concept, it'll have a fairly long tiller extension , we had a lot of discussion about twin rudders, twin tiller extensions off one rudder, for or aft sheeting, off boom or centred, but given the jib and the need for the main to be centre sheeted, we've opted for conventional centre sheet bridled and the jib and main connected, we're also considering a jib pole to facilitate goose winging the jib for the odd occasion when running with the kite isn't feasible.

I'm going to settle for two sail sizes, one as big as I dare for light to medium, we may as well go for broke, see just how fast we can make it go, and a smaller main for breezy conditions.

So with any luck next time I see it, she'll be together and maybe even on the water..



Friday 10 June 2011

More Progress






More pics of the deck laminate. I've been away all week working in France, so I shall popdown next week and have a look at it in the flesh.

Looks big enough, might even have room for a pool in the front deck, should have no problem with cupholders

Wednesday 8 June 2011

Taking shape at last

Deck Laminate





It seems ages since I last had anything to update with and time seems to be flying by, but this month things should start to accellerate, now we have the deck and hull bits 'planked' and glassed.

I'm stuck in a sales meeting in France right now and the last month or so seems to have been an endless round of travels and new product launches so the jolly old v-twin has been a bit on the back burner. I've sold my RS100 just this week so now I'm single handed boat less, this will focus me a bit more.

One thing that's worrying me as she comes together is the sheer size of her, looks more like a radical two hander than something I'm going to be able to launch and recover alone, she's a big old girl.