Boat Building Plans And Kits | Central Triangle Having the faster boat is merely a good start

Boat Building Plans And Kits

Again the superb Crusader team led by Anthony Leighs beat us around the racetrack.  In a series of races that were best described as frustrating for us, we repeatedly extended a healthy lead and then lost it. stationary in no wind, before the finish line.

But what a fantastic week of racing.  For us it was a week of competing against Crusader.

Leg 1, Wellington to Akaroa, 195 nm: The first 4 hours were epic...  Out of Wellington and nearly to Kaikoura in 4 hours.  40-50 ish knots tailwind, many gusts into the 60s and a few recorded in the 70s.

These clips are with a reef in the main and a #4 headsail.  Blink felt like she was on rails, was balanced, and probably could have been pushed a bit harder.  But we were building a handy lead on Crusader and the conditions were, well, intense - so we just kept sending it over the waves....

Then we got south of Kaikoura and stopped.  The local wisdom is that you never go inshore here in a northerly, boats have stopped nearer shore in no breeze for days.  We headed further out, expecting to find enough wind to fill our sails in the slop.  Never happened.  Crusader ended up well inshore of us and got away, we never caught up again in the light airs all the way into Akaroa.  We did learn a bit about trying to move the boat in light air. But not enough ...

Leg 2, Akaroa to Napier, 350nm: After a drift-off out of the harbour we got around Banks Peninsula with a massive lead, Crusader so far behind they were hard to identify.  Then the routing was upwind all the way up the coast of the South Island and - given Blinks big speed advantage upwind - thought this would go our way.  But no - the Crusader team in the biggest (and one of the riskier?) round-the-outside manoeuvres Ive seen completely avoided sailing upwind, and when we again ran out of breeze near Cape Palliser they were 94 nm more east than any other boat in the fleet.  They got the breeze they went looking for, and moved from a 30-mile deficit to a nearly 10-mile lead.  Overnight. Wow.

Despite our losing power and not being able to cant the keel or use the boat electronics after we broke an alternator bracket just east of Cape Palliser, we went chasing after them and over the next 40-odd miles we got close, really close, about 15 miles from the finish line.  Game on.  We were less than a mile abeam and slightly behind, went for one more gybe to take an expected shift and maybe overtake, and stopped in no wind.   Crusader didnt, disappearing over the horizon for a 2-hour win.  Really.

Leg 3, Napier to Wellington, 205nm: At last a chance to stretch our legs upwind, at least to Cape Kidnappers.  There were no options for Crusader but to follow us out, and again we had a few miles handy lead as we headed down the coast back to Wellington.  Until later that evening when we again parked on mirror-smooth water, Crusader caught up again and we sat for a long time, 40m apart, in surreal moonlight.

Then a wonderful highlight of the week.  Here were these two high performance raceboats becalmed in the middle of nowhere at sea, supposed to be racing but stuck still in the wee small hours of the morning ... we fired up our stereo and played Mahna Mahna from the muppets at high volume from our cockpit speakers.

The breeze eventually filled in and we were away again the next morning.  In increasing breeze up to high 20s and even 30s around Cape Palliser Blink again had a healthy lead, several miles.  With the harbour entrance in sight, the Code 0 on and powering towards the finish line at 12 knots, and Crusader apparently well tucked away behind, it all looked good for us to at last convert one of our recurrent leading margins into a race win.  But no.  Another windless park-up at the harbour entrance.   Yes you understand correctly - Wellington Harbour entrance, no wind.  We all know that never happens.

But anyway you can probably guess the outcome.  Crusader and Blink were about 50 m apart, roughly side by side pointing in to the harbour, Blink in about 0.5 knots of westerly and Crusader picked up a good easterly (yes, dear reader, easterly) puff with their Code 0 ready.  Off they go, we never regained the lead, despite an absolutely brilliant gybing duel in a nearly windless inner harbour at night.  Crusader got us by 51 seconds for the full trifecta.

Kudos and trophies well deserved by the Crusader team for nailing every single opportunity.

Despite the disappointment of no silverware, we had a brilliant time, have formed a basis for a solid amateur offshore crew, and learnt a great deal about the boat.  Well be much better armed in the future.  It really suited Crusader to have minimal upwind sailing and very little reaching (at least at the same time that Blink was) as those points of sail would be a advantage to our more powerful and not much heavier boat.  But that did make for some spectacular racing, and pushed both teams pretty hard.   Ill be using the happy memories of that big downwind ride from leg 1 to bore people with when Im old and deaf.

The experience of all 3 legs was encapsulated nicely by an event the next day.  Robs flight to Auckland was cancelled due to fog, resulting in him getting becalmed in a queue the length of Wellington Harbour.  2 hours later some of the Crusader crew arrived, checked in, and flew out an hour before the next plane Rob could get on.

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Boat Plans Skiff | Leg 3 Blinkin Good

Boat Plans Skiff

The boys finished first in sunny light aired Napier. Well done Tony and Rob! A range of conditions from a light air start, to a park up, to 35 knots on the nose and finishing in light airs. A great race. Boys about to enjoy a breakfast at the Napier Sailing Club. Breakfast looks amazing as usual by the dedicated crew of NSC. 

Thanks again to the SSANZ crew for letting me tag along to see the boys in. 

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Boat Plans African Queen | Had a Good Sail with ‘Pike’ – Part 2

Boat Plans African Queen

Under sail

At anchor

Cliff Reach

The buoy

Fambridge moorings

Cleaning

As promised, here are more photos illustrating yesterday’s sail.

Altogether I was on the water for ten hours, not all of them sailing or rowing. I took two breaks, the first at anchor off Cliff Reach and the second tied to a buoy near the western entrance of Bridgemarsh Creek.

Shortly after setting out from the slipway at Hullbridge I noticed what appeared to be a long piece of string trailing from the rudder. This turned out to be a crab bait line, probably lost by some unfortunate child, who like many others gather at the end of the Up River Yacht Club’s slipway for a bit of sport, catching as many crabs as possible, before throwing them back into the water.

Apart from the crab line incident there was an event that could have been very significant. The wind was generally light, but as clouds began to appear, the wind became puffy. A stronger puff than the others heeled ‘Pike’ to a point where she was about to take water over her side. I was able to spill wind from the sail to bring the boat onto a more even keel. At the time, I was midway along Longpole Reach, which is a stretch of water to the east of Fambridge. Not many people walk the banks that far from Fambridge, and had ‘Pike’ capsized I doubt anyone would have seen me struggling in the water attempting to right her.

I had worked out a passage plan considering the possibility of capsizing. As a safety precaution I carried a whistle, and wore a buoyancy aid. In truth, a whistle may not have been of much use, but on returning to the same stretch of water later that day, I saw a man seated on the north bank who could have been birdwatching. (During the sail I saw two flocks of geese, many plovers and several lone egrets.) At the outset, I had my doubts about being able to recover the boat after capsizing, and yet I took the risk. Needless to say, I became more vigilant after the event.

Except for the happenings described, nothing else of note occurred. I sailed as far as Burnham Yacht Harbour and back to Cliff Reach where I anchored and had lunch. Later I made my way to the easternmost buoy of the Fambridge moorings for a nap while waiting for the water to become high enough for me retrieve the boat at Hullbridge. I chose to row the last 3 ¼ miles for a bit of exercise.

Things learned

The new sheeting points are good, but I do not have enough strength to pull the sheets really taught for long periods. I may have to revert to the previous single sheet system, despite its drawbacks.

Sailing ‘Pike’ on the River Crouch in more than a Force 3 would be too much for me. This definitely limits what I can do with her.

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Boat Plans Arch Davis | Had a Good Sail with ‘Pike’

Boat Plans Arch Davis

High water neaps at the start from Ferry Road slipway

The weather forecast for today was accurate, and most importantly there was a light wind from the north. Conditions couldn’t have been better for a sail to Burnham from Hullbridge. Not counting tacks, ‘Pike’ did a total of 18 nautical miles - 3 ¼ of them under oar.

There will be more photos tomorrow, along with a brief account of how things went.

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Boat Plans Building | Relaxing

Boat Plans Building

Therapeutic tools for relaxation

Stained and discoloured slab

Cleaned

Cleaning finished

It rained quite heavily this morning, but as I wasn’t intending to work on building the patio, there was no disappointment. For me to take time off from the task was a relief, but strangely, this afternoon, when the sun came out and there was a coolness and freshness to the air, I thought it would be relaxing to clean up the edges of the joins between the seven paving slabs I set in place yesterday.

In accordance with my desire for relaxation, I made a cup of tea and settled to mechanically scrape away stains on the edges of adjacent slabs. There was nothing strenuous, just a gentle jigging of the scraper, followed by rhythmic movements with the wire brush and a dusting away of the resulting powder. The sun shone, and a cool, soft wind rustled the leaves of the eucalyptus tree. I could think or dream of anything I wished. 

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Boat Plans Bolger | A Good Day

Boat Plans Bolger

Sand base for third slab

Seven slabs laid, ready for tidying

There was a considerable amount of rain last night – something unusual over the past few weeks. Anyway, after I made an early start at working on the patio, the sun came out and the weather became quite humid. That didn’t stop me from laying seven paving slabs, after which I had time for collecting more sand from B&Q before the store closed.

Tomorrow’s BBC Weather Forecast is for rain in SE Essex. That will give me an opportunity for taking things easy after morning worship at Provident Baptist Church, Southend-on-Sea.*

Unfortunately the proposed sail with ‘Temagami’ on Monday has been cancelled. Instead, she’ll be returning to Pin Mill tomorrow afternoon. She’ll be making her departure from Walton and Frinton Yacht Club Basin at about 2.00 pm, an hour before high water.  XCWeather.co.uk forecasts a SW wind of only 5 mph which will not make for exciting sailing, and doing it in the rain will not enhance the experience.

Links

*Providence Baptist Church Southend-on-Sea

http://www.providencebaptistchurch.org.uk/

XCWweather.co.uk

http://www.xcweather.co.uk/GB/forecast

Walton and Frinton Yacht Club

http://www.wfyc.co.uk/  

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Boat Trailer Plans Australia | The Good Ship Brimble July 2008

Boat Trailer Plans Australia

This is Brimble, a Twister 28, at Shamrock Quay, Southampton before we set off around to the East Coast

It has been suggested that Kim Holman, the designer of the Twister 28, never designed an ugly boat in his life ... I would agree!

The first part of the trip was to take Brimble round from Southampton to Harwich to give us a good jump off point for Norway. We divided this into two legs; the frst from Shamrock Quay to Ramsgate and then from Ramsgate round to Harwich.

The trip to Ramsgate was quite spicey with south westerly F6-7. Gordon McBride and Rob Parsons were crewng and we made great time covering the 132 logged miles in only 26 hours. This was made possible by carrying the tide pretty much the whole way along the coast from the Looe Channel. As we rounded the Isle of Wight going Eastwards we met the frontrunners of the Round Island Race coming westwards; we must have been a pretty spectacular sight steaming along at 6 kts plus and they looked pretty good too. I presume we didnt disrupt the race as we meandered gracefully through the fleet ... well there was nothing on the news.

The second leg round to Harwich was also great fun. Our friend Charlotte and her boat Pouncer, another Twister, had arrived through the course of the week at Ramsgate, having just returned from the Carribean. It was great to catch up over dinner and a glass or two of wine but not so great at 0300 the next morning. Once again we had a fast passage but the combined effects of one too many and the infamous Thames Estuary seas did make the journey a little bit of a challenge in respect to keeping breakfast in the right place. We arrived in Shotley at lunchtime and met Alasdair and Brimbles friends Sumara of Weymouth and Eider Duck 1. It was great to see Eider 2 and Eider 1 catching up with each other after nearly 6 months apart. More importantly, we were well set for Norway.

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