Exe Regatta and MUVI Micro video camera test

Work prevented us taking the Yawl to the national championships a fortnight ago, however we did get out on the water for the exe regatta the following week (which was a windy one). 

Yawls getting ready for a windy saturday at the Exe Regatta

The change in genoa track position that we made toDY171 has made a big difference to boat speed and pointing. DY171 appears to be going ok, last weekends racing showed that the basic boat setup is pretty much there.

Results

On the way back home from the race course I ran a test of my waterproof camera strapped to the mizzen hopefully I'll be able to post some racing footage in the not too distant future.

Happy Sailing,

Rich

Pesky Birds and Round the Island Race 2013

I have been spoiled for sailing over the past few weeks. Firstly the month of May finally heralded Spring (better late than never) and presented me with two amazing bank holidays to take the yawl out on some adventures around the Exe. Our first Yawl race of the season was wet and windy which gave us the opportunity to really test the boat in challenging conditions, we were glad to see that nothing broke and the Yawl survived unscathed, less can be said for my poor Dad :  )

In other 'thrilling' yawl related news, the bird scaring bunting seems to be doing the trick and saving the cover from the majority of bird attack. It would however appear that a small minority of hardy birds still can't resist a go at making our poor boat a mess.

Outside of Yawl sailing, this weekend I had a break from the Exe and headed to the solent for an early start and some champagne sailing on the round the Island Race. 20kts of wind at times and almost continuous sunshine was an unexpected treat, I hope to see some more days like it this summer. Our team didn't get round the island in the sub 3hrs that Ben Ainsley managed but in a nevertheless respectable 8 and a half hours.

I snapped these photos on my iphone as we rounded St Catherines lighthouse

Happy sailing,

Rich

Making the most of May sunshine and wind

We have just got back from a great sail on the Exe, all new bits and bobs seem to be working as intended. We sailed from Topsham to Exmouth beach stopping briefly at Starcross YC for some lunch on the way back. 

On our way down river we caught the Merlin Rockets sailing from Starcross at their open meeting, perfect weather for such an event, force 4 and beautiful sunshine (is this really the UK).

 

Happy Sailing,

Rich

This puts my renovation efforts to shame!

Earlier this year Vigilant (a Thames Barge) was beached at Topsham Quay and is undergoing a full revamp which looks like most of the hull is being replaced. 

The local BBC news did a report on her story here 

Spring has sprung, I have video evidence!

I've finally got round to posting some video of DY171 under way! In order to get a steady picture video was taken from my phone in a waterproof case strapped to the mast. We took the boat up to Starcross for some teaching and to see if my recent changes had worked. A relatively steady wind of force 3 to 4 in the gusts provided a great afternoon on the water.




Happy Sailing, 

Rich

Recent additions

Last season a few temporary measures were put in place in order to get DY171 sailing. The use of a cheap lifting engine bracket whilst the original uni parts bracket was being refurbished is one such measure. We also did not use a furler on the genoa as our rig design did not initially include this.

This season we have refitted the original uni parts engine bracket and added a sturdy oak pad. The bracket was kindly stripped, sealed and bought back to life by my father's friend Nigel. The uni parts engine mount is by far the best bit if kit for the job I have seen, but hard to find new or second hand. A recessed well in the transom works great and looks tidy, it is however an expensive job to get done.

The addition of a furler will help ease of rigging and de rigging. It will also come in useful to stop the genoa flapping between races or when alongside. We have used a selden furlex 20s which is the smallest furlex I have ever seen and runs very smoothly in conjunction with a swivel on the head of the genoa.

I look forward to hitting the Exe soon, lets hope it all works as expected.

Happy sailing,
Rich


"Sailing is like standing in a shower fully clothed while ripping up £10 notes" Anon

Back on the water, what a mission.

It has been a very productive 48hrs!

I took the train up to the West Midlands a couple of days ago in order help get the boat back down to Topsham.  My father decided to hire a 4 x 4, I was expecting a Land Rover but we got a Mitsubishi L200 'Barbarian' instead.

It is massive! 

The car even has a rear facing camera so you can watch the boat while towing.

But as amazing as the Mitsubishi is, it is not an ideal car for Topsham. Small roads, tight parking and funny looks made me remember why I bought a Mini for life in Topsham.

The centre board (now fully refurbished) was easily hauled in the pick up section.

The drive down was a long slog taking four and a half hours at 60mph with some traffic delays and a couple of stops. When we eventually landed in Topsham we did a quick tidy up on the antifoul and then went for a well deserved curry. 

A relatively early start today allowed us to get the boat ready to go in at around 1400 (high water). We were very lucky as there were a couple of other Devon Yawls preparing to launch (must be the sunshine that brought us all out). Thanks to some helpful advice from the experienced local Yawl sailors and a kind offer of help to launch, the boat was floating with two masts up, a centre board in place and ready to go by 1430.

In addition to all of the above we managed to add a new furling system to the genoa, which worked really well. I will post some photos as soon as I can.

We look forward to getting some decent sailing this season, lets hope the weather holds up!

Happy sailing,

Rich

 

Back to Topsham

On our way back to topsham!

I will post a full report on our road trip and getting DY171 back on the water tomorrow. Here is a picture if us ready to roll!

Spring is here (almost)

Another coat of paint on the yawl and some new sails for club racing this season!

We are all hoping the British weather sorts its act out soon so we can finish the boat off and get racing. I'm looking forward to trying out the new sails and seeing what difference all our hard work has made to our boat.

Preparations for 2013 season!

We are slowly getting the boat ready for the new season. This winter has been quiet for renovations but the required maintenance has continued. The under side of the hull has been sanded back and the first coats of primer applied.

My dad and his friend Nigel have done sterling work on the centreboard which was in a very bad way. It would appear that money I spent last year to have the board sand blasted and sealed was wasted, on inspection the board was badly rusted and deeply pitted! The moral of the story is If you want a job doing properly....... Don't pay a canal boat yard to do work at over inflated prices while you are out of the UK for three months and can't check the quality of their handy work!

We have decided to use Hempel hard racing white antifoul this season. As a dinghy racer who has always kept my boats ashore, this antifouling malarkey seems a little too much like hard work, it better work!