End of season

Its been a while since I last posted, 

DY171 has been put to bed for the winter after her first season on the Exe.  Although I have not been able to spend as much time as I would like getting the boat as sorted as possible we have successfully put together a boat that works (Its a very different boat to the one we had a year ago). 

There is lots of work to be done over the winter but this is small in comparison to the work we have already done.

Here is a list of lessons learnt (and re-learnt) this year:

• Don't let people work on a boat if they are confused on what the words 'slot gasket' mean or how to fit one.
• A choice of sail can be very controversial indeed.
• Sailing requires lots of patience.
• Measure 64 times cut once
• Do not take the phrase champagne sailing literally!

On the whole its been a productive an fun start to sailing the yawl.

Happy sailing,

Rich

Fly away pole sorted!

Last weekend I made some changes to the fly away pole system, and now it works like a dream!

The photos I've added show the new system, the main difference is in the elastic. I have beefed up the diameter of the pole take up elastic which now holds the pole next to the sheath where it exits the mast when not under load. This keeps the pole well above the deck and stops it hitting the fore-deck on launch.

A great sail today!

We put the new sails up yesterday (friday) for the first time. It was unfortunately in it a bit of a hurry, in order to make the club racing. However I would have been better to wait and set the boat up properly.

Today we took our time and raked the mast back to counter the severe lee helm we had on the Friday nights race.
This worked a treat and the boat sailed so much more balanced.

I've added some photos of the new sails. I am still trying out different settings but got some pleasing glimpses of how then boat will sail when set up properly.

My girlfriend is learning quickly and seems to be enjoying herself, I'm not getting told off too much.

New sails

I've been very busy with work over the last few weeks but have had the opportunity to get sailing the yawl over the past few nights!

The first couple of tentative races have been great to get used to how the boat handles and also to gently introduce my girlfriend to the sport (her first ever sail being last friday!) Learning to sail at the top end of the exe is going to be challenging. A few navigational errors meant I hit the mud several times on our last race, which is not fast : )

Up until today DY 171 did not have her own sails, as I had been using a set that had very kindly been lent to me.
But as of this afternoon she has a brand new set! A few photos are attached below:

Sunny Weather!

A rare sunny day gave me the opportunity to do some more work on the yawl, tidy her up and take some photos: 

Happy Sailing,

Rich

Ready to sail

Final touches on DY171 are underway prior to her first sail, I have attached some photos I took after working in the rain all afternoon.


New additions include: A simple cleat on the starboard side of the mast for the cunningham and helm / crew toestraps. I have also adjusted the position of the genoa tracks. An optimum time race watch is mounted forrad near the mast. A "mast break" strop has been added this is a more accurate method of bend control than using chocks. The mast break strop will not be utilised fully until an aluminium mast collar has been added inorder to strengthen the area around this part of the mast.

Happy Sailing

Rich

Sails up on the new rig for the first time

DY171 is almost ready to sail again, I put a set of sails up on the new masts for the first time yesterday. These sails have been kindly lent to me while DY171s new set are on order allowing me to provisionally place the gennoa tracks (these may need fine adjustment once the boat starts racing) and adjust the length of the halyard and fly away pole line. The missen sheeting system is also finished and working correctly!


All I need to do now is finish putting the toe straps on and she will be ready for her first sail after her refit. (lots more small tweaks to add before competitive racing).

Happy Sailing,

Rich