Slipping on a pair of old comfortable shoes

I went sailing at Datchet with the Proteus and rigged up a set of BG sails (A Rig) that I had used at the Europeans a couple of years ago. What a delight to set up and look at. Superb shape, top quality and above all boat speed was quick.

For me it is impossible now to compare BG with sailboat RC sails. I am sure one could make comments about an edge of one over the other across different conditions but you only have to look at global results to realise there is not much between the two. They are both fast, work well on the new shroud system and both look superb. The advantage of using BG is that we can get a direct comparison (same engine different hull shape) of the Proteus hull shape against the Britpop which is the benchmark design we want to compare and then later with the VISS and the V12. The VISS will have Sailboat RC sails and not sure what David will have on the V12. Between the 4 of us we should be able to a good assessment of the 4 designs over time. Of course there are many other great sailmakers out there, but these are the ones I am focussed on.

Dorian was out with his Cheinz with a BG rig and what we could say downwind was the Proteus nosedived less in the strong gusts. Full credit to Craig for tweaking the design yet again. One challenge with the low boom set up is that when goose-winged under pressure, the main boom catches the water and can cause the boat to broach. The way round this is to un-goosewing and the boat stays relatively upright solving the broach problem. The other tweak is to do what Brad does and cut away the ends of the booms and put carbon extensions in, all within the rules.

During the week I tidied up the 3 Proteus rigs and these are now within 3 gms of each other the heaviest being 230gms. I use dynema for the leech lines and backstay now which saves a bit of weight and need to get some more weight for inside the mast on the C rig so I can lose the counterweight on the bow.

Regarding the boat. Craig has built fordeck reinforcement into the print so there is an internal panel from the Jib attachment points to the centreline of the bottom of the hull. One less job to do when fitting out the boat. He has also beefed up the area round the fin box as well as tweak the hull design. We are getting close to producing a mould to prepare a glass epoxy version of the design. If the Alioth is anything to go by, we should see a marked improvement in the boats performance. There is no question in my mind at the moment that epoxy glass still has a significant advantage in terms of overall strength and robustness, but the gap is getting ever closer.

None of the above helps me towards qualifying for the worlds but the preparation will help me eventually get to where I want to go. Unfortunately qualification is not looking great. Too much experimentation, issues with boats and still lacking enough skill in a breeze. One last chance in October when we have the last ranking event.

In the meantime I will be able to do lots of 2 boat tuning between the VISS and the Proteus which are both set up to world championship standard.

The VISS will be on the water as soon as a couple of vital parts arrive this week.

At least the 5 hours racing on Sunday at Datchet with Craig, Dorian, Jim, Richard, Phil and John helped to improve the skill levels. If you would like to join us let me know.