A gloriously sunny day with about 15 knots of breeze from the NNE, perfect for the B rig with a slight chop. Just the right conditions to check how my leak management was going.
After 50 minutes of hard sailing, there was just under a small cup of water. Far better than the litre or 2 yesterday from 10 minutes sailing.
I am staggered at the boat performance downwind. The bow stays up nicely without a sign of nosediving. Upwind, the boat and rig are perfectly balanced, once the tack is complete and boat accelerated you can look away and leave the boat to it.
Lesson learnt today and yesterday is that it is so important to get the boat out in a steady solid breeze. The loads are quite different to normal pond sailing and you need to check all the lines are the correct length.
The leaks fixed were at the top of the mast hole where the case bonds with the deck and a small hole at the top of the bow. A fillet of epoxy cured those. So now off to find the remaining leaks. Soapy water and pressure required. I suspect there maybe a couple of pin holes that are the culprits.
Changes since yesterday. Superglued the jib take off point for the downhaul as one slid down the boom in a strong gust downwind. Tightend up jackstay bowsie. Superglued a Cunningham ring on the A rig which I had forgot to do previously. Fixed major leaks.
All the reconfigured fittings are working perfectly. With a new B sails coming from Housemartin, I will have a racing rig for the Summer and then need to make a decision about what to use in the Nationals.
My daughter came with me and took some nice videos. Ignore the jib whose leech has seen better days. We could not stop it vibrating in the breeze but there are some nice glamour shots.
I am off for Golf on Saturday and GP14 sailing on Sunday so I am unlikely to blog. I played golf on Wednesday, first time since lockdown began and went round 1 over my handicap. I should not play golf more often.
Next racing is on Tuesday at Frensham and Thursday at Emsworth. Looking forward to working on the A rig.
Have a great Easter and enjoy your sailing.
In front of Frensham Pond sailing club
Some work to do on the mainsail and mast.
