Last Thursday I returned to Gosport for some great racing. Following the recent weed cut there were 8 races without a single weed issue. The wind was blowing down the lake for the East giving us some great courses. I took the win but suffered a minor problem.
When I was racing at the Poole IOM ranking event the weather was warmish and each time I put the boat on the water you could see the effect of the cold water on the air inside the hull. All the patches were sucked in because the boat is so well sealed (thank you Robot yachts for that). Unfortunately the only way for the vacuum to be released is through the cap on the radio pot. As the water sits in the depression around the pot, it gets sucked in through the lid of the radio pot and onto the electrics. A recipe for disaster in salt water. Well the same thing happened at Gosport and yes salt water got into the radio pot.
As soon as I finished racing, everything was washed with fresh water and coated in corrosion X so the wires would be protected. I also soaked the inside of the receiver with the same stuff.
The only way I could see round the issue is to put a breather tube into one of the patches. My wife had an old thin tube from a perfume bottle and by glueing that to an old disk of very thin glass epoxy, the tube was stuck to the back of the middle deck patch. Finger crossed the radio pot will now stay dry as the inside pressure is neutralised. If you do fit one, make sure it is far enough away from the mainsheet post so the mainsheet does not catch it.
Here is the tube. You can see the disk under the patch and the tube. I would have like a thinner core in the tube but think this will serve the purpose for now.
