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Thought for the Day - The last leak



We had some great sailing at Frensham pond today which did its best to provide us with challenges as the wind came from the North over the trees. Windspeed varied from zero to eighteen knots or so. B rig in the puffs and A rig in the lulls, so we all went for B rigs. Racing was great and my results very average. It was fun to sail with a jib whose stretch leech I could not control. Hopefully the new one will be better. The one disappointment was that there was enough water in the boat after each sail to suggest there was still a serious leak.


When I got the boat home and pressurised the interior, I checked the bow which could be the only source of a leak. There were no bubbles, however when I dipped the bow in the water for a full minute, there was enough water ingress to tell me that is the source. Looking through the endoscope I could see the likely spot where ingress might be occurring at the bottom of the bow. My previous fix was focussed on one side of the bow. Now to fix the other side.


Time to dry the boat and drizzle a tiny bit of epoxy into the area and test again. All other previously fixed areas were dry. There are a few pin holes left but none appear to be letting water in.


Another win is the devise I attached to the mast heel to prevent rotation worked perfectly and the tape to centre the mast at deck level did its job.


The leak is at the top on the right hand side of the bow end plate. If you shine a bright light from the outside you can see a tiny hole


Evaluating the days performance with my coach







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