Thought for the day - You can always get better

So today I put the newest second hand sails on my Britpop. When I bought the boat I hadn't realised I had two sets of A rig sails and put the oldest set on my own mast and boom. Today I rectified the error and took the opportunity to remeasure the prebend in my own mast which was still less than 10mm. So out with the spanner and I got the prebend to 13mm which is just inside Brad Gibson's tolerances.

With the newer sails and extra pre bend, I have rectified a problem that has plagued me since I started sailing IOM's. That problem was a lack of jib leach tension. Not only will lack of rig tension give you a soggy jib luff, it will give you a soft leach as well which is disastrous for acceleration.

Another job was to polish out the scratches on the starboard side of the hull which I can only assume were caused by the boat falling off its stand in a breeze. The application of elbow grease and lots of T cut got rid of most of the scratches. Robot yachts had warned me that if I tried to sand the scratches, then I might go through the Gel coat and crate a bigger problem. So maintenance done and the only job left is to check the prebend on the B rig.

Finally I need to put a full package together for my original home build so someone can benefit from my efforts. Can't have an IOM sitting on a shelf.

With any luck there is no more to do on my race boat until I prepare it with the new BG sails for the Nationals and the first two ranking events at end August and September.

Finally a shout out to Tony and James Edwards at Robot yachts and Brad and Victoria Gibson at BG Sails and Design. If you ask them a question, they will get back to you quickly with a very professional answer. Thank you guys. You have saved me loads of time.

Happy sailing and good winds.