I've been sailing the boat for a few races now and I think I'm slowly getting better. I'm currently sitting 12th in the club series which considering that I've only sailed the boat about 6 times now isn't too bad. I'm also quite happy as I'm beating a friend who is quite a good Radial sailor.
I'm getting better at handling the boat across the wind ranges which is good news, I guess it's just one of those things which comes with experience. Upwind I can keep my lane fairly well and am starting to use the controls a lot more to depower/power the rig up as the wind changes at shifty shifty spinnaker.
It is amazing how different simple boat handling things can be like tacking, when you have to run around the back of the boat facing backwards (which is something new completely for me), but these are gradually getting better as well.
Downwind and off the breeze I LOVE the extra power the rig has, meaning I can power past the solo's and lasers! I've started adobting the broad reach to broad reach downwind method as running straight down seemed to have no real advantages for me.
I'm still being quite reserved on the starts and throughout the racing as I don't really want to break my new toy in any collisions, but this does have the drawback of having to fight through the leaders to get into clear air and a clear lane but it's all part of the challenge!
Results: http://www.spinnakerclub.co.uk/results/ALICE%20LISLE%20SERIES.htm
In terms of the problems I was having with the boat, they're better now. I thoroughly cleaned out the breather holes which seems to have solved the pressure and leakage issues. It still leaks a small amount, about 1/2 a pint in 3 or 4 hours. I'm happy with that now. I'm still getting used to the boat though so it does spend a fair amount of time dipping a wing but it's all good fun!
Still loving the boat though
Sunday 20 March 2011
Thursday 3 March 2011
Mixed feelings
It's a weird thing owning boats, today has had me in two moods.
Firstly I've been thinking about that fact that the boat, although seeming airtight (creating a large vacume when I took the bung out) sucked in about a pint or two of water in about 4 hours of sailing. It's just slightly annoying considering that I've just spent an incredible amount of money on a boat I thought was in better condition than it obviously is.
It's not a massive concern as I'll pressure test it at the club on Sunday and try and locate the leak. Hopefully it'll be a simple fitting being loose, or at worse a minor deck separation along the transom (a fairly easy fix IMHO) but it's just going to be worrying me until then now, what if it's damage to the mast pot. What if it's along a gunnel? I guess I'm going to have to weight and see.
In regards to breather hole issue, I'm going to try and clean it as best as possible and if it still doesn't work then I may drill a small M1 hole on the front of the cockpit, where it rises vertically behind the mast. Close to the centre line to avoid it being submerged in all but total inversions.
On a brighter note the 2011 Phantom PY has been dropped by 5. Hopefully making it easier to beat them on adjusted time. BRING IT ON!
Firstly I've been thinking about that fact that the boat, although seeming airtight (creating a large vacume when I took the bung out) sucked in about a pint or two of water in about 4 hours of sailing. It's just slightly annoying considering that I've just spent an incredible amount of money on a boat I thought was in better condition than it obviously is.
It's not a massive concern as I'll pressure test it at the club on Sunday and try and locate the leak. Hopefully it'll be a simple fitting being loose, or at worse a minor deck separation along the transom (a fairly easy fix IMHO) but it's just going to be worrying me until then now, what if it's damage to the mast pot. What if it's along a gunnel? I guess I'm going to have to weight and see.
In regards to breather hole issue, I'm going to try and clean it as best as possible and if it still doesn't work then I may drill a small M1 hole on the front of the cockpit, where it rises vertically behind the mast. Close to the centre line to avoid it being submerged in all but total inversions.
On a brighter note the 2011 Phantom PY has been dropped by 5. Hopefully making it easier to beat them on adjusted time. BRING IT ON!
High Winds High Speeds and a Steep Learning Curve
When I say high winds that I mean is 15 gusting 18 knots, hardly gale force but I was massively overpowered in a couple of instances. I went down to the lake as I had a couple of cancelled lessons at collage which meant I was home by 11:30! Sometimes you have to love the X3.
Basically I learnt an incredible amount about the boat and my skills in it, for example I was trying to reach flat hiked, thus was over sheeting the main, reducing my boat speed. Also I learnt that I need to be more aggressive and rapid in getting back to hiking whilst tacking and gybing, as I was loosing boat speed and dipping a wing on a few occasions.
On to the more interesting stuff. THE BOAT IS SO RAPID! Flat lake, broad reach, 15 knots = one happy sailor. I am so amazed at the pace of the boat off the wind, I only wish that I sailed more regularly somewhere larger. The lake is just to small when you can reach all the way across in about a minute. But I love the boat so much!
I got some GOPRO camera footage of me sailing the boat (badly) which I'll upload to youtube and link on here.
Basically I learnt an incredible amount about the boat and my skills in it, for example I was trying to reach flat hiked, thus was over sheeting the main, reducing my boat speed. Also I learnt that I need to be more aggressive and rapid in getting back to hiking whilst tacking and gybing, as I was loosing boat speed and dipping a wing on a few occasions.
On to the more interesting stuff. THE BOAT IS SO RAPID! Flat lake, broad reach, 15 knots = one happy sailor. I am so amazed at the pace of the boat off the wind, I only wish that I sailed more regularly somewhere larger. The lake is just to small when you can reach all the way across in about a minute. But I love the boat so much!
I got some GOPRO camera footage of me sailing the boat (badly) which I'll upload to youtube and link on here.
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