Monday, October 13, 2008


been out sailing a couple of times since the lake

the boat is getting better and better. the foil mods were aimed at reducing induced drag when the flap is fully deflected, and do seem to give a smoother accelleration at takeoff. the wand system is getting better fast, with my bendy bit of aluminium allowing for the whole thing to be mangled on the water. ive taken all the slack out of it and i now get that bumpy feeling when the boat is going quick upwind, and have a greater range of where i can sit.
my dodgey skin fitting rudder adjuster works a treat as well, after a bit of WD40! ive also managed to reduce a bit of friction everywhere (hello wd40 again!) and im now almost at bladerider standard in this department.
the flap hinge incorporated into the laminate has started to crack and distort, and im not sure ill do it agian. if i do, ill use something different. the problem is you cant replace it when it gets a bit shit (if this one gets worse, ill cut it off and do a sikaflex hinge)
its now obvious that the boat is too heavy, too leaky, and the foils are too square. time, it seems, for a new boat!

1 comment:

Pearso said...

Hey mate sounds like youve got it sussed. were about a month away from launching the new boat here in yeppoon it gets sprayed next week and [pretty much has been completely rebuilt from my old red and black boat that i had at nationals) so should be interesting to see. Anyways txted rod to see whats happening with sail bris and if you's are keen for a bit of training somewhere along there.