Wind Wind and More Wind!!!!

So I spent the weekend RYA Volvo coaching which was OK until the predicted forecast became a reality! 20mph and gusts of 35mph! Not really ideal weather for coaching 7 to 13 year olds! So it was plan B go onto our small lake which is set just back from the club, a perfect facility to teach on a day which would of otherwise been a dry theory session day.

The weekend was a success despite the weather but it did get me thinking about the changing wind we seem to be getting. It seems to me that as each year passes the number of windy days seems to be increasing in our area. I am not saying that I have factual evidence more it feels like this is happening. If I am in fact correct it does strengthen the argument for a more manageable skiff style boat here in the UK and would the Farr be the ideal boat for that?

If your thinking would I of gone out at the weekend for a sail the answer would be no for a number of reasons.

1)      I was coaching!!

2)      The gusts were very irregular and although I think the boat could quite easily be depowered it was the range between gust and normal wind which would of put me off.

3)      I have only just got the boat and intend on spending the summer sailing and not fixing it! (Well not just yet!)

 

Anyway I digress. The slight change in my intended programme resulted in me getting the chance to talk to a few of our Topper sailors about their intended journey through sailing. Most have aspirations to sail fast handicap boats and are looking to end up in 49rs or single handed Musto Skiff or RS700’s. The double handed option is fairly well covered with Laser 3000, 4000 and RS building the 200, 400 and 800. I suppose my issue is if you choose the single handed route and have done your time in a topper, you have a fairly easy transition into a Laser but then it becomes more difficult. Contender, RS 600, RS 700 or Musto? As a person who has been instructing for a while now (too many to remember) when I am asked what I would suggest by cadets and parents as to the next stage I really do struggle. Some of our cadets in the past have made this transition easily into high performance skiff but the majority have tried and failed due to not having the time to put into the boat and then either get turned off sailing altogether, only sail on light wind days or sell up and buy another class. If we had a boat in the UK which bridged the gap would that help cadets achieve their aspirations, provide a safer progression?

 

I would love to hear from people via the comment section. Am I barking up the wrong tree thinking the Farr could be a great boat to help bridge this gap or do I have a valid point? Hummmmm!???

Finally summer is here (Or have I spoken Too Soon!)

So it looks like Summer has finally found its way to Essex at last! This week has been lovely so far and I even managed to get out on one of my other boats to have dinner with my wife! We took the tender and got a board and enjoyed fish and chips in the cockpit and watched the sun set. You can't beat it.

 

 

I also got to start cutting some of the Cedar I got off the builders and decided to cut it to length to see how many dagger board cores I can laminate together.

 

Working at a school who have a fully kitted out wood work department is a real blessing and I happily spent an hour or so cutting and trimming using the bench saw. This has saved masses of time and I at a rough guess I have enough to make 7 Farr Dagger board cores! Not bad for free hey!

 

 

Now I just need to start sourcing carbon I'll be away. Picture below of the stash ready to be laminated up!!!

 

 

 

It seems that UK Farr developments are heating up and Dave Butler of Butler boats is talking to sail makers as well as my investigations so soon we will hopefully one or two quality names for people to choose from.

 

I have had email Contact from Andy Davis of HD sails  (http://www.hdsails.com/)  and having sailed with his sails in the Snipe know they are a top quality sail maker who are very competitive on price. ADM sails of Heybridge (http://www.admsails.co.uk/)  are also keen to get involved. With two boats in the UK out on the race course already and builds in various stages of completion I don't think it will be long till we have a UK fleet!!!! 



 

Light wind sail!

So today I had my 1st light wind sail! Not the most exciting sail but a sail none the less. Things were going well round the windward mark just behind the RS100 and phantom.
Wind then decided to do funny things which meant I went from a sitting position to a swimming position. Bugger!

I didnt bother looking at the result as I kinda know where I came!!!

On a positive note I had a great chat with two potential sail makers in the UK and touched base with Fyfe in Nz. So Project UK Farr development is a small step closer. Ill keep you posted!

The Calm after "The Storm"

Just looked through the camera after the shortest windsurf session in history and thought I would share this photo with everyone.

Although it is hard to see in the picture there was 2 rainbows and under the small one the light was very cool.

Fixing the Gantry

So this morning I went down to sort the gantry problem.

I decided to do both the gantry and a hole in my JP Wave windsurf board as well! 10mm of Epoxy and Colloidal Silica and West filler and off we go. unfortunately I could not find the pot of dye to make it go black but as this is just a test to see if it works and it will need sanding back after it has set so I will sort the colour issue out later. 

   
right so Job done all I need to do is let it go off.

A couple of hours went by and then guess what yes rain!!!!! I think it has gone off enough but I will see what it is like tomorrow.

So with the boat not ready to sail it was windsurfing with friend Sarah. It was all looking good force 5 gusting 7 and then more rain and it went flat calm. We decided to go anyway and had an interesting sail for at least 30 minutes with no real wind and then 40 odd Knots came in with rain so hard it hurt my head (it's times like this I was I had some hair to take some of the impact!). After getting my arms pulled out from there sockets the wind proceeded to go back to next to nothing so we binned it and went in for a shower!

Hopefully tomorrow the wind will be slightly more consistent and enough people turn up to race and I can have my 1st race! 

Friday night Sail!

Whoo what a sail!

15 to 20 knots SW perfect!

Mast up sail on and out. Just decided to go and blast on a broad reach I had forgotten how fun 12ft boats are after selling my last Cherub and sailing a 700. The think I like about the Farr is the simplicity of it and the fact that in breeze it is still sailable without too much commitment to sailing it. With the 700 practice was the order of the day which is difficult with all the other things life throws at you, but with the Farr you can not sail for a while and then get in it and have a great sail. Now all I need to do is get out on the race course and she how "he" goes in the medium handicap fleet.
 
The sail did flag up a few little things which I need to do like the rudder gantry. There is two plastic washers which slot inside the Carbon Gantry which the rudder pin goes through. these lift up when sailing which means when this happens the rudder does lift up. Originally there was a tiny little bolt that fixed them into the Gantry but the nut on one has disappeared and both nut and bolt are both gone. So I decided that I would glue them in. 

Pictures below to show what I am talking about

   

Wind Wind Wind!

So, I get down the sailing club last night trying to get a cheaky sail in! Was looking good at 15knts, so I got the mast up, turned the boat upright and then it went off! It was windy big enough to blow my sail bags and mast bag out of the trailer. I went to have a peak over the wall and the river was a sea of little white horses! Due to not having any safety cover and there being no one else at the club I had to stash the sail in so I decided to spent the time going over the rig and sorting it out ready for today. Evening tide, weather looks good  so hopefully I can finally get out tonight!

Fingers are crossed!