DragonForce RG-65 Match Racing at Corinthian Sailing Club, TRYC

To kick-off the new year, the Trinity River Yacht Club hosted a round-robin Match race with two DragonForce RG-65's, which the club is adopting as an entry level boat (along with RG-65's broadly and IOM's). These new boats are quite the rage, and seem an excellent ready-to-sail buy at below $200 (and increasingly hard to find as orders remain high!)

This was a good test, the boats were match raced by varying skill levels in a stiff breeze with typical White Rock rollers...winds started about 18-20 and peaked at 28mph. The boats took it extremely well, no breakdowns, minimal interior wetness, and quite raceable and maneuverable. With winds continuing to build, the semi-finals were carried over with the seeding being Brig North 6-1, Eric Rosenbaum and Chris Cafiero 5-2, and Chuck LeMahieu 4-3. Two or three races were within a boat length!

My Experience: Sailing small boats in high winds means it is invariably better to foot and keep moving for speed; pinching quickly leads to stalling usually and a difficult recovery...I had two good port tack starts by disengaging the start and running to the port corner, both led to victories. One win was helped when Maurico hit the downwind mark while rounding in a gust. Best race was against Chuck LeMahieu, a "Founder's Match" as we started the club 17 years ago...I went after him aggressively on port, and he seemed a bit surprised. Held a very narrow lead the whole race and finished ahead by about a boat length, whew!

Years of wrestling tender Victoria's in high wind and water was clearly helpful to me. The boats took it very well, and I was impressed by their ability to tack in wind and swell...I could (barely) tack in 28mph, but found it generally hopeless going downwind in the A-rig at those speeds, and repeatedly pitched and rolled. I would imaging with B and C rigs the boats would have handled it nicely however. Good boats!

Video (iPhone 5 with tripod) of Brig and Chandler racing, about 18-20 in A-rigs...

...and Chandler besting Maurico...

Pictures taken on iPhone 5 with telephoto attachment...

Practice sailing, November 30, 2013

Practice sailing with the TRYC at the Corinthian Sailing Club today, winds started about 11mph and built to a steady 15, with gusts in the low 20's. RG-65's and IOM's raced on a staggered start on a long course. 

Roo and I brought out IOM's to practice for the next week's LUF Cup. Here he sails his IOM Tenacious:

Tenacious is an old Byerley designed Forte, and pretty good in a breeze. Unfortunately, we need to engineer some some more rudder throw into her, as she was a bit tough to turn in the upper A-rig conditions. Roo sailed her pretty well nonetheless, and sneaked in a win when his two comrades fouled each other at the reach mark, or as he says, "a win is a win Dad!" Sailing my boat later, he creditably sailed to two seconds, good job!

Brought my Tempest, Juno out and enjoyed a pretty good day in the upper A-rig, with two 1st, and the rest seconds. 

Juno is a pretty balanced, mid-range boat and went very well today against a Lintel and a Britpop. With the big gusts I went ahead and set my close-haul a touch looser, with some twist at the main top to help dump the over-powering gusts, and she ran fast and hands free on the beats. At Eric Rosenbaum's suggestion I added a touch more topping lift to add some similar curve-off in the jib. That proved to be a good suggestion, and after that I just enjoyed a rare (for me!) treat; concentrating on my actual racing and strategy rather than the boat itself. Chuck and Wolfie provided good racing competition and it was a pretty good day. 

Roo shot some video, its a bit shaky but here it is:

You can see Wolfie's yellow Britpop port tack Chuck (red Lintel) and I (white Tempest) shortly after the start, and a tight race to the mark. Chuck and I roll over Wolfie downwind, and we jockey tightly around the mark with Chuck in the lead, and me close behind. I break tacks with Chuck beating to the finish, he covers, almost too loosely. I make up some ground but he wins by a few boat lengths. A close race all the way, and typical of the day!

Blue Splash, Building Blog; Part Nine...Test Sail!

The "Peck" hit the waves today, with generally good results!

Here's a few pictures to commemorate the occasion:

Andy & Peck before the big launch!

And she's underway!

The rig seemed to work quite well...

The Penguin graphic looks neat on a beat!

The intrepid crew!

...it Floats!

The Good:

1) Boat trim was excellent, she sailed very true and easily on the beats. Once she put her shoulder into it, it was virtually hands free. Speed seemed good, but it's always good when you are alone!

2) Running rigging worked just fine.

3) It floated!

The Bad:

1) After a pitch pole, she tool ALOT of water. Not sure if there is leak, but suspect areas are the hull patches, mast tube (I think water ran down the tube into the hull), and the epoxy in some hull egress points like the rudder control rod and some screw holes. This will require some careful checking, but doesn't seem to be joint related.

2) The flooding apparently ruined the sail control winch...

3) The running rigging line is too stiff and thin, will need to be replaced.

All-in-all, a good maiden voyage, back to the shop this week to finalize some standing rigging and rig control settings, confirm water-tight integrity & replace a servo, and then, hopefully, a maiden race next weekend. Stay tuned!

Blue Splash, Building Blog; Part Eight

Just about finished! A few more items; jib slot control, boom attachment, and deck patches...the rig is lightly constructed and tied, once I confirm everything works it will be properly finished up. Stay tuned!

USA-50; "Peck" nearly ready for christening!

Roo and Peck, with their new boat!

Andy inspects the latest work...

Peck! Get out of that picture! 

Blue Splash, Building Blog; Part Seven

Another update...the first running rigging plan didn't work properly, so a new type of line and slightly different internal attachments should provide an adequate remedy. Hopefully, on the water in a few days!

Rig layout, note luff curve without backstay...

Second try at removeable keel, expoxied 4-40 screw in fin.

Drain plug...

Rig fit, main sail added!

Looks good so far...

Running rigging failed, try again...

Blue Splash, Building Blog...servo test!

Servo test of rudder and sail winch, some minor adjustments, but good enough for a "proof of concept"! More importantly, it all seems to work...

Blue Splash, Building Blog; Part Six

Swing rig, radio box, and more!

Crossbar expoxied in place, the aluminum tube just protruding will ride on the bearings.

Complete rig kit from Eric Rosenbaum!

Internal spar, the rig will fit over and ride on the bearing.

Servo tray expoxied in place; winch arm held by two screws to test clearance.

Battery and servo compartment, rig glides easily on bearings...