Where we're at, Monday the 14th.

The East winds have finally arrived bringing some very hot days and still evenings. The Braii's (BBQ's) are out in force. Such is the consistency of SW winds in the evening here that afternoon cook-ups on the beach are a rarity and the opportunity that the Easterlies offer is siezed upon.

For us it is great as it means that we aren't missing out on any sailing and the temp makes what little resin we have left cure quicker!

 

It's now been over two weeks since our little incident. I was hoping to be back in the water by now but certain things have conspired against us.

The wing is all finished structurally and is currently being re-skinned.

The COMPOTECH struts are being built and prepped for shipping but I think that we will have to repair one of the old ones so that this doesn't hold us up in the short term.

The new skeg is being manufactured by DESIGNCRAFT in the UK. It should be ready and here by the end of the week.

I am preparing the transom of the boat for what is to come.

For our first arrangement we will have the skeg mounted to the left and the rudder mounted to the right with as much seperation as is possible so there is little interference. I want a big skeg and a big rudder for starters. Control first, speed second.

I'm not sure exactly where the air rudder fits into the future of Sailrocket. If we are going to have a permanently fitted skeg then the purpose of the air rudder is almost defeated. If the skeg works well then we will aim to fit the rudder to the trailing edge like the tail fin of an airplane. This will reduce alot of weight and extra drag.

Our biggest show stopper at the moment is the time it has taken to get materials up from Sth Africa to repair the beam. We are now out of epoxy resin. We have trawled through every corner of Walvis Bay with the assistance of some extremely helpful locals (thanks Anton and George) but the epoxy we found wasn't quite the right stuff.

A shipment is being prepped and hopefully shipped today by Uwe at Jaz Marine in Capetown so we should be up and running again by the end of the week. It is up to me to make sure that everything is prepared. I need to make a mould for the leading edge of the beam as it is split and broken along its entire length. It was a big crunch and there is still a fair bit to be done. I will aim to make the mould out of a length of drainpipe with a similar inside radius as that of the leading edge of the beam.

For us it will be a special day when we get back out there again. When we limped back from speedspot last time I thought we would be out of action for a much longer time.

 

Cheers, Paul.

 

 

Paul Larsen
Mobile: + 44 (0) 794 684 1929
E-mail: paularsen1@aol.com
www.sailrocket.com