Getting ready for what's to come...
Hi all,
Well we are trying to get out at every opportunity and have in fact been over to speedspot on both of the previous days.
I got in Run 34 two days ago but it was pretty much an exact copy of run 33 where I had to coax Sailrocket up over the 'hump' and onto the plane. I went to the skeg steering again and played aroud with its limits. It has very positive control but can be ventilated if I push too hard. It still works well even down to 10 knots! I'm not yet sure if that is a good sign. We went out yesterday and the wind was only marginally stronger. I decided not to run as there was quite a large swell surging onto speed-spot and it was shifting alot of water up and down the beach. The beach at the end of the course drops away quite steeply into the water and I didn't want to risk damaging the boat for a run which in the big picture would have little overall impact. We no longer need to go out and just make runs for the sake of it.
We took the wing off the boat and into the container in between the last two days. the Hot east winds that have been blowing in the morning bring alot of dust and she was pretty dirty on top. It was also good just to have a general inspection and re-tension the skins with the heat gun. The wing is loving its new home in the soft-hangar. We haven't had to reskin the wing once in the previous two months. The boat has come a long way since the first time we came here over a year ago. Lessons have been learnt the hard way... but they have been learnt and we have moved on. Situations that would have lead to crashes no longer bring us unstuck. I feel we have the handling well under control on and off the course. Personally I am very comfortable with the boat and where we are going with it. I just need to see that the skeg steering is suitable for high speed work and we are there. By 'there' I mean able to take Sailrocket to the arena she is designed for. In close to the beach in top end conditions, sheeted in and focusing on 500 m averages aiming for big speeds... the limits.
It will be great to begin focusing on solid 500m averages as eventually we will need to be hitting a preset course and we will need to determine the best place along speed-spot to place this. We have spent so long struggling for control that it is hard to contemplate what life will be like if we get this sorted. I would expect that the 500m averages will rise significantly.There are a number of target averages to beat along the way including those of the other boats that have attempted the record, the logshots, Technique Av., Hydroptere's current best and of course, Yellow Pages. I'm not saying it will be easy or automatic but that's the direction we're headed.
The SW wind is already blowing this morning which means it will be windy this afternoon. The high tide is late in the day so we can't get on the course until around 3-3:30 at the earliest. As mentioned, first I have to make sure that the skeg steering is a viable system at speed... and I have to be real sure as the next stage will be to kick up the big rudder. We have a small 'intermediate' rudder which we can fit for this stage just as a safety. It's made out of the tip of a windsurfer fin and will give me a little backup if the skeg system struggles. But I doubt it will.
cheers, Paul.
Well we are trying to get out at every opportunity and have in fact been over to speedspot on both of the previous days.
I got in Run 34 two days ago but it was pretty much an exact copy of run 33 where I had to coax Sailrocket up over the 'hump' and onto the plane. I went to the skeg steering again and played aroud with its limits. It has very positive control but can be ventilated if I push too hard. It still works well even down to 10 knots! I'm not yet sure if that is a good sign. We went out yesterday and the wind was only marginally stronger. I decided not to run as there was quite a large swell surging onto speed-spot and it was shifting alot of water up and down the beach. The beach at the end of the course drops away quite steeply into the water and I didn't want to risk damaging the boat for a run which in the big picture would have little overall impact. We no longer need to go out and just make runs for the sake of it.
We took the wing off the boat and into the container in between the last two days. the Hot east winds that have been blowing in the morning bring alot of dust and she was pretty dirty on top. It was also good just to have a general inspection and re-tension the skins with the heat gun. The wing is loving its new home in the soft-hangar. We haven't had to reskin the wing once in the previous two months. The boat has come a long way since the first time we came here over a year ago. Lessons have been learnt the hard way... but they have been learnt and we have moved on. Situations that would have lead to crashes no longer bring us unstuck. I feel we have the handling well under control on and off the course. Personally I am very comfortable with the boat and where we are going with it. I just need to see that the skeg steering is suitable for high speed work and we are there. By 'there' I mean able to take Sailrocket to the arena she is designed for. In close to the beach in top end conditions, sheeted in and focusing on 500 m averages aiming for big speeds... the limits.
It will be great to begin focusing on solid 500m averages as eventually we will need to be hitting a preset course and we will need to determine the best place along speed-spot to place this. We have spent so long struggling for control that it is hard to contemplate what life will be like if we get this sorted. I would expect that the 500m averages will rise significantly.There are a number of target averages to beat along the way including those of the other boats that have attempted the record, the logshots, Technique Av., Hydroptere's current best and of course, Yellow Pages. I'm not saying it will be easy or automatic but that's the direction we're headed.
The SW wind is already blowing this morning which means it will be windy this afternoon. The high tide is late in the day so we can't get on the course until around 3-3:30 at the earliest. As mentioned, first I have to make sure that the skeg steering is a viable system at speed... and I have to be real sure as the next stage will be to kick up the big rudder. We have a small 'intermediate' rudder which we can fit for this stage just as a safety. It's made out of the tip of a windsurfer fin and will give me a little backup if the skeg system struggles. But I doubt it will.
cheers, Paul.
posted by Paul at 10:29 am
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