Passion XI

Last year we took Passion X to Port Stephens just a month after launch and she was very much still a work in progress. We sailed well in the light airs but were no match for the fleet in heavier conditions. On the square runs our small spinnaker off Passion was undersized for the competition and the asymmetric off Passion could not be flown from the bowsprit.
Our trip home from Port Stephens in 35 knots was a bit difficult with the No 3 jib and triple reefed main so we dropped the jib and proceeded on triple reefed main alone.
This year we are better prepared for a wider variety of conditions. We have fitted the bowsprit which can now carry the asymmetric off Passion and a new headsail set flying which is a generous 60 m2. We have a larger mast head symmetric spinnaker of 130 m2 which is the largest we can fit on the rig and may even be too big if the air is really light.
For heavy air beating and cruising we have a No 4 jib which we used quite often over the winter in the RANSA Winter Wednesdays and in the Balmain Friday afternoon pursuit races. For light air we have a 149% No 1 genoa and the 140% No 1 off Passion is now officially our No 2.
All the sails are measured and the updated measurements are with the rating office waiting for the shock result to come out. I am over rating shocks as both the IRC and ORCi Club ratings seem unreasonably harsh and we have been unable to sail to the polars output from the ORCi VPP program except for light conditions beating and heavy air conditions off the breeze.
Our non spinnaker OSN rating is in between the rating of the Ker 11.3 twins, Dump Truck and Much Ado V, and while we have had a few rare wins against them it has generally been because of a lucky wind shift or a drift through the fleet. In a fresh breeze when they are well sailed they are significantly faster. A few data points from the ORCi certificates show why I have been perplexed at the rating. Dump Truck is 500 kg lighter and because it has no cabin and a lower centre of gravity bulb it has an overall centre of gravity half a metre deeper than Passion X. She has less wetted surface area, a carbon mast and laminate mainsail. Passion X only positive factor is 9 cm longer water line length I doubt that is much of a contributing factor since when the rating office by mistake used a longer water line length for Passion X by 70 cm the rating hardly changed.  The sail areas are almost identical although Dump Truck gets their genoa area with a longer J and I measurement while Passion X gets hers with more overlap.

But back to Port Stephens where I hope the wider range of sail options will be a plus and let us perform over a wider range of wind conditions and wind angles than last year. If we are lucky there will be a lot of very tight reaching in light airs for our furling jib set flying to do its magic.

The new 130 m2 symmetric spinnaker is ready for the light air runs at Port Stephens

The No 2 genoa and Passion X with the bowsprit fitted

Tight reaching to the heads with the Code 0 set on the bowsprit

The new 149% LP genoa poled out for the run to Cockatoo Island

Last year our small symmetric spinnaker could not match it with the regatta competition

Crew with new crew shirts posing on the back of Passion X on our first race day in 2017

It has been a year since we first raced Passion X in race 5 of the Autumn series. In that first race we were second across the line to the old Meridian, the 44 ft Dehler yacht, that usually took fastest time.  We had a few second fastest as last year came to a close and were pretty happy with the performance. This season in the first series we were one point out of second place on the most fastest times with the good places shared around among new yacht, Much Ado V, and old ones sailing  better including Flashback and Lisdillon. Jackpot returned with new owners and after a tentative start they now have her back near the front of the fleet. In the more casual summer series we were second on the fastest times table with some average results and were helped by the absence of some of the better yachts. After four races in the Autumn series we are second on the fastest time table but other have a big number to drop and we will end mid fleet unless we can pull a rabbit out of the bag. Our target in building Passion X was to be somewhere near the J122, Jackpot, and while we have had a few narrow wins while they were getting used to the new yacht they have had many more wins by a larger margin. Based on handicaps the pecking order appears to be Much Ado V, Dump Truck, Jackpot, Flashback and then Passion X with Joli and Meridian yet to have enough races to establish a base reference. As of now we still have not hit the target of matching Jackpot and the improved Flashback and new starters Much Ado 5, Joli and Meridian and a more consistent Dump Truck will make difficult to stay near the front of the fleet. It is hard to know if we have learnt anything over the past 12 months. The overall improvement in the fleet and the generally heavier air conditions mask any changes. We have now four races in what should be lighter airs to see how we go compared to last year.

Passion X enjoying first use of the new breeze in a good December race

The title has little to do about one of the gun boats, Much Ado V, and much to do about the fickle winds that lead to the all the black fleet, and the majority of the green and blue fleets, failing to finish the course within the 8:15 pm time limit. The forecast for the waters around Cockatoo Island was for 15 knots and it was blowing 20 on the harbour and at Sydney Airport so we set the old No1 which is now the No 2 genoa. We were reluctant to use the new No 1 which we are keeping for light conditions and as the No 2 is a big step up in area from the No 3 in our minds it was a good choice. We won the start and were first into Humbug but with Much Ado V right on our stern. Soon Jackpot and from memory Meridian or Lisdillon had smothered our wind from behind allowing the rest of the fleet to catch up. Out of Humbug Much Ado V, Jackpot and one other picked up the breeze first and bolted away. We had a private battle with Dump Truck which was to go on all evening and at the west end of Cockatoo Island we made up some ground as the fleet slowed in the wind shadow. Unfortunately there was more than one fleet there and making use of the following breeze was difficult. It became more difficult as we started working towards Goat Island in a breeze that was flicking from North East to South East in very rapid succession. Lisdillon with a short footed genoa was taking full advantage of their rapid tacking ability and soon had a handy gap from us as they went off chasing the three lead boats. Neither Dump Truck nor ourselves could take a trick. We would tack on a header and have the breeze flick back so that we were going back and forth across the course and making little forward progress. At other times we would be heading straight to Long Nose on port tack while Much Ado V far ahead was pointing at Long Nose on starboard tack. Kevin and I swapped places a few times but with the same result as the wind was changing too fast for tactics other than sailing on what we had. We were on the favored tack a few times so that at the navigation mark at Goat Island we were level with Dump Truck and after rounding Goat could see the front runners ahead. As we emerged from the Goat Island wind shadow Joli came up on our lee and almost passed us while Dump Truck to windward picked up the freshening breeze first and shot ahead. Around Long Nose I poled out the genoa and insisted that we stay in the gust we had even though we were a bit by the lee. With the breeze flicking so much I figured it would come back soon so we could make Cockatoo Island and that was the case. Perhaps it was the only thing I did right on the night but it gave us a small lead on Joli and narrowed the gap to Dump Truck. The second work to Goat was also frustrating but we did pick up a bit of breeze more from the north that allowed us to make a straight line to Long Nose. We stayed in this breeze making up time on all the fleet becalmed ahead and at 8:05 pm with not enough time left we all gave up the race and started for home. With Kevin on the helm short tacking on the shifts and me calling the wind on the genoa we did a lot better on the second leg. I found it easiest to roll under the genoa for the tacks. This seemed a lot safer than trying to jump genoa sheets in quick succession and I recommend it to the crew. We had light genoa sheets on with stripped leads and these pulled through the spinnaker pole beaks quite easily so poling out the genoa and gybing the pole was pretty efficient. In this respect the double ended pole is the only way to go so I should think about a longer one for the drift conditions. That was the last race for the summer. We still have racing for the first month of Autumn until daylight saving time ends on 1st April so there is a good chance we will have at least one more frustrating race in dying conditions for our enjoyment. May it please be in a steady breeze.

Fickle wind at Fort Denison is similar to what we had in the west harbour.

An abandoned race

It was a evening with a light wind forecast and perfect for trying the new No 1 genoa. It is a little longer on the foot than the carbon genoa off Passion so that it clears the shrouds a little better. With the longer foot comes a few extra square metres of sail area so we were hoping for an improved performance.
We started ok but for some reason the yacht below lifted to clear Onion Point and the ones above drove over the top. I suspect we were caught between two winds and once we fell into the dirty air from both sides it was good night. In Humbug we went a bit more mid stream to try to run over the top of the fleet and managed to pass a few but we were stuck in Jackpot’s dirty air and they seemed to like having us at their mercy. Much Ado V jumped away and was never caught by the fleet. Jackpot, Dump Truck and Joli worked away from us on the way to Goat Island and on the corner Lisdillon picked a nice shift by going hard into the island and tacking back along the shore. This is the second time they have made very large gains on us on the corner and it left us very mid fleet at the rounding.
Once on the way back to Cockatoo we reached below Lisdillon and poled out the new headsail on the way back down the Hunters Hill side of Cockatoo Island. All the crew were camped on the foredeck as we slowly reeled in the front runners. Lisdillon tried very hard to take our wind but the direction was over the port quarter and we ran by the lee for most of the leg with mostly clear air. While we were making ground on the front runners the tail of the fleet was catching us with fresh breeze from behind. Around the west end of Cockatoo we were again on Jackpot’s tail but they had enough of a lead to tack to starboard and get cleanly away for the reach to Humbug.
Dump Truck had been just ahead of Jackpot at the turn but she cleared out once on the wind. At the finish there was roughly a minute and a half gap between each of the first four yachts with Joli fast catching us once the wind was forward of the beam. Lisdillon was less than a minute behind and the tail end of the fleet came home well to take the top three handicap places.
I was disappointed to see we were third last on handicap and on looking at the results we had been given a harder handicap that the one from the previous weeks race. That is a bit of a mystery but we lost .028 on our handicap. If last weeks CHC of 1.012 was applied then we would have been 1 hour 4 minutes and 18 seconds on corrected time and just 4 seconds behind Lisdillon. Not only have we lost .028 on our handicap,  the new CHC, is worse than the previous week after finishing in 8th place.

The new genoa poled out for the run to Cockatoo Island

The closest we got to Jackpot at the Cockatoo rounding

Both before and after our Wednesday Twilight race there was plenty of activity. A large three masted schooner was parked across our start line. From the for sale web site “Southern Cloud is a majestic 130’ triple masted motor sailing yacht specifically designed and constructed for long range cruising. She is now available for sale. She is the ideal vessel with the classic appeal, for intimate getaways, long weekends with close friends, family vacations, corporate entertaining or product launches. She is the perfect yacht to take advantage of the enormous deck space and 360 degree views.”

Fortunately we were able to get her to move away for an hour so that the 70 yachts that had to tack out of the Lane Cove River could do so with a degree of safety. A big thank you to John Wood who chased them up on Tuesday and arranged the move just 30 minutes prior to our start.

The race was conducted in an unusual wind pattern with the direction different on the west end of the harbour.  We took punt of the No 1.5 genoa which is the Dimension Polyant Carbon from off Passion that we have used as a No 1 for the last year. In the early gusty conditions we were over on our ear to 40 degrees and struggling a little against the heavier Jackpot and the two Ker 11.3 twins and the nice rig on the new J 112e, Meridian. As the breeze eased we gained some ground but I could also see Lisdillon making up ground determined to continue her winning streak.

In the early windy conditions the aircraft carrier Flashback had an unfortunate mishap when the fractional rig suddenly reverted to a masthead rig. Very fortunately it was a clean break above the shrouds so the mast remained upright. It is a fairly small section and had given 30 years of service so I think around a $1000 per year of sailing is not a bad figure. Perhaps more of a worry will be getting a suitable replacement section and matching it to the very light hull weight.

Our moment of  hope came as we rounded Cockatoo Island for the tight reach to Humbug where the fleet that went in close appeared to be becalmed. We skirted the fleet only to experience the same light conditions further away from the lee of the island and the gap widened out as the leading boats were first to the new breeze.

Captain Beck won the night in the sibling rivalry competition although to be fair the two Ker 11.3’s are not identical twins and Much Ado V should be giving a couple of minutes to Dump Truck on ORCi. That is something they can argue about over the BBQ.

We were four minutes behind Much Ado V. a couple of minutes behind Dump Truck and Jackpot and we split the J112e fleet being a minute behind the professional crew on Meridian and a couple of minutes in front of Joli. I think this one does not count in the head to head competition Stephen.

Sweet Chariot cleaned up in the handicap stakes and we were surprised to beat Lisdillon into second place by a mere 19 seconds.

Sympathy goes out to Soundtrack who must have hit the doldrums somewhere on the course and was a late but valiant finisher. It was the sort of night when they have done well and no doubt they will be breathing down our necks next week.

The finish was affected by the return of Southern Cloud to our finish line and the fleet could not see the finish mark behind the bow of the 130 ft craft.

An hour later a 40 knot southerly swung up and Southern Cloud dragged her anchor. While holding down plates of food on the deck we watched as she drifted towards the ferry dock and were greatly relieved when the crew started the engines and got her back under control. The same breeze made it difficult for the raft up to disembark from the pontoon and thanks to all those who helped and were patient while the yachts peeled off.

Southern Cloud position up to an hour before the race

Southern Cloud in the calm before the 40 knot southerly hit

Having just returned from four days of Champagne sailing at the Laser National Masters it would be remiss of me not to reflect on the great sailing conditions. Against the forecasts we had four days of seven to fifteen knots of oscillating breezes during which time we fitted in ten races. Our fleet of around 35 over 65 years of age sailors had a longish start line which was set for the larger standard rig and radial fleets that started ahead of us so it was not too crowded. Most of the starts I was at the pin end with several of my regular club friend and apart from Rob and John and Frank they were not too aggressive. Wait! I think that was all of them. Anyway Rob regularly tacked off early to cover the fleet which gave Frank and John clear air to continue on the the port tack layline. I went when there was clear air and below the layline and had a couple of very good windward works taking advantage of a persistent shift or the occasional knock back. I managed a sixth or seventh placing but it is too long a story to explain the intricacies of the scoring review system or to ponder if ever final results will be posted. Suffice to say that on the drive back towards Sydney on the following day the tune that came into my head was Louis Armstrong singing “O what a wonderful world.”   A nice photo from Beau Outteridge was posted on his web site. https://www.facebook.com/auslasernationals/photos/a.1924307367898635.1073741832.1601565936839448/1924307994565239/?type=3

The forecast for the Wednesday night twilight race at Greenwich Flying Squadron was for thirteen knots at which wind speed we would have set the No 1 genoa. The on water wind was somewhat stronger and we settled for the same No 3 jib we have used for the past three weeks but this time opted to keep the full main for the whole race. Flashback did well through Humbug and they had a large genoa poled out to get a jump on the fleet. The rest of the fleet was tightly bunched on the reach to Cockatoo and for the run around the Island.
We had 69 yachts on the water for the evening and it seemed like all of them were beating up the Hunters Hill shore towards Goat Island so the first work was a nervous one as we ducked and weaved and tacked to stay out of the way of right of way yachts. At one stage we had to tack away from a stalled port tack yacht and plead for water from an approaching starboard tacker who kindly responded.
At Goat Island we were hot on the heels of Joli and Lisdillon but hit a light header approaching the turning mark which had us two tacking at a very slow pace.
The run back around Cockatoo was straight forward until we reached the western end of Cockatoo and had to negotiate the wind shadow of a large cruising yacht which we could not abuse because they had friends on board. Instead we exchanged pleasantries and waited to negotiate the wind shadow.
We enjoyed the next work to Goat Island without the traffic of the first leg and at times seemed to hit our windward target speeds of 7 knots in 18 knots of breeze. At times we were heeled 30 degrees and tracking quite well but could not make up any of the gap to Lisdillon and Joli.
Dump Truck who had a late start was behind but not making up a lot of ground so we were using them as a guage of performance. Again we had to two tack around the end of Goat Island and lost a lot of ground in the process. A couple of good squirts on the way back to Humbug raised our spirits momentarily but like the yacht in front we took a long time to get past the wind shadow of the hill.
We finished perfectly in the middle of the fleet with a fourth on handicap but a long way back from third. If the handicap system does not catch up with Lisdillon after two wins it will after three. They have sailed very well these last few weeks and deserve the results. Congratulations to Jackpot which is doing very well with the new owners on board and took fastest time and second place from Flashback second fastest and third on handicap with Much Ado V across the line in third fastest.

It was a windy forecast for Wednesday afternoon that frightened off all but six of the black fleet. The cooler weather and chance of rain did not set the scene for a comfortable post race BBQ so it was to be expected that numbers would be down. The brave six that did turn up had a good race with the bravest being Adrian with his new J121E who started with full main and jib and was rewarded with a first up fastest time. Flashback and Lisdillon pulled out their reefs next and finished in that order. We left our reef in for the second work to Goat Island and while there were some strong gusts there was also a lot of light air holes. Soundtrack and Fireball started to catch us on this work and Lisdillon and Flashback built up handy leads behind Jodi. A couple of big shifts around the eastern side of Goat Island enabled us to break away from Soundtrack and Fireball and after clearing Goat we pulled out the reef for the run home. We still had the small No3 jib up so we made little impression on the leaders. As the race finished the strong wind we had set sails for arrived but it was too late us.

In an attempt to improve our windward performance in a breeze I changed the bridle system on the mainsheet for two blocks either side of the companionway. It worked fine for allowing the boom to hang to leeward in the gusts but left a lot of spare mainsheet flogging around across the deck. It is a pretty standard arrangement for many of the Hanse yachts but was not to my crew’s liking. Also the spare sheet flicked a winch handle over board and that is expensive. Today I went back to the drawing board researching mainsheet systems and decided to revert to the bridle system. I unashamedly stole the idea from the very successful Jeanneau 439 and since then Jeanneau have used it on the new 440 and 490. I have a lot of respect for the Jeanneau design team and seeing the idea on the latest 490 convinced me to give it another chance. To help with the dumping of the mainsheet in gusts I added another 2:1 purchase to the vang system and then took Passion X for a solo sail to test it. With just the single reefed main up I had couple of pleasant works up to the Balmain shore and back inspecting the flow of the leech tell tales. I had added an upper and lower ribbon yesterday and they had streamed well with the Hanse style mainsheet system so I was interested to see how they went with the beefed up vang. To be honest I think they did not stream quite as well but then I did not have the headsail up so the main was not sailing in the header from the jib.

It was instructive to see how high the boat would point with the boom dropped to leeward like we sail the cat rigged Laser and it is a reminder why we do not have the boom in the Laser on the centreline as we do with a yacht with a large jib or genoa.

What I did lean from my solo sail is how hard it is to dump sheet when the mainsheet is wrapped around the winch. But who is strong enough to hold it by hand and play it in and out. Perhaps we do need a double ended main with a hand held 16:1 ratio for trimming!

Looking at the promo photos from the various manufacturers web sites I did notice a lot of sideways bend in the centre sheeted booms. Now we had to go for a larger section on Passion X when we bent the first one and I have sleeved the larger section around the spread out blocks so I will have to take a few photos under load for comparison.

The up and down breeze at Fort Denison was typical of our breeze on Wednesday night

For a second week we under canvassed for the runs and reaches without any noticeable improvement on the windward legs. I did replace the top two battens in the No3 jib with softer ones that did improve the sail shape in the lighter conditions and two slightly softer battens in the main seemed to be a small improvement but only at the margins. We made a good start but from the outset were run over by the fleet carrying full size sails. Sweet Chariot was holding us comfortably and on looking at the numbers it is not surprising. Their full size rig is a few m2 smaller than our rig with the No 3 jib but their wetted surface area is also less. The advantage of our longer waterline length did not kick in until well into the second lap when the breeze increased giving us a small jump on Sweet Chariot which we held to home. We sheeted the jib to the gunwhale for the reach home from Goat Island and noticed an improvement. As we approached Humbug we thought for a moment we might catch Fireball but they had a blinder of a run through Humbug and another podium finish. For the Summer series it seemed that Flashback, Fireball and Sweet Chariot could do no wrong and only a reappearance of Lisdillon stopped a clean sweep. If we are to be competitive on all legs of the course we need to find a way to carry the No 1 genoa upwind. Transom cam was in action again but it was not as well aimed as last week and it did not capture much in the way of the competitors. A photo from Jeff Lewis posted on the Greenwich Flying Squadron facebook page from the previous week shows the rig we carried and why we did not finish in the money.

Au under canvassed Passion X finished mid fleet for the last two weeks.

After days of windy weather we were cautious in the jib selection department and went for the non overlapping No 3 jib for the twilight race. You can imagine how we felt when we lined up for the start and could see the earlier starting fleets becalmed in Humbug. We rationalised that it would be heavier out on the course and made a very good start on the club end of the line on starboard but were forced to turn away early as two of the leeward yachts tacked onto port in our path. Rule 14 says don’t hit them no matter how much they deserved to be hit and we did just manage to tack and get across the bow of Jackpot who started further back along the line.
It was not good being first of the black fleet into Humbug as the earlier fleet was becalmed along the Onion Point shore and there was no room to go below them. Indeed they tacked onto starboard just as we arrived forcing us to tack away from the favoured shore. Jackpot arriving later was able to squeeze down the shore and escape way out in front of the rest of the black fleet. Dump Truck went as low and as fast as possible into clear air but was still a long way behind Jackpot.
Flashback and Passion X were having a good time trading tacks up the course to Goat Island and our pleasure was only interrupted by a sneaky Fireball who found a lift in closer to Goat Island and sailed on past.
Every now and then Dump Truck would park in a windless zone giving us false hopes of catching them but it was not to be.
Much Ado V kept catching from behind giving us anxious moments but we held on in the dying breeze.
We did work the small jib and main as best we could in the light conditions. By easing the back stay in the lulls we put draft into the headsail and powered up the main. In the gusts we wound the backstay back on to depower the main. With the fluky conditions this was a frequent activity.

For the evening we set 12 m2 less area than the J122 and 20 m2 less than the First 40.7. While both yachts are heavier their wetted surface area is similar so it is not surprising that both did well on handicap.

The surprise was our 3rd place on handicap as we did relatively better against everyone except the J 122 and the First 40.7 and quite a few were left out on the course in the dying breeze.

Hopefully next time the breeze is this strength we will set an extra 10 m2 of sail area that is fuller and more suited to the light breeze.

Small jib with very stiff battens did not look good in the dying breeze

Room to tack diagram very similar to the position discussed.

On Thursday I was still contemplating  a yacht’s response to a call for room to tack. Rule 19 gives only two options for a call for room to tack. The first is for the hailed yacht to tack and then the hailing yacht must promptly tack too. The hailing yacht must tack even if she subsequently gets a lift that would carry her above the obstruction. If she does not tack she would be subject to a protest and would lose. The other option is for the hailed yacht to call “You tack” if she is prepared to give the hailing yacht room to tack and avoid her in a seaman like manner. A yacht that is not given safe room to tack and avoid a collision would win a protest as the hailed yacht has assumed responsibility for giving room. The particular circumstances which have left me perplexed was a response to our call for room to tack to being met with a response to “go behind.” Now “Go behind” is not a valid response although in a protest it might be accepted that it was shorthand for “You tack and please try to go behind if you can.” I did not anticipate that we would be able to complete the tack and go behind in a seaman like manner but was left with no choice but to attempt the manoeuvre. We did clear the stern of the hailed yacht but not in a seaman like manner. The hailed yacht might argue well you cleared our stern so our call was good, ignoring all the alternate possibilities if we had not cleared. The sharp tack and bear away might not have been possible if the breeze had been a couple of knots stronger.  In most cases the windward right of way yacht can tack and be in either a clear ahead position or at worst in a leeward position As for the rest of the race we did better as the breeze faded and those caught out on the course in fading breeze had a particularly slow trip home. We have been there before and I felt empathy for Soundtrack and Ausreo. Soundtrack in particular had been with us at Goat Island and must have found a lot of holes on the way back. At the front of the fleet Captain Beck scooted away early and managed to stay in front of the aircraft carrier, Flashback, who has sailed in a very flash manner this past two weeks. The light air conditions on Thursday was an opportunity to take the mainsail of Passion X and have the reef points on the luff moved aft to match the position of the reef  lines further back on the boom than is usual. We have three sets of single line reefs that can be managed from the cockpit and with the third reef in the sail meets Category 4 requirement. It is a 50 m2 sail made from heavy Hydranet radial and that makes it a handful for one person. I was fortunate to have the help of a fellow club member for the take off but was not so lucky for the refit. I did use the 2:1 main halyard to winch the sail up onto the boom but there was still a bit of man handling needed to fit all the slugs in the track and re attach all the lines. I stopped a couple of times for a rest and still managed to have it all packed away by 4:00 pm. Included in my refitting exercise was testing the bottom two reef positions which meant hauling the mail to almost full hoist. It was a very civilised process swinging on the mooring and enjoying a cool beer from the fridge which by luck I had left on for the day.

No 1 reef point now in the correct position

No 2 reef point also moved aft

Another job ticked off the list was replacing the nozzle head on the transom shower. At $14.95 this will be one of the least expensive luxuries on board. During the day I heard from the crew on Sirocco who had the embarrassment to be knocked overboard by the boom during an unplanned gybe. They are all well and thankful for the assistance from the crew of GWhizz who plucked them from the water and for the crew of Dreamer who stood by in case extra aid was needed. It is a timely reminder to practice crew retrieval.

Screen shot from Volvo Ocean race footage showing a fishing boat off the coast of the Solomon Islands

AkzoNobel off the coast of the Solomon Islands taken from drone footage

Mapfre in port Cape Town helicopter photo

The video footage from the Volvo Ocean race has been amazing. The images taken from the helicopter at the start of the legs has been groundbreaking in showing how awesome these yachts are and how fast they can sail.
I believe each yacht is carrying a drone and the footage from the on board drones is a first for ocean racing. The cruising blogs have been using the drones for a few years now and showing scenes from remote locations and now the Volvo Ocean racers are showing some footage far out to sea.
I have taken a screen shot from the latest drone footage not just for the view of the yacht but to show the by catch of the footage, a deep sea fishing boat off the east coast of the Solomon Islands.

The first race of the New Year was our chance to see if the extra rake in the mast had made any difference. It started in a good fresh breeze and in those conditions the No 3 jib and full main were doing a good job of keeping in front of Flashback and Dump Truck. Stephen was in his element in the new Meridian and with a crack skipper on board he lead the fleet all the way around the course. Meridian’s race was outstanding considering her rating and if that form is continued the J 112 yachts will be winning a lot of ORCi and IRC races.
As the breeze died we found ourselves very much under powered. Our No 3 is a heavy air flat sail and does not develop the power of a light air non overlapping jib so we suffer from more than the 10 m2 of sail reduction.
I am tempted to try the No 1 in heavier conditions with the reefed main even thought this is not the optimum sailing configuration. In this mode we can take out the reef if the breeze dies but only if we have the leeward backstay right off and behind the head before we start.
We did score third place on handicap for the night so perhaps we are a bit hard on ourselves. We knew what gear we had up and there were no grumbles from the crew as we enjoyed a very pleasant evening.
Christian Beck fresh from the Hobart race in Infotrack had a slow start on Dump Truck but once in the groove made a good recovery and sailed quickly through the fleet. For the record Dump Truck had 10 m2 more sail area up and weighs 500kg less so I have to be circumspect about our performance as the breeze failed us.

Thursday was a great day for a light air trial of our new Code 0 which has been sitting in the hull for weeks waiting for the bowsprit rigging to be finished and for a suitable day. In around 7 knots we had a very pleasant reach out to the heads and back down the harbour. The 60 m2 sail area will serve us well in light air tight reaching and might be an interesting sail for short leg work in the west harbour.

Sunday was the hottest day since we launched Passion X and the heat on the perspex sliding hatch was so much that it expanded until it would not slide. A quick remove, trim and replace was effected in 35 degree heat but the job is done and will suffice until the next temperature record in say 80 years time.

Tight reaching to the heads with the Code 0

A tricky attempt at flying the code 0 to windward.

No not the cricket but a photo of Passion X on the cover of the latest Australian Amateur Boat Building magazine. The designer Dudley Dix has a good article on his radius chine method of construction and used a few photos of Passion X and his original Black Cat to illustrate the article.

Australian Amateur Boat Building magazine cover shot of Passion X

It has been quiet on the sailing front with the last race of 2017 abandoned due to a storm cell and accompanying lightning at the time skippers were attempting to get yacht off their moorings. The cell did pass but too late for the racing which was already appropriately abandoned.

For Christmas we headed north to Ballina for family celebrations and a good rest. After Ballina I flew to Perth for some time with my family there and am now back ready for sailing.

Today Joe Walsh had a look at the rig and we raked it back a few centimetres to try to gets some weather helm. The forecast for tomorrow is 20 knots so we should soon know if we have enough rake. The bend in the mast now looks more even so we will see how the draft looks.

The book the “Art and Science of Sailing” given to me by a crew member has provided much food for thought. It has the best description of the forces on the sail that I have read and a good scientific basis for how to trim the sails. Now if I could only work out how to invert the top of the mainsail to give windward forces on the head to counteract the heeling forces I would be happy.

In other Christmas reading I note the new Jeanneau 490 has a mainsheet bridle just like the one we have on Passion x and this is a yacht that weighs twice as much so it seems the idea of the bridle from the 349 is migrating to larger models.