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We have been the water a little over 2 weeks now. First weekend of racing was better than I hoped for, two races 3rd in the first one and a 5th in the second. I missed a wind shift on the second that cost us. Last weekend was the first time for racing one up. After making changes to how the sheets were run I figured that it could be done. Didn't fly the kite just a jib and main event and came in 8th. I know that sucks but we were not the last boat.

Another shorthanded race this weekend, Who Needs Crew? I am going to load the 27m2 Pink kite and if things feel right will give it a go. Everything is set up just right to do it, we will see. One thing I can say is the boat is blast to sail by yourself, it does tend to keep you busy though. On order is a new telescoping tiller extension, I have found that the one I have is a little short when I have to go forward to tend halyards and the spin outhaul. It should be here before Saturday.

Jon, you might try running a bungee chord from each side of the cockpit to the tiller, a poor man's autohelm. If you work it right you can adjust it to hold your course long enough to get forward and back again before the boat rounds up. I saw a guy using this setup to singlehand a viper on youtube.

And thanks for giving us the race results! I was jones-ing for some race news

Thanks Rocky, I do have some bungee cord. Enough to rig something for the races. Worth trying as that us probably the biggest issue I've found with one up, sailing or racing.

A wrap of Velcro near the end of the hiking stick and a patch on each side deck can also be used as a (very) temporary autopilot.

Interesting idea Chad. I was thinking about a clip of some kind to hold the tiller for quick 2 handed work. I've got some velco somewhere, just need to put it in the right place. I guess fuzzy on the extension so you have to put the loops where you aren't sitting. Might be just the trick I need as well.

Another cheapskate method I used to use the few times I was stupid enough to Single the Evelyn: tightly span the standboard and port decks with some relatively thick, cheapo line. Take a big ass rubberband and loop it over the tiller, under the line and back over the tiller (as shown...although the rubber band is shown loosely for illustrative porpoises...in reality, it gets snugged up pretty hard with the right rubber band).

This takes exactly 41 seconds to rig and another 5 seconds to get the rubber band set up. You can easily adjust the tiller angle, too...just ease the band and slide. The helm reacts nicely too, to various stimuli, puffs and waves and stuff.

tf
quite cheap

I could rig that, but I couldn't tell my wife what it's for . Kevin.

Kevin wrote:Interesting idea Chad.

I saw it in CA last month on a rigger's own Moore 24 that he had tricked out. He used maybe 3" of Velcro on the stick, and a 3x3 patch on the deck- enough to hold the tiller a couple inches either side of center. Neat things is that it's always there, and takes zero setup- just set the stick.

/hijack

Thunder storms and rain. We finally got the races started late, better that then not at all. Was planning on one up but at the last minute had a friend that I have crewed for in the past jump on for some fun. We didn't have the big kite on board so flew the pink. Turned out to be a great day of racing. Sixth place in the first one, fifth in the second. Should have done a little better on both but Murphy was with us also. Taking the cassette home to do some mods that will help out on the shorthanded races.

More Saturday race results. One up again, loaded the kite but to much pressure to try to fly it by myself. Three great starts, fourth on the first race because I missed the lay line twice on the first mark. The wind shifted slightly to a close reach for the races and I had some of the best races to date. The Twist just loves reaching we took two seconds in the following races. First time I've ever left the j24's in my wake. Still smiling and the beer tastes way better after a good showing.

Great news John, I'll bet the J24's admired your Stern. The beer always tastes better when you are happy.
T

Saturdays bouy races were nothing special, not much wind which is never a good thing for us. One plus is a friend from Texas who has been sailing sportboats down there, jumped on board for the races as Nate couldn't make it. Alwase good to get fresh ideas and thoughts on going faster.

The Wildhorse Island race went off today. Nice little medium distance race, about 13 miles. The start was not good, little to no wind. We were 40ft from the start line and it took us 7 min. to get there. The wind picked up some by the time we clawed our way up to the east side of the island, then everything dies again. We did finally make it around the wind picked up and we had the best kite ride for about four miles. Finally got her up on plane, what a rush! The jibes were actuality smoother then I expected and she handled well and wasn't overly sensitive to helm inputs. We ended up in 18th out of 20 boats mostly due to the first half of the race not the second.

Good job Jon, thanks for letting us know how it went. Is there anything you would have done different? Any suggestions for the light wind?

Try to stay in clear air, the big boats rolling over the top just kill you. The other thing that comes to mind is induce some heel with crew positioning, keeps the sails over and I believe is just a little faster then strait up. Third is to insure there are enough beverages on board. It gets hot and a six pack won't keep the crew happy for the hole race.

Another Saturday race report! As I expected no crew again so went for it anyway. Raced only two of the three, ended up forth and third. First race the race steward started the race at four minutes not five. Needless to say my start sucked. Second race what I thought was a recall for a new start wasn't, I have to watch the flags not just listen to the horn. Another great start sequence, my bad on that one. Hopefully we will soon hear how Carbon Offsets adventures in Portland went.

I head for someone " Had a few 10-14 knot rides last night".
Jon When are you going over the hill to race?

Sounds like a good time, I've had the twist up to maybe 8-10 knots once, great feeling! I don't know when I might make any road trips. Definitely not this year, other commitments and the shop keep me way to busy.

Columbia Crossings-Portland,sept 11.
....Congrats to Steve Moran and dad from Camas ,washington....not only are they the most recent boat completed in the NW,but also the winners of the event,,some call it the first NA's,,,at least it's the biggest turnout of i550's EVER,,,in the world!
....steve looked good in the boat-young ,agile,organized--was seen to be using a rig-tension guage while rigging ,,there aughta be a law ,,,here's the story of that build..... http://www.columbian.com/news/2012/jun/ ... -the-boat/
...I'm not entirely clear about the results otherwise,,'cept for Carbon's--late for 1st start,,,didn't note course for 2nd-ended up starboarding a pack of 3 boats only to find that they were on a new and different leg(sorry guys )
.......actually started with the others in race 3&4 but was disappointed to see that the others progressively walked away from my boat-was thinking I might need to consider investing in one of those carbon rig-a-majigs,,,,,,,,until I realized we had significant water weight slooshing around inside ...........it seems after designing a layout that's virtually watertight,that something the size of a 3/16'' drillhole was leaking water,causing 2 1/2'' drain-holes to be in active drainage for ~10 minutes back on the ramp,,,ironic,,embarassing,,oh well
....winds were ~5-7 knots against that nasty Portland river-current.
....hopefully there'll be a 'rubber-match soon,,me's got an ego t'salvage.

...th'boats bone dry now after the drive,,so I'll launch 'er and go crawl around the inside with a flashlight
...EDIT,,,yup,as I thought,there was a drillhole in the trunk,,must have escaped from the to-do list when transferring pages--rather embarrasing,,,all fixed now

.EDIT-results..nice to see that overall the fleet's pretty balanced,,with top place being shared around race to race..
1st i550 410 It's Whatever USA Stephen Moran Willamette Sailing Club (2.0) 2.0 1.0 1.0 2.0 6.0
2nd i550 269 Poker Face USA eric rimkus RCYC/CYC ...............3.0 1.0 (4.0) 3.0 1.0 --8.0
3rd i550 263 LICK-E-TY-SPLIT USA David Hickman RCYC,VLSC. 1.0 4.0 2.0 2.0 (6.0 DNS) 15.0 ------9.0
4th i550 214 Cheap Date USA Nicholas Stahl None .....4.0 3.0 (5.0) 4.0 3.0 --------- -----14.0
5th i550 13 rumblefish CAN michael france jericho sailing 5.0 (6.0 RAF) 3.0 5.0 6.0 DNS ------------25.0

Great day of sailing, one up again. One fifth and two sevenths (dfl) still had a good time. The boat is put up and its time for some frosty beers!

Jealous, frustrated I haven't been able to spend any time at it lately. Keep up the reports, I need the kick in the pants they provide!

Me too!

Last weekend for the local bouy races, everyone turned out and we had good wind. Came in eighth on the first race as I had problems with the main and had to drop it after the windward mark and re hoist. Four boats went by as I was screwing around with that. The second two races I came in seventh on both. I needed crew to help keep her down. Great fun though! I've been told there are some pictures, I will post one when I get my hands on them. All that is left is the Labor Day Regatta next weekend and the all islands race I think the following. Got to get a overnight camping sail in also before it gets to cold. Right now It's time for a frosty beer.

Went out today and believe I have figured out how to fly the spinnaker by myself. Regatta starts tomorrow. It will be real good or real exciting.

Hope the races go well, I'm eager to hear the results, as well as how you'll do the spin by yourself!!