the continuing adventures of CARBON OFFSET....

[micah202]

.FALL 2012......actually been -enjoying- the boat over the past few weeks,, had a few outings,,,
and also been detailing and tuning the keel-fit and rig tune.
...the boat sails nicely in balance now,,,a puff,the boat heals,,seeks to windward,,
,,then bears-off as it flattens out.

.........I've also been seeing that sailing 2up works fine up to the mid teens at least.,what's been working well is to get my assistant to helm as I jumble with raising/lowering the chute,and dealing with the rotating bow-pole,,,rather than me holding the tiller and 'directing' some poor newby!

.....for gybes,,,crew passes me the spinnsheet and gybes the bow-pole,I give the old spinnsheet a big 'jerk' once he's got the pole ready,which helps steer the boat into the gybe and unweights the chute,,and he immediatly sheets on the new side,,,, this sequence really smoothes out the maneuvers!

....methinks saturday was the last day of t-shirt sailing 'round here,tho

[micah202]

...sorry for the duplicate post,,,just wanted to have Carbon's story in one thread!

.....a VICTORY for COBBLED BOATS!!!
..just got back from racing the Portland fleet at vancouver lake,,near portland.
.....the fleet's settled down after 3-4events,,,remembering to figure-starting sequences,,what the course is,,etc,,,,so starts are getting tighter,,OCS's at times,,,and the occaisonal 'friendly banter' between boats can be heard
.....vancouver lake was a good setting to see how the i550's go against each other,,,with 2-4 kts on saturday for 2 races,,,and ~12-16kts for 5 races on sunday.

I was sailing CarbonOffset,,,equipped as I got it other than the cockpit rebuild-- with slightly short,ex scow mast,,,,old ,cut down melges 20 sails,,highish boom,,,fairly chunky ,underlength foils with unfaired bulb, amongst a fleet of 4 Portland boats,,with full-on,,maxed out carbon spars ,,custom sails,,,and beautifully engineered foils......I was thrilled to get a 2nd with Carbon,,,,and consider this a victory for the owner's of cobbled-together i550's everywhere!!!! ,,, especially since I just launched for the season at the event,,winter-scum not scrubbed yet,,,a different crew each day,,,and had more than my share of 720's and OCS returns
UPWIND-- since side by side boatspeeds were very close allround,,,much like racing those stubby short ElToro's,,,gains and losses were made through windshifts rather than anything relating to boatspeed.....it's generally agreed that these boats are best sailed with 2 persons in any wind below the ~20's,,all but 1 boat sailed 2-up.,,,,the gain is much bigger downwind for -not- having a 3rd person,,than anything they can do upwind,,,,,,but it's getting clear that there's VERY LITTLE that can be done to affect actual boatspeed between these boats upwind in anything below 20kts!!

...currently Downwind is rather different,,,for myself and others.....I've had a LOT of challenges with snags on the Gybing ,external spinnaker pole,,,had a LOT of down-time,,,,for the mostpart had no gains here,,,,and others certainly had their difficulties too....so the next big gains as a fleet will come with honing our downwind handling & techniques! ..............personally,,I've got some things to try with my pole system before I scrap it--the benefits of being able to rotate the pole seems good (when it works!!),,,,,,and crew-wise,,,I have them helm downwind,,and deal with the chute myself,,,therefore avoiding the need to relay requests,suggestions,,directions,,,plea's,,,or maybe even shouts in the heat of a race,,and only have myself to blame for the system's many snarls!!

....I've long believed that putting carbon spars and expensive new sails on i550's is not so much as 'lipstick-on-a-pig',,as it just seems to be contrary to the i550's spirit of homebuilt resourcefulness,,,and am glad t'see that it just doesn't seem to matter on the racecourse!!!....so have-at-it you jolly resourceful i550 builders,,,don't feel intimidated by all the carbon $par$ going around!,,,,it's time for some healthy INVERSE PRIDE in how -little- we spent to get to the line!!....cheers!!,,,CARBON---OUT!!


...UPCOMING.....finally going to beef up the bow-pole mechanism with a 1/2''bolt,and hopefully get that whole pole mechanism to run less 'snaggy',,,,and cleaning up some mast hardware.....there's another event on the 19-21,the Portland fleet is doing a 'halfway' roadtrip to Seattle,,seattle can have some winds,,and I really shouldn't push-luck any longer with that eyebolt!!

[micah202]

.....resorted the bow-pole last week,,,,
...with a worthy effort,,,it's clear the external rotating bow-pole,,a la Tokyo-trash is pretty much a PITA,,,,maybe Tokyo had a couple of aspects better sorted,,and it -did- seem that there was a benefit to over-rotating the pole,,,,,but there's no denying that there's a lot more spaghetti involved,,and last regatta had me on the foredeck pretty much EVERY downwind to un-snag one snarl or another..........

....sooo,,I've now changed Carbon's bow-pole to be a more conventional gybing-pole system,,,though above deck.
.......the system has 2 sleeves for the pole to slide fore/aft,,with the forward sleeve attached to the forestay mount,,the rear one is on a track for rotating the pole.
......the spinnaker halyard is attached to the 'pole-out' line,,,so the pole is automatically extended as the spinnaker is raised,,,with a separate line to adjust the spin-tack......I estimate I've got about 1/3-1/4 of the 'spaghetti' length as the old system--much less 'snaggy'

......I like the above-deck aspect of the system,,consistent with my dinghy sailor attitude of keeping the boat virtually water-tight

[Kevin]

Sounds like a easy simplification of the system. I have come to appreciate the simpler is better mentality this spring as I've undone a few of my "tweaks".

I'm curious about how you implemented the forward sleeve at the forestay mount. Some of the solutions I've seen raise the forestay attachment point which doesn't account for the forestay loads which are not straight up. Also curious if your results with the pdx fleet suffer now that you have a similar articulation range on your bow pole, that's more of a time will tell question. But it would reveal if the 45 degree of articulation of the TTB system is worth the effort to sort out.

Cheers, Kevin.

[micah202]

...on the tokyo system,,each time you rotate the pole inwards for upwind,, inevitably one line d or another drops down,,and gets trapped between pole and deck when the pole's rotated outwards again--I couldn't find a decent solution.
....the forward sleeve is simply lashed with spectra to the eyebolt now,,so the eyebolt's at decklevel,,doesn't have that thilly torque on it.

..downwind is the opposite of upwind--the boats can go VERY different speeds depending on who's tangled,,and who's in a puff,,,kinda like snakes and ladders!............ .it's more important than pole angle to get the pole out ,sail up quickly,,,,I also prefer to homogenize towards one-design to some degree

[micah202]

...Carbon's been busy!...I finally converted from the 'tokyo' bow-pole system,,,,carbonated the spreaders,,,and rebuilt my rudder long enough that it still 'grabs' when the boats heeled-hard under chute.....all works SWEET!!!!

...........pictures here,,click-a-pic to get descriptions......... http://www.flickr.com/photos/59103003@N ... 076955693/

[micah202]

.
....Vancouver lake regatta,,,,day one had 5 boats,,,though one went home after the 1st race,,
,,,,some very close racing in winds that progressed through the high teens in strength,,with the 4 boats generally finishing within 1/2 minute over 3 ~40 minute races.

...the score sheet's a bit funny,,,not showing the 1st boat,,and scoring a throwout after 3 races,,,which puts 3 boats tied,,,,otherwise carbon's got 8 points ,making it 2nd,,,with the 2 others at 8 and 9 points respectively.......here's hoping!

[micah202]

.
....wow,,,we pulled off a WIN!! ......'cobbled' boats,,,take heart***!!!...

....2 clean starts,,,and a day where the shifts went my way,,,got us in a tie-breaker win with Portlands David Hickman.


...what's been -really- cool is how close the fleet's been......race to race,,day to day,,,,event to event,,,some have had -hot- days,,,but none have continuously dominated----makes for a healthy fleet.



.......***....I'm sooo pleased to be able to offer a word of encouragement to people who approach 550's from the resourceful side--aluminum spars,,,cobbled sails,,,and all fittings from the parts-pile!!!

...and interesting note on spinnakers---I have 2 identical chutes from 49ers--one is stock,,1 is shortened 3' with a chop from the centre...the fullsize in theory is the 'right' size,,,,but in reality only performs well in 6-8kts DDW.....the larger chute is much harder to keep flowing when one runs ahead of a puff,,,,much more restricted to deep angles,,,and has people ,boats fall all over themselves a lot more when it's breeze-ON!.....if anyone cares,,I could share some measurments

[admin]

Thanks for the report, Michael!

here's a link to the regatta page

http://www.vlsc.org/regatta.php

with a cool shot of the Offset!

[micah202]

Thanks for the report, Michael!

here's a link to the regatta page

http://www.vlsc.org/regatta.php

with a cool shot of the Offset!

....that was hilarious!......was between races,,,scorching down back to the start,,,,saw we were heading straight at the photoboat,,,decided to go 'above' for a bit of excitement,,,and that we got!

.....it's clear that the big side-panels are the stopping point,,no matter what weight keel yer got

[i550sailor@aol.com]

Congrats on the win Michael, and awesome photo too (is that how you guys clean the beer cans out of the boat, between races out there?) We had a broach that would have looked a lot worse on film on the U20 this weekend, then lost the main halyard shortly afterwards, but still had enough points to get second place.

I would like to get those sail dimensions off you when you have a chance
Thanks,
Mark

[slowpoke]

Congrats Michael, I'd like those dimensions too!

[micah202]

.

..sounds like 'fun' Mark.....I'll likely be able to get those #'s tomorrow

[Tim Ford]

is that how you guys clean the beer cans out of the boat, between races out there

Dammit, you had to mention beer.

Now I want one.

[micah202]

.
...a bit 'achey' today,,but here's some #'s from the melges chute,,phrf certificate...you'd have to compare these to a fullsize melges20 to see what is relatively 'too much' ,,and add ~8'' for a regular mast-height--mines 8'' short!

....luff 29'...leach 22.5'....foot 18.3''....1/4 girth 8.9'....1/2 girth 16.3'....3/4girth 20'
..as I've found,,,both melges 20 and 49er chutes are useful for 'cobbling' on the cheap,,,but both sails will give you something that's -full- size--- only useful for deep-running in ~5-10 kts.......by chopping ~2' out of the centre-girth,,you have a much more useful sail,,where there's little lost for the reduced area,,and a LOT to be gained for versatility,,handling,,reduced 'handling' issues.

......so a 30' luff,,,~23' leach 18'foot would probably be ideal for a full-height mast.--anything longer and it's inviting more smack-downs as breeze builds,,and -much- easier to collapse,,harder to refill in light winds

[Kevin]

Excellent news on the win and the fun pic. May be on our front page soon, since Tim is depressed seeing his boat next to his trailer.

I'd 2nd the 30' luff as the sweet spot. That's about where my modified kite measures in now, it was too short before. Ron flew a uncut m20 kite and it was easily 3' too long. Class rule for the m20 is a 1000mm luff.

Kevin.

[micah202]

.
...nice when things correlate,Kevin
..I'll do a double-check on the 49er chute in the next day or so

[Tim Ford]

May be on our front page soon, since Tim is depressed seeing his boat next to his trailer.

HAH HAH! Yes!! For gods sake change it. That boat next to a trailer is so last month!!!

readyToRoll.jpg (93.61 KiB) Viewed 8856 times

[micah202]

.

...hey Tim--where'd the lion go?....corrector weight???

...I'm considering to ((destroy my boat)) do the double-dammed,,,a 40 mile race down the gorge in oregon,,known to get 'rather windy' at times......I'll be at the gorge for ~9 days >>Aug3,,so another ~5 days hanging out in wind paradise wouldn't be all-bad,,so I'll at least take my boat and do a couple of test runs to HoodRiver,the halfway point on 'lighter days' while we're there.. ...some 'test-runs' are definitely in order....if I get 'shy' for the Dammed,,there's a 550 regatta the same weekend close-by..if I do it ,the BIG question is whether I'll have a boat to join the racing at Yale Lake .

....Prep for the Dammed......Mast support--definitely more mast-strut.,dig out some spare shrouds,,,consider a running backstay.....otherwise,,I'll have a 2nd mast if 'something' should happen....might consider a mast-float--it's probably better to prepare the boat to easily recover than to (pretend) think otherwise.
...Hull....the boat's already set-up to be drum-tight like a dinghy,,,access down below is accomplished by removing a bulkhead panel below the mast step---simple to seal,,,,but the big hatch on the floor is a pita for leaking--consider fully sealing it for the trip....probably important to add a keel-lock
.....Chute get one of my chutes chopped another 3',,add a lower hoist point....have a quick-change system between full-hoist,,,short hoist......carry some super-long sheets so the chute can be -fully- released on knock-down

....Down-the-mine.....all indications so far is that 550's get pitched forwards heavily when a puff hits downwind--a real boat-stopper!......the short-chute,,and perhaps a cut-down main will help,,but the power of some of those puffs can be -indescribable- ,,,let alone the back-flow chop can become a 5' standing wave!.......I'll dig-out and reattach the stern extension that Bendoo made,and possibly add some hiking extensions out the stern,in effect moving the CoB(ouyancy) aft.

...recovery....anchor,,sea anchor,,,the motor would likely be ineffective for recovery,but maybe I'd stow it sealed inside as (more stern weight) an option.

...so whether I do the race or not will likely be decided in the last minute,,,,but it'll be an 'interesting' time--hopefully get some good snapshots (for th'cost of my boat )...........thoughts??

[Tim Ford]

Good idea with regard to the stoner lion!

From the vids I have seen of the DbL Dmmed, it might be cheaper just to charter a Moore 24 !!!

[micah202]

From the vids I have seen of the DbL Dmmed, it might be cheaper just to charter a Moore 24 !!!

...what fun would -that- be??...there'd be some level of promotional achievement to 550ing the Dammed both within and beyond the class. To date,,owner builders of 550's are a proud bunch,,,but a bit timid about their boats......something like the DD would hopefully open a door outside of lakesailing. Time will tell--it's a perfect opportunity to do some testsailing since I'll be there 9 days with open time to (destroy) sail other boats!

[Kevin]

That boat next to a trailer is so last month!!!

Fine. I changed it. K.