i550class.org

The boat is built, so perhaps it's better to post sailing experience here. I will restrict the build log to upgrades, of which there will surely be some.

First, a repost of our first picture sailing. Not a great example, with the rig in a bit of a mess, but it is the kick-off point.

Monday and Friday we practiced, and today we sailed in our first race. The race was a bust, because we were sent to a missing mark, but it was useful to finally sail against some different, faster boats (according to PHRF NS) that we actually held on to over about 4 miles in 8 or 9 knots of wind and lumpy seas. We got lots of chute time with our North A3 and our experience paralleled the performance envelope shown on the North spinnaker polar. The boat loads and goes with the wind ahead of the beam, but if you let the Windex get abaft the 30 degree-angle spreaders the sheet pressure and boat speed fall off a cliff. So, the question I asked about apparent wind angles on Facebook is self-evident!

My chicken chute is a small North A2. It will be interesting to try it out and see the difference in angles.

PS: according to the GPS our best speed today was 8.8 knots. That's over the ground of course but St. Margaret's Bay typically has little current (<1/4 knot at best). In time I will figure out how to download and display tracks, but I have things on my honey-do list before that.

PPS: It is apparent why people sail the boat to windward well heeled. Doing so in the lumpy sea greatly reduced the amount of noisy bottom slamming forward. Heeled, we were quieter and seemed to go better too.

Another day. Six to eight knots southerly, building to a sea breeze.

It was a solo day but we persuaded the Rear Commodore to allow a few 'scrub racers' to join in. A couple sailed doubled handed with white sails, but we did the whole meal deal and primarily demonstrated how many different ways to screw up a spinnaker launch and recovery. The best was hooking the recovery line under the sprit so the drop was a swift transition to trawling. Amazingly, we stuffed the wet mess into the tube and on the next launch and final recovery it all went smoothly. The key lesson was that in the event of a screw up do NOT re-run the spinnaker sheet. You will only make it worse!

Saw a 10 knot peak speed on the GPS over 14.9 nm of sailing: a long beat, a long run, another long beat and a shorter run followed by a tight spinnaker reach to the finish. We need to work on figuring out our gybing angles down wind. For the first time we needed to move aft a bit downwind, and the transition to a full plane was lovely and smooth, like a Finn, if you have ever sailed one. Even ran out of room sailing to the finish and went wing-on-wing for the last 25 yards to squeek into the end of the line.

As the day went on the wind built so at the end of the second beat we were fully hiked out (3 up with 415 lbs crew weight) and just beginning to think about de-powering.

Still doing gear 'fixes' but it's getting closer to right. The GNAV is now 12:1 and better for it, and bigger low friction rings have made jib sheet run freer on tacks. But next year the floating jib fairleads will be replaced by conventional tracks. The theoretical advantage is a PITA in practice.

The Rear Commodore said he got some good pics - as and when I receive them I will post. (Edit: here is one, but after cropping there's not many pixels left. There's a video too, but it may have the same challenge, and more important, I haven't been able to open it ... The picture reminds me that we also tried sneaking to deeper angles. It worked to a degree, as long as it was done in scallops to keep apparent wind up. )

Good point about the scallops, not just to soak a little, but also to de-power when necessary. Your breeze in St. Margarets sounds a lot like ours on the upper Chesapeake! What are your water temps like this time of year?

Our water temps are a bit worrying - surface temperatures are already 20 to 22C, which is more like September figures. I think we will get some hurricane landfalls as a result later in the summer.

Here is a clip from a video from Saturday .... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLIAOXS ... e=youtu.be

SMSC Ocean Race today. I wish I had photos or even video but we had a laundry crisis at home and I've been busy with other things during the week.

10 NM out and 10 NM back as the crow flies. Not many boats (it's a small club) with five in A fleet: a C&C 110, a Beneteau 41, a C&C 38 , an Etchells and us, as slow boat.

There are two schools of thought, either of which can pay if the sea breeze is a little bit left or right of centre of the bay. We went right to the western shore and then were lifted up along the shore in flat water. The Beneteau and C&C 38 went the same way and rounded the windward mark well ahead (sorry, the wind was southerly, 10-12 knots, gusting 15). The Etchells and C&C 110 went left, looking good until they sailed into a zone of death (the blue blob). The leading Beneteau and C&C 38 sailed a square run directly into the zone of death; we gybed after hoisting and sailed back the way we came. It did get light but we never dropped below 4 knots. When we gybed across the bay the breeze built again we recorded a max of 12.9 kts (GPS) boat speed with consistent speeds of 10 to 11. Our recorded distance from mooring to mooring was 27 NM.

Three up, with crew weight of 435lbs.

Oh, and we got line honours. OK, it was largely due to others' errors, but it was still a good day for us!

Next Day Edit: Off wind I consistently aimed for 120 degrees apparent, with the windex aligned with the spreaders. At that angle we went fast under control. If we lost speed a quick turn to 90 apparent would get the speed back and allow a turn down to 120 again. Out at the windward mark the waves were bigger and it was possible, and necessary to go deeper when surfing - the surf would drive apparent forward to 120 again. The strategy for me ws to steer to apparent wind. In the last little half-mile or so back to the finish we had to sail at 80 to 90 apparent to lay the line, and it was more of a handfull, including one round-up avoided by simply ragging the chute.

Well done! Pretty cool when an 18 foot boat takes the line over much larger vessels!
Cheers!

Did the handicap no favours today. It was the date of our cancelled SMAKR (St Margarets Annual Keelboat Regatta) so we had SMICCR instead (St Margarets Intra Club COVID Regatta) with two phrf races, a BBQ and sit-on kayak racing. And we won both phrf races by good margins against admittedly thin competition. But the general consensus was that 150 sec/mi was 'generous.'

It was our first racing with our A2, which I thought was the smaller of my two chutes, but turned out to be the big one: I should have remembered this because I measured them for my certificate, but that was nearly two years ago. Anyway, it's a nice sail, that works well at deeper angles than the A3 and seems a good all-rounder, albeit a handful on the tight reach to the finish.

Short season ....

We were racing Wednesday night in tough conditions, 13 kts gusting 20 and a lumpy sea with 1/4 mile visibility in fog. We were 4 up (590 lbs crew weight) on a close port tack fetch when the rig went over the side, breaking the mast just above the gnav gooseneck and above the lower spreaders. Working with the insurance company and CCI, but realistically won't sail Blondie again until spring. Our last race of the season is only 6 weeks away.

Disappointing. We were beginning to figure it out and we had a 50% win ratio.

Oh man....REALLY sorry to hear this, Warren. Good that you were able to salvage the rig and try to get an idea of where the failure point may have been.

A new year and updated rigging.

The mast is repaired (the original top and bottom spiced to a new centre section) and lower shrouds now run conventionally to just below the lower spreaders. There is a LOT more rake. We've sailed twice now, first as an hour's white sail wander and then in a 'tune-up' with the A2 in 12 to 15 knots. It was a tune-up rather than a race because we can't legally hold competitions at the moment, although that will change this Wednesday when we go into the next phase of COVID unlocking.

Before the first sail I set the rig up hard, and afterwards had to add a dozen or so turns on the turnbuckles to take up the bedding in of the splices. It took another eight or nine on the lowers and 4 on the uppers and intermediates after the second sail. I hope we're converging on the final settings. But best of all (no surprise to Chad) the new lowers helped keep the forestay tight.

Our gybes and spinnaker drops were less than stellar. The recovery sock worked well with the smaller A3 last year but was always iffy with the A2. On Saturday it was an absolute disaster with lots of trawling. I may just declare defeat and go back to bag hoists and drops, at least with the A3. None of our legs are under a mile, so time lost to traditional drops is not a big deal. (Ugh, and when you go trawling with a sock recovery a bag drop has to be faster.) We did find that a blow-through gybe with the A2 works really well. We didn't intend to do so, but when the skipper drops the tiller extension things happen quickly. [Edit: A week later we were out with the A2 doing short windward leewards with lots of hoists, gybes and recoveries. There is hope!. All went well with not a single trip to the foredeck in support of the douses.]

Best speed was 12.9kts, perhaps limited by our ability to go high with the chute with only 420 lbs on board. But we saw five and a halves upwind in waves with the square-top nicely bladed out, so I don't think we need to load up with fat guys on windy days, which suits me (and the rig) fine.

Eye candy? Replaced the borrowed boom cover with one of my own (North Sails Atlantic). I hang the rolled up main and jib from the boom and then cover. It is a 'blanket' style cover with finished dimensions of 110 x 36 inches. Your results may vary.

Splices in standing rigging are now set up and rigging settings appear stable.

Thanks a nice looking set up, Warren.

With the boat on a mooring, what's your bottom paint? The luxury of drysailing a boat has mine unprotected, but one day I'd like to go gunkholing for a week.

For a week I would not bother with anti-fouling but the convenience grows on you. I have used Micron CSC sharkwhite for many years but overcoated this year with Tri-Lux II white, which is whiter. But it may be a short season again. Last night I had emergency abdominal surgery and I suspect that Blondie is going back on the trailer for a while.

Heal up and get better fast!

Oh my goodness! Get well super fast and hang tough!

Back in the saddle. Got the surgeon's blessing so relaunched and Saturday we sailed our first race. It was a pick up crew so we went conservatively with the chicken chute, which wasn't a bad decision for the first part of the downwind part of the race. Missed the bigger A2 later but sock-based launch doesn't make for en route kite changes. Finished third to a C&C 37 and an Etchells and the reasons for the time gap were obvious! Time not sailing doesn't help performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IQM8fEe8HY&t=9s

Most of the audio in the video is just water noise, but you can also hear the keel singing consistently at higher speeds. Ugh.

Another race today, although we didn't finish the course. Post Tropical Storm Odette passed offshore and gave us 15 kt offshore winds, gusting 25. We reefed for the first time and scampered off down the first offwind leg but then had trouble maintaining jib halyard tension on the beat and sailed back to the club. I have to rework the halyard cleat. But everything held together and we saw 14 knots for the first time. Smiles all round.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujmpUAlgGDQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VueX2JrtLTw

Great videos Warren!

Strangely enough I had a similar ride in my i550, Mist, in the same weather system a few days earlier in the lower Chesapeake Bay. I don’t have any video or instrumentation, but I’m certain we hit 15 knots. You’re right I’m still smiling! I had four people as far out on the rail and as far aft as possible, spray everywhere! The boat just kept launching and accelerating!

I have a question, how much smaller is your chicken chute? I’m seriously considering one as my large chute in that wind would have been a train wreak.

Tim K
296

We loaded the chicken chute on Sunday but never hoisted it. Ironically, our white sail downwind leg saw a higher speed than we've seen under chute, but at higher wind speeds of course.

The chicken chute is a 26 SqM North A3. The 'main' chute is a 39 SqM North A2, rather like the PDX spinnaker on the Moran boat. The A2 is an easier sail to fly, with its bigger shoulders making it less abrupt to collapse. The A2 has power much deeper too: 145 degrees apparent vs 120 degrees for the A3. But we have used the A3 more because it launches and recovers more easily in the launch sock. I am considering ordering another A2 with intermediate area (about 32 SqM). I think the performance benefits of the 39 SqM A2 over the smaller A3 are more to do with cut than area.

Oh Boy! A lot to think about. I’m going to collect some data on my sailing angles for a little while and narrow down some of the factors. I know I want a smaller easier to launch and recover chute for higher wind speeds.

Supplemental: My local sailmaker (Sandy MacMillan of North Sails Atlantic) was showing me the North Sails design database for i550's, and aside from my 26SqM A3, no one has ordered a spinnaker smaller than my A2. Most are in the 40 to 45 SqM range, and one as big as 55. Must be a lot of light air out there, or BIG crews. But I think 32 SqM would make a good sail for our sea breeze conditions and my lighter crew weight (typically 420 lbs, 3 up).

More video, maybe. I don't know if this will work for everyone but ...

A St Margaret sailing Club member videoed the start of Sunday's race and part of Blondie's first leg. I have copied the link here

https://www.facebook.com/bradison.bouti ... 678493757/

It works for me, but I am a member of the private club group. Will it work for you?

Thanks to Brad Boutilier.

Edit: I suspect the the first link didn't work. Here are direct links to the videos which I hope are public ...

https://www.facebook.com/messenger_medi ... 8CcveZGNFw

https://www.facebook.com/messenger_medi ... 8CcvedWNFw

The second video shows the start of the race and huge twist in the main: I had a #%$^&%& with the gnav purchase which we fixed a couple of minutes after the start and apparently before the other video. Only so much brain capacity.

Season end is getting near and just got more so because a COVID-delayed surgical date popped up, so yesterday we moved Blondie from St. Margaret Sailing Club to Bedford Basin Yacht Club to take advantage of a couple of more races. Fifty miles or so sailing but quicker by trailer ...

My first crane launch under the BBYC crane. We had to trim bow down to ensure that the crane boom didn't interfere with the heavily-raked rig.

Had our first sail of the year last weekend. A late start after a new knee and two cataract surgeries over winter and spring. I should have repainted the boat before the knee surgery.

I hadn't picked up my new, intermediate-sized chute yet so we sailed with the big A2 in light (5 to 8 knots) offshore winds in the club's annual 'ladies race.' Female helm required and two of the three crew were new to the boat. We were a bit sloppy (even to the extent of no watch between the three of us), but in the end we beat the Etchells and C&C38 (white sails for it) on corrected time and the C&C 38 boat for boat. But a well sailed C&C 29 (with a dodger and a bimini to make matters worse) beat us by 2 minutes corrected in a 2 hour race.

We had fun and the revised spinnaker recovery opening in the foredeck worked well. So did new, simpler jib sheeting arrangements.

Photo by Brad Boutilier. It's a shame we didn't have our weight more forward ....