After a bit more fiddling and fettling we finally had Sneaky
Shark sailing at the end of May and she goes like a dream.
We sailed in reasonably light winds with both full sail and
one reef in (just to try it out). I
need to play with the reefing arrangement to make it easier but it all worked
just fine. It was very interesting to
watch the rig flex and absorb/spill gusts as they hit and I’m starting to
understand why some people really rave about the simplicity and performance of
a well set up balanced lug rig.
There is a little bit of play between the rudder blade and
the cassette that isn’t really a problem but would be annoying on a long sail
so I will try and fix that with some thin rubber or foam glued to the top of
the rudder blade. I’m also going to get
the sail modified a little so that battens are held in with Velcro (or similar)
rather than sewn in as they are now with a stich at the end of the pocket.
Annoyingly my hectic schedule has not allowed any more time
sailing the goat since this first sail but I have now signed up to take part in
Raid England that is 5 days of sailing on the East coast. I can’t wait! With some luck I can also get some after
work sails in although the British summer has been particularly poor this year,
perhaps we are due a change for the better.
Wednesday, 27 June 2012
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