Ok, so Silver Fox is the only boat racing in Spinnaker division on the Wednesday nights beer can races, for the Spring Series, so officially she was first just for showing up. Nice attendance prize.
But to keep ourselves honest, learn, and better gauge our performance, we look at the Overall results each week. Up to last week (cinco de mayo) our best result had been a second in week 3, but on Wednesday (week 5) we worked hard, sailed smart, and were rewarded with a First Overall, 11 seconds ahead of the 2nd place boat, and 35 seconds ahead of 3rd.
Silver Fox's first ever "real" race victory!! You go girl!
This is good, but we have to remember Silver Fox is definitely NOT a racer, and her handicap at 189 is like having a Laser Radial at a Laser regatta! We love the boat, and love cruising on her, this racing is just an excuse to go sailing regularly, have fun, and keep in ongoing touch with racing. Our goal is not to push the boat too hard, nor to turn her into a racer. We just have fun and let the results be what they are. Keeping it real...
Monday, May 10, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
Don't believe everything you read!
The fuel tank has been a tad confusing. Whenever I filled it up last year, it never would accept as much as I thought. Engraved on the tank is 30 GAL'S (see photo), so when it was showing half full, I would expect to put in 15 gals to fill her up, but she would be full before that.Or from third full, I would add 10 gals, and the gauge would show much fuller than I expected. I figured the gauge must not be calibrated right.
But it seems the tank is NOT 30 gals as advertised, but only 20 gals. I worked this out using the cylinder volume formula (π r2 h), as the tank is 14 in diameter and 30 in height. I checked some of the documentation from the brochures, and a 20 gal tank seems to have been standard.
Still having a hard time ignoring what is engraved on the tank - but the evidence is very convincing....
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Final Race in Spring Series - moving up the Learning Curve...
Light sea breeze all day, was replaced by a strong SE gradient late in the afternoon, and the gusty 15kn breeze made for an intense race!
On the way out I wanted a sail that it turns out was not even on the boat! Poor Brigite, I had her T up 3 sails, all before we even got to the start area! Eventually we went with the Original #2/3, and we came to the conclusion that we need ways to identify the sails when they are down below!
Course was S, K, L, J, S all to port. The line was VERY skewed, maybe 30 or 40 degrees to the boat end, so it was going to be a barge fest! I set us up about 20 seconds early, so we had a lot of time to kill, and it made it impossible to grind in the genoa once we did start. Before the start the genoa caught itself in the reefing cleat on the boom, and tore a little hole in the clew patch, by the leech.
CYMRU barged in a 7 or so knots beam reaching in at a right angle to those of us that were lined up right. Kerry drove the boat into a hole in front of us and parallell to the line, I had the tiller in my teeth to try and avoid him. It was a real bandit move, and I let him know it!! After the start he did his circle(s).
We were not pointing as high as the rest of the faster boats, and we were quickly getting pinned out beyond the layline. I went past the lay, and then we tacked as most of the fleet went before the layline, so we had a lane. SEAL was ahead and too leeward, they overstood, so we cracked off and went straight to the mark, rounding FIRST!
Then we went a tad high, as we got the spinnaker ready, hoisted, and managed to keep the thundering mob at bay. We doused early, so we could set up and have time in case anything went wrong. CYMRU and another big boat were eyeing us up inside, but I talked to them and kept them outside, so we rounded in second.
A good close hauled leg to J, with most boats too low of the mark, and ending up not laying it! We had a STBD tacker approaching as we closed the mark on port, but he was way overstood and far back, so we went for it and got it cleanly, picking off 2 boats in the process!
Then a power reach to the finish, where we had to work to keep a lane and clean air. We powered to the finish with boats much bigger than us, and hopefully with a very good result - I doubt any boat bigger than us beat us. Results Unknown at this time.
Brigite hurt her back trying to winch the genoa in, and really worked hard all day, with lots of action and trimming. At the end we were pretty spent, from the most intense race yet. The #2/3 was the correct sail, and it appears the boat likes to sail with big headsails, old school style!
On the way out I wanted a sail that it turns out was not even on the boat! Poor Brigite, I had her T up 3 sails, all before we even got to the start area! Eventually we went with the Original #2/3, and we came to the conclusion that we need ways to identify the sails when they are down below!
Course was S, K, L, J, S all to port. The line was VERY skewed, maybe 30 or 40 degrees to the boat end, so it was going to be a barge fest! I set us up about 20 seconds early, so we had a lot of time to kill, and it made it impossible to grind in the genoa once we did start. Before the start the genoa caught itself in the reefing cleat on the boom, and tore a little hole in the clew patch, by the leech.
CYMRU barged in a 7 or so knots beam reaching in at a right angle to those of us that were lined up right. Kerry drove the boat into a hole in front of us and parallell to the line, I had the tiller in my teeth to try and avoid him. It was a real bandit move, and I let him know it!! After the start he did his circle(s).
We were not pointing as high as the rest of the faster boats, and we were quickly getting pinned out beyond the layline. I went past the lay, and then we tacked as most of the fleet went before the layline, so we had a lane. SEAL was ahead and too leeward, they overstood, so we cracked off and went straight to the mark, rounding FIRST!
Then we went a tad high, as we got the spinnaker ready, hoisted, and managed to keep the thundering mob at bay. We doused early, so we could set up and have time in case anything went wrong. CYMRU and another big boat were eyeing us up inside, but I talked to them and kept them outside, so we rounded in second.
A good close hauled leg to J, with most boats too low of the mark, and ending up not laying it! We had a STBD tacker approaching as we closed the mark on port, but he was way overstood and far back, so we went for it and got it cleanly, picking off 2 boats in the process!
Then a power reach to the finish, where we had to work to keep a lane and clean air. We powered to the finish with boats much bigger than us, and hopefully with a very good result - I doubt any boat bigger than us beat us. Results Unknown at this time.
Brigite hurt her back trying to winch the genoa in, and really worked hard all day, with lots of action and trimming. At the end we were pretty spent, from the most intense race yet. The #2/3 was the correct sail, and it appears the boat likes to sail with big headsails, old school style!
Engine Maintenance - May 5th
The new engine issues needed checking:1. Carb throat filling at the dock and dripping.
2. Engine cutting out when accelerated.
So I took some time (4 hours) to do some work on the issues. So here is what I did:
- Drained the carb.
- Checked the sediment bowl (pretty good).
- Sprayed Carb cleaner into the Main jet and choke throat.
- Replaced the fuel filter.
- Cleaned the Spark plugs.
- Sprayed some MMO into the cylinders towards the valves.
- Checked the Distributor & plug connections.
- Checked the oil.
- Checked inside the fuel tank, thru the fuel gauge hole.
Glad to see that the fuel level mechanism is in good condition, and obviously not an original piece of equipment, but a replacement. The wire connections to the sender were corroded away, and one came off in my hand. So I cleaned all that up and soldered clean wire onto the sender, and checked the arm for range of motion and everthing looks to be in good working order.Now the engine is running great, and accelerates in the full range as smooth as anything. Really satisifying, and I believe the engine is running perfectly, just needs the alternator bearings worked on, as they sound like it is running in rocks!
Monday, May 3, 2010
Hot Saturday Cruise on May Day.
Very hot weather here in Hampton Roads this weekend - in the 90's, and setting records in the process. After a busy morning and early afternoon we took the boat out for a sail and a BBQ for dinner.
The hot SW'erly that has been blowing for quite a few days now was still strong on Sat, around 17, dying to 11 by Thimble Shoal, then gusting up to 20 close to the shore at Ocean View.
We got to the boat around 3:30 or so, and were back in the car around 10:30 at night. We sailed out and around Thimble shoal, and passed a Cruise Ship and the George H Bush Aircraft Carrier (USA - 77), the newest Carrier in the world!!
We BBQ'ed off East Beach, and tried unsuccessfully to fish. Not a nibble on our squid baited hooks. It was very relaxing, and lots of fun!
The engine acted up a bit, I forgot to turn on the fuel so it drained itself, then when I got her primed and restarted, it would not change RPM's without cutting out. With the strong wind, I just let her run just over idle as she was happy with that, and at the dock I restarted her, and she fired up with all cylinders, a fully adjustable throttle, and all was well.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Burnt out!
Couple of boats burnt down at Vikings Landing recently (late April 2010). Cause unknown, the firefighters had begun cutting them apart and investigating when we were there. Apparently one boat blew up and lit up 4 others, two of which sunk completely. The two shown here were the "lucky ones"!!!
Sunk at Cobbs!!!
A boat on B dock sunk! Seemed to be on the bottom, supported by its lines! The marina folk got her afloat again a few days later, not looking too much worse for the plunge - at least not from the outside!!!
A motor boat over on B dock also sunk last year during the November Nor'Easter.
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