Weak Link and Lessons Learned

I made the pilgrimage to the Gui-master today. The conditions at Beverly Beach were just what I was looking for - 15-20 with some waves. Unfortunately my sail was short lived as the picture above shows. Lesson #1: Don't trail the boat with the cable attached. My guess is that the extra mass of the cable and the four hour bouncing at 60 mph put enough stress on the fitting to encourage it to give way after a hard stack. Every system has a weak link and the cable clamp decided that today was its day to come undone.

Lesson #2: Wading the boat out with an onshore breeze off a very shallow beach is much easier with flotation in the tramp and not on your back. After yesterday's sail I thought I'd try sailing without the flotation on the edge of the wings. I always wear a pfd and it was obvious that Gui with the airbags on his tramp and no pfd on his back (he did have on a wetsuit) had a much easier time getting to deep enough water.

Lesson #3: I still have too much AoA on my mainfoil. So tomorrow I'll make another cassette base to decrease the AoA. When I asked Gui about the slop in his board and whether or not he was concerned, his response turned on the light in my thinking. He said, "Why worry about second order details when the first or even the zeroth order stuff is still not pinned down."

After my swimming to get the boat back downwind, I left with all sorts of ideas swimming in my head. Gui had a dihedral rudder foil, a gantry that was adjustable with a line controlling a scissors arrangement, and a daggerboard well setup that had a fixed bottom exit on the hull with an easily adjustable top pin to control the AoA of the mainfoil.

Enjoy Guess Who

Undone, by Randy Bachman (1969)

She's come undone
She didn't know what she was headed for
And when I found what she was headed for
It was too late

She's come undone
She found a mountain that was far too high
And when she found out she couldn't fly
It was too late

It's too late
She's gone too far
She's lost the sun
She's come undone
She wanted truth but all she got was lies
Came the time to realize
And it was too late

She's come undone
She didn't know what she was headed for
And when I found what she was headed for
Mama, it was too late

It's too late
She's gone too far
She's lost the sun
She's come undone

Too many mountains, and not enough stairs to climb
Too many churches and not enough truth
Too many people and not enough eyes to see
Too many lives to lead and not enough time

It's too late
She's gone too far
She's lost the sun
She's come undone
(Doe-doe-doe-doe-doe doe un doe-doe-doe un doe-doe-doe)
(Doe doe-doe-doe-doe un doe-doe-doe doe-doe-doe)
(Doe doe-doe-doe doe doe-doe-doe doe doe)

[break]

It's too late
She's gone too far
She's lost the sun
She's come undone
She didn't know what she was headed for
And when I found what she was headed for
It was too late

She's come undone
She found a mountain that was far too high
And when she found out she couldn't fly
Mama, it was too late

It's too late
She's gone too far
She's lost the sun
She's come undone
(No no-no-no-no-no no)
(Doe doe doe-doe)