Gantry #3

After a couple of weeks playing with my classic (the first coat of paint went on yesterday) I finally got around to working on the foiler. The projects include fitting the M2 mainfoil and re-building the gantry attachment points. After my "agricultural" repair of gantry #2 at Cascade Locks, I needed a new gantry that would not fail. The design does away with the lower bottle screw and instead incorporates the threaded fork for gross adjustments. The top attachment points are also forked, but of glass tube rigorously reinforced with lots of carbon. I also beefed up the saddle flanges from 1/8" to 3/16" G10 plate. The whole bit seems much more solid and cleaner. I've decided to do away with the fairing although after a few weeks of use it may come back.

With the gantry attachment points repaired I can reassemble the racks so I can easily lay the boat on its side. Next up is the M2 strut cassette for the well. I hope to have the trial fit in the next few days and perhaps hit the water by next weekend. Stay tuned.

More Seconds

Susan and I just came back from the Classic Moth regatta in Brigantine, NJ, a seven hour drive from Norfolk. I was sailing my 14 year old mistral "Try-Umph" on which I had just recently replaced the roll tanks. Susan was sailing her Shelley, "Aftermath." She finished mid fleet (8th out of 15) and I finished 2nd (with a 2,2,1,1,2), just one point behind John Zseleczky. Mike Parsons finished 3rd. That's three guys who have also built foilers in the top three places.  The racing was fun and the party hosted by Joe Courter was even better. I can't wait 'til next year.  After the racing it seems like the Ware River regatta will have at least 5 international moths so we'll get our own start. As of now, Bill, Gui, John, Mike and I all are interested. Maybe even another couple of guys from the Annapolis area. I'm looking forward to this race in seven weeks -- I hope there'll be some wind.

The replaced roll tanks on Try-Umph were an attempt to improve the appearance and drop a few pound in the hull weight.  The original tanks were overbuilt and were completed in eight pieces as described in this link.    For the new tanks I removed a lot of the underlying structure, sistered the frames with some foam and laid a piece of 5.7 oz carbon cloth under the section where I sit and hike. The results look better to me.


Also on a second lap is the picture in this month's Sailing World, that Photoboat.com took of me in 2008 at the HHPDO in Rye, NY. Since I guess "All publicity is good, except an obituary notice ," I'm glad for the mention, even if my name isn't mentioned. It does go to show that all moths aren't black, that there are some homebuilts being raced, and that all mothies aren't experts. Thanks Dr. Crash, even if I'm not from Indian Harbor.

Photo by Photoboat.com in Sailing World magazine

Back to the Future

School and crew season have finally ended and I can now turn back to working on Try-Foil. The goal this season is to fit the new Mach2 mainfoil and strut to my boat. The first challenge is to adapt the lower bell crank pivot to my modified pushrod location which was situated to match up with the old FC mainfoil. My solution is to simply raise the pin location resulting in an effectively shorter strut. I'll also have to beef up the strut where it exits the hull to match the designed exit point, now an inch and a half higher. I'll also have to fit a new cassette for my well to accommodate the new cross section. Hopefully all will be taken care of in the next couple of weeks.

But first up is a re-decking of Try-Umph, by 1997 mistral classic. Next weekend Susan and I will be heading to New Jersey to sail in the 20th annual Brigantine moth regatta organized by George Albaugh, a CMBA stalwart and class historian. Susan will be in Aftermath, her Shelley,  and I'll be sailing the mistral. With the past few years focused on travel with Try-Foil (in '08 to Weymouth, in '09 to Cascade Locks, and last summer to Harbor Springs) we hadn't made the trip to Brigantine, one of Susan's favorites, in quite a few years. So I'm looking forward to the racing and socializing after a week of  boat work replacing the roll tanks.

As an aside, George recently posted on his blog Mid-Atlantic Musings  some historical material about mothing in the 1950s. Included in recent classic moth discussions was the moth hiking board (seen in the pic at the top, courtesy of George Bailey) a controversy that caused them to be banned at the 1950 IMCA AGM.  Seems nothing is new under the sun as we consider the solid wing sixty years later. Interestingly enough, George relates that Warren Bailey won the 1954 Moth World Championship in his boat MACH ONE. Isn't it a small world?

Here's the video by Clayton Fuller that George posted: