Emily - first sail report

[Anthony Huggett]

Emily spent the day at the excellent Rutland Watersports Centre. The forecast wasn't promising but we got broken cloud with sunshine, F4 SW with spells of F5.

Arriving at Rutland the chap with the Drascombe Dabber we parked next to immediately came over to admire her. It's a shame there aren't going to be any more kits - he might be another convert!

Given the conditions we decided we would test the water ballast, and I certainly didn't regret it, sailing 2 up with only 25 stone between us, with no hiking or trapeze. Our test sail with Matt had been in ghosting conditions and I had little idea what to expect. I'm pleased to report that Emily performed well on all points of sailing and I feel that we gave the rig a good test.

Of particular note is the way she performs in the gusts when on the wind. In every sloop I have sailed, a gust means that both the heel of the boat and the balance of the rig try to turn you into the wind, which can give excessive weather helm. In the BR17 carrying full sails in a 5 there is none of this. For sure the weather helm is there (a good thing) but it never threatens to overrule the helmsman even when the boat heels hard in a gust. Hats off to Matt for getting the rig right.

Jib and mizzen is a really nice combination. My wife was getting increasingly nervous as the wind got up, so we struck the mainsail. Again the boat was nicely balanced. It was possible to go fast enough off wind that the bailers were getting rid of the water ballast - sadly we didn't have time to sail it all out because I would like to have compared jib and mizzen with no ballast to full sail with ballast.


Problems encountered:
Due to having a very early kit (November 2010) we got the lacing luff version of the main sail. Today we didn't get the lashing at the top right, and this meant the clew and the boom were 6 inches too low.

The free running Barton 2:1 mainsheet is sufficient mechanical purchase for the main sail, but holding it is very tiring. We invested in an auto-ratchet block which made our second foray much more pleasant.

The jib sheets are too short. Possibly I misread the instructions, but we think we need at least another metre each side.

The trailerboard slipped from where I'd shoved it and we ran over and snapped the cable. The Watersports Centre staff were most helpful in providing electrical tape and a pair of cutters to enable a running repair. I really felt we got good value for our £16.50 - includes showers, changing room, parking, safety watch and pleasant, helpful staff.

Sadly no photos since we had our hands full.

[David Hudson]

Anthony

If you are going to Mylor, I have a spare lighting board, should that be of interest. NO CHARGE!

David

[Anthony Huggett]

Hi David,
           That's very kind of you, but I've hit upon a fix for under £10. The cable snapped by the wheel, which is exactly where we need to have a plug and socket so the trailerboard on a short wire can go in the boot of the car, and the rest can remain clipped to the trailer (saving a tedious unwinding).

Regarding the extending trailerboard bars, some people seem to find them troublesome, but thus far I have found that if I lift the extending bar to the top of the wide channel the screw then bears on its rounded corner, which seems to trap the bar against the top of the channel. This stops it sagging and seems to make a secure rig. Time will tell, I suppose.

Anthony