A Class Worlds (Punta Ala, ITA) Update

Well I am kicking myself now! Why did I not go?
Looks like a great spot and some good racing starting to happen.

I've been getting my Harken Team boys on the ground over there sending me back reports and videos that I will share. Also getting some great reports, photos & videos from Martin over at www.catsailingnews.com He always does a great job at reporting and staying on the top of all the latest in the multihull game. If your a multihull sailor check out his site and add it to your daily bookmarks. I hope you do not mind me re-posting some of your photos MV..

Steve Brewin - Pre regatta

The racing has seen pretty much all the conditions that you could ask for from what I hear. This gives a good indication as to what set ups are the best, mind you it's still early in the game. What I personally see is the head of the current sails will be coming down in size and the power moving down lower to help with foiling. Whether we all start getting deck sweeping sails i'm not 100% sold on that yet (still wait and see).

What we have seen is Misha & Glenn step the game up another level which is great. Glenn has always been the man to beat but Misha has found something and stepped his game up to the same level. 100% nothing against Misha as I respect him totally but in the past he has been a heavy air specialist and not so great in the light but this regatta has changed that and he has found the answer to being an all rounder now. That has come from a lot of hard work, practice and development so good on him, that's fantastic.

Steve Brewin - On the fly

In saying all this I know Steve Brewin has also put in a truck load of practice and development but we have been more focus on foil development and not so much in the rig development. To me it looks like Stevie has a good foil package (with a small rudder mod) and Misha has a good rig package. So imagine what what is going to come out of this Worlds in six months time after they have all gone away and worked on each others ideas. I can't wait!

Manuel Calavia ESP 11

 The systems are the next thing to look at and Misha has always lead this dept. As you can see in a new approach with his foil control system. I like the idea behind it but the only thing I do not like is the number of pulls to induce rake in the system (you see this in the video).

Misha's belt driven rake control

All in all awesome regatta from a far. Cannot wait to see more video and photos from the boys.

A Class layout (Part 2)

So I kind of left you hanging a little after the last post showing the set and never showed what was going on under the tramp.
I spent the weekend cleaning up my hulls with the boat upside down so took the opportunity to snap a couple of photos (sorry no video this time)

What we have going on under there;
Foil control - Blue line; what I have done is made a cascade system (using 2x 2161) as this gives the extra purchase without the friction of the larger blue line doing more turns, it also limits the amount of rope I need to pull for full AoA. It's a continuous line (4mm Marlow Excel Control) lapping the whole tramp with a simple take up in the middle aft.

Foil Control cascade

Rotation Line - Yellow Line; Again continuous loop with a very simple aft take up. The take up from this is also the take up for the righting line at the other end.

Overview of the mess

Also under here is the tramp shock cord and a Black righting line that you can see taking off from each side of the front beam. 

Now that I have shown this I should say I plan to change it all soon as it's too messy and can be done better.

I'm thinking about removing the righting line all together as I can use the rotation line or something else to right the boat. (Or just don't capsize!) 

Will up date when this happens. No rush at the moment as it's more important to spend time on the water sailing tweaking those foiling skills.

I have only had 9 days on the water sailing since I re launched in February and we are already seeing more stable flight with speed. My boards are a little further aft than most people which I think is making it a little harder downwind to get the stable flight but I think it has also helped me keep my upwind speed. 

It's like everything the more you practice the better you go. 

A Class Walk Around / Lay Out

Little video and photos I did over the weekend showing the lay out of my A Class Cat.
I thought this might help a few people looking at setting up foiling systems in their boats and also converting current systems.

Hope you enjoy.

Foil Control

Harken Traveller Car with Spinlock PXR cleat on it. Works great.