Messages

Will be there if I can find someone to sail with me. Any volunteers?
Kevin N3527

Sounds like Charlotte whipping her husband and brother into shape!

Marcus, in response to your first question: I believe that "rotating the rudder relative to the stock" is a recipe for disaster. If I understand you properly, you are suggesting pivoting the blade in the stock using the normal pivot bolt. All this does is load up the blade as happens with a conventional (unwinged) rudder when you don't pull it right down. All the winged systems keep the stock and blade fixed relative to each other for this reason. In terms of vertical force, virtually all of it is transmitted through the bottom fittings on the boat and rudder. There is very little affecting the top fittings, which are basically there to stop the rudder falling over sideways. For this reason all stocks for winged blades attach below (or around) the lower fitting on the boat.
 
Kevin N3527

Anyone know if the 47 boats listed on the stciky on this board and on the BW site is current? There are one or two I am expecting to see that still have not appeared.
 
Also, for the benefit of all our fans who can't make it to BW this year, where will the daily results for the overall and subsidiary trophies be published?
 
Kevin

Nigel, whilst I am not an expert (who is?), it seems to me that if a set of wings provides lift on one boat they will do so on any other too. What matters is the angle at which they are set relative to the flow of water they are passing through, which was highlighted by Ian in his 12 July post above.
Kevin

Welcome to the frontier of National 12 sailing Ian! In your one posting you have managed to capture the main challenges of sailing with winged rudders.
 
To answer your last question first, I don't know of anyone who reverts to a wingless blade when it's breezy. To do so would mean you lose the benefit upwind and should the wind drop you will be left for dead by those who have their wings on.
 
Taking the question of exploding transom fittings next; nearly everyone who has experimented with wings has experienced this problem. At Burton Week last year, several of us with standard DCBs had the 8mm stainless fittings shear off and, in some cases it meant not winning overall. Subsequently, P&B took all their boats back and replaced the original fittings with stronger versions that have so far held up (fingers crossed, touch wood, where's my lucky clover, etc). Other people are still struggling to get it right, e.g. the Medowcrofts who have had their arrangements give up on them several times. What all this shows is that you are correct in saying the lift generated is massive and it is also true that the loads are not yet fully understood by the class, a point that even Jo Richards agreed with when I mentioned this view to him.
 
Turning to your original question, when the bow goes down we ease the rudder off. The amount of easing and the condiditons at which you will need to start doing this depend on the design. For instance, the DCB which was designed around the rudder will carry it on full for longer than the Foolish with its relatively fine bow. The only other Chapter I can think of with wings is Rich Williams and I don't know that he has sailed often enough with them to know when its necessary to start easing back.
 
One final thought, IMHO you need to adjust the angle without moving the blade in the stock. Just consider how quickly a conventional blade loads up and becomes very heavy to steer with when it lifts even a small amount.
 
Good Luck
Kevin

Many thanks to everyone involved with organising the event at Grafham this weekend. Two contrasting days of sailing at one of the finest venues in the country, it doesn't get much better than this. Just a shame there weren't a few more boats able to make it.
 
Kevin

Fair enough, if that's what the majority want, it is how it used to be a few years ago. Have to say I don't remember being polled but that could just be an age thing!

It looks to me like the weekend at Hunstanton has reverted back to one race each day. Does anyone know if this is correct?

Indeed, a job (or several jobs) very well done by lots of people. I was particularly taken with some of the stories related at the dinner about how sailing in this great class of ours changed lives.
 
Jane, can I take it that the 100th is a definite date and you have babysitters lined up already?
 
Kevin

Thanks to everyone at Up River for a great day on Sunday (sorry we couldn't make Saturday this year). Well done Jonno and Penny for walking off with first choice of wine.
Kevin

Dear Dinner Lady,
Being the dutiful husband that I am, I have just looked for the booking form to print off so I can book you a place at this dinner and can't find it. Can I suggest that if you don't want to go hungry you put it on this web-site somewhere obvious?
Kevin

Jane & I will be there but Sunday only only this year.
Kevin

Wow Bernard, you will be going for a job on Top Gear next! Racing coaches sounds like it could be a lot of fun.

The line around the front of the mast (white in Jeremy's case) is standard, but I have never seen the elastic before and do not understand the need for it except possibly to stop the bolt from randomly rotating and self-adjusting the spreader angle. I have never had a problem with the leeward spreader swinging back to the correct position when reapplying the rig tension. My advice to Jeremy, and anyone else with a Superspars mast, is to replace those horrible wing nut bolts with a machine screw that is a little shorter with a nylock nut on the inboard end. The nut removes the self-adjusting feature and the shorter bolt reduces spreader poke and wear on the mainsail when the leeward spreader is allowed to swing (you will still need the chafe patches on the mainsail though).
 
Kevin