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Post by seattle519 on Aug 17, 2016 2:01:27 GMT
A few answers:
The only problem with mounting instruments on the mast is the distance. That is why we choose the 10" Garmin units. Average crew age was over 60 so the old eyes need all the help they could get. The good news is everyone can see them. How else would the trimmers know what to do?
Instruments were essential especially at night when there usually was NOTHING to see due to overcast sky. In emergencies we could turn on the foredeck flood light and still see to drive.
IMHO the most important information is TWS and AWA. Since the sea conditions were so confused and rough there was little continuous sail trimming. It was up to the driver to maintain a correct wind angle. Sail trim was changed only as the true wind angle changed.
HDG and COG are used to understand drift due to tide and wind. The numbers rarely were the same. Interesting strong current rivers out in the ocean.
BSP is boat speed through the water.
POL is the percentage of our expected speed for the existing wind velocity and angle. This is calculated off the boat polars we entered into our routing software, Expedition. We would download the weather GRIB files every 12 hours and run a new route calculation. We would then set a waypoint 200-300 miles out and drive to that point. The very bottom left number DPT is the distance to that point and every five seconds it changes to course angle to the way point. Much different thinking when you have to plan in one week time frame and thousands of miles to race.
The routing software also helped us keep a good eye on tropical storm Darby. The storm kept the wind velocity up so we were able to just finish in front of it. Not something that you would want to be a surprise. The Expedition software cost $1500 but there are similar programs out there with little cost that do most of what cruisers need. It will supply a fairly accurate course solution for your specific boat (based on it's speed potential) and the predicted weather. We found it quite accurate out four days. Run every day for continuous visibility. The routing software runs on a dedicated laptop mounted below the nav station.
All other instrumentation is Raymarine. We installed a dual data buss with one crossover. That way we can hang any Raymarine or Garmin hardware we want.
Our sails were from Ullman Sails and were built in South Africa. We were happy with the quality and price. We did get a package discount since we got over a dozen sails...
Dean
I was just looking at the blog site for Equus (519 in VicMaui race) and found this photo A few times, usually when in the companionway trimming the main, I've realised the value of having the instruments on the mast. I'm not sure how useful all of them are for the crew, especially COG/HDG. I do like the idea of TWS/AWA especially the AWA as a number and I must see I can put that on my RM i70 The top one really catches my attention, I don't know what BSP is (speed but what speed?) but the POL 96% would be great to have. I assume that it is saying they are sailing at 96% of their polar speed. Could BSP be the Best Speed and their goal to achieve 100%? It would be nice if RayMarine could give us that information
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Post by hoppy on Aug 17, 2016 4:55:47 GMT
A few answers:
The only problem with mounting instruments on the mast is the distance. That is why we choose the 10" Garmin units. Average crew age was over 60 so the old eyes need all the help they could get. The good news is everyone can see them. How else would the trimmers know what to do?
Instruments were essential especially at night when there usually was NOTHING to see due to overcast sky. In emergencies we could turn on the foredeck flood light and still see to drive.
IMHO the most important information is TWS and AWA. Since the sea conditions were so confused and rough there was little continuous sail trimming. It was up to the driver to maintain a correct wind angle. Sail trim was changed only as the true wind angle changed.
HDG and COG are used to understand drift due to tide and wind. The numbers rarely were the same. Interesting strong current rivers out in the ocean.
BSP is boat speed through the water.
POL is the percentage of our expected speed for the existing wind velocity and angle. This is calculated off the boat polars we entered into our routing software, Expedition. We would download the weather GRIB files every 12 hours and run a new route calculation. We would then set a waypoint 200-300 miles out and drive to that point. The very bottom left number DPT is the distance to that point and every five seconds it changes to course angle to the way point. Much different thinking when you have to plan in one week time frame and thousands of miles to race.
The routing software also helped us keep a good eye on tropical storm Darby. The storm kept the wind velocity up so we were able to just finish in front of it. Not something that you would want to be a surprise. The Expedition software cost $1500 but there are similar programs out there with little cost that do most of what cruisers need. It will supply a fairly accurate course solution for your specific boat (based on it's speed potential) and the predicted weather. We found it quite accurate out four days. Run every day for continuous visibility. The routing software runs on a dedicated laptop mounted below the nav station.
All other instrumentation is Raymarine. We installed a dual data buss with one crossover. That way we can hang any Raymarine or Garmin hardware we want.
Our sails were from Ullman Sails and were built in South Africa. We were happy with the quality and price. We did get a package discount since we got over a dozen sails...
Dean
I was just looking at the blog site for Equus (519 in VicMaui race) and found this photo A few times, usually when in the companionway trimming the main, I've realised the value of having the instruments on the mast. I'm not sure how useful all of them are for the crew, especially COG/HDG. I do like the idea of TWS/AWA especially the AWA as a number and I must see I can put that on my RM i70 The top one really catches my attention, I don't know what BSP is (speed but what speed?) but the POL 96% would be great to have. I assume that it is saying they are sailing at 96% of their polar speed. Could BSP be the Best Speed and their goal to achieve 100%? It would be nice if RayMarine could give us that information Thank's for the details... The info displayed on your mast inspired me to make a page on the i70 unit that's mounted on the cabin bulkhead, showing much of that info. Normally when sailing I show the wind graphic with AWS & SOG. Still getting used to just numbers and have yet to see how it goes to windward. It's good to know, I guess, that it's not your MFD with polars feeding the POL number. It could be interesting to build a RasberryPi or Arduino unit with NMEA I/O that could be programmed with polars to feed a display. It could also log your performance and build the polars too. Must get one one day and experiment.
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Post by hoppy on Aug 17, 2016 5:52:31 GMT
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Post by hoppy on Jan 2, 2017 13:28:04 GMT
Out of curiosity I decided to get another sail quote, but this time from Rolly Tasker in Thailand.
They came back with Cruising Laminate with Taffeta on both sides Bainbridge CL-P 90 for USD 1,800.00
I guess they will not be as good as the "onesails" sails I got quoted for earlier, but will probably be a decent improvement on what I have and are perhaps more suitable for my level of racing.
It's nice to know there are some non-crazy pricing options that will be acceptable
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Post by hoppy on Mar 3, 2017 5:38:48 GMT
and now the diet begins First load removed, 88kg.
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Post by Don Reaves on Mar 3, 2017 21:02:53 GMT
I wish I could lose weight that fast!
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Post by vasko on Mar 4, 2017 6:36:11 GMT
Out of curiosity I decided to get another sail quote, but this time from Rolly Tasker in Thailand. They came back with Cruising Laminate with Taffeta on both sides Bainbridge CL-P 90 for USD 1,800.00I guess they will not be as good as the "onesails" sails I got quoted for earlier, but will probably be a decent improvement on what I have and are perhaps more suitable for my level of racing. It's nice to know there are some non-crazy pricing options that will be acceptable Is this only for main or main + jenny ? Honestly the price look good for one sail also!
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Post by vasko on Mar 4, 2017 6:42:52 GMT
and now the diet begins First load removed, 88kg. i'm still putting stuff on the boat . The main down side thar I found of having boat close to was that as closer it is as easier it is to get to it as a result you feel that you can do it very easy and in the end you do not go almost at all - like living in London and usually. Yiu have never been on London Eye . I remember last year when I still had a boat in the Solent - my calculation was showing 14 days usage .... Vise verse when the boat is away you usually plan earlier and somehow never decide to not go thus exact weekend and move to the next...
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Post by hoppy on Mar 4, 2017 6:50:35 GMT
Out of curiosity I decided to get another sail quote, but this time from Rolly Tasker in Thailand. They came back with Cruising Laminate with Taffeta on both sides Bainbridge CL-P 90 for USD 1,800.00I guess they will not be as good as the "onesails" sails I got quoted for earlier, but will probably be a decent improvement on what I have and are perhaps more suitable for my level of racing. It's nice to know there are some non-crazy pricing options that will be acceptable Is this only for main or main + jenny ? Honestly the price look good for one sail also! It's for the genoa only they also offered a slightly more expensive option as well
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Post by hoppy on Mar 4, 2017 7:04:43 GMT
i'm still putting stuff on the boat . The main down side thar I found of having boat close to was that as closer it is as easier it is to get to it as a result you feel that you can do it very easy and in the end you do not go almost at all - like living in London and usually. Yiu have never been on London Eye . I remember last year when I still had a boat in the Solent - my calculation was showing 14 days usage .... Vise verse when the boat is away you usually plan earlier and somehow never decide to not go thus exact weekend and move to the next... For cruising and family day trips the boat will be under utilised, although there are these days a few more overnight destinations in the bay than there were when we last had a boat here 30 year ago. Racing will be the primary use for Jessabbe. The bay is a great place for racing, much much better than Sydney. We will start racing as soon as I get the sail number on the sails and I've got a starting PHS handicap. We will also work up to ocean races in Bass Strait. As the Sydney - Melbourne sail went well, we semi-jokingly talked about doing the Sydney to Hobart race. I am certainly hoping to work my way up to the Melbourne Devonport race at least. An extra 13kg came off today bringing the total to 101kg so far. Next week when the marina guy with the golf cart is working, the outboard, passarelle and a few other heavy things will come off.
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Post by MartyB on Mar 4, 2017 16:04:21 GMT
You may end up like me, I keep a few dishes on board, but when gone for weekend/week, I carry on a couple of plastic boxes with cruise stuff.
Marty
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Post by hoppy on Mar 4, 2017 22:06:09 GMT
You may end up like me, I keep a few dishes on board, but when gone for weekend/week, I carry on a couple of plastic boxes with cruise stuff. Marty For now I will leave enough bedding, dishes and stuff on board for a "full house" weekend away. Yesterday there was a regatta and I noticed that by several empty pens an assortment of cushions and boxes of gear was just sitting there. So I think I'll be able remove a bit more weight on race day I was looking around last night at the handicap systems. Initially I was trying to figure out how they would rate Jessabbe under PHS for the first race and then started looking at ORC. It's interesting how ORC seems to be about predicting the boats potential performance and that it's all about sailing to that potential, rather than it being a design rule like IOR. Jessabbe is right on the age to get the full age allowance for ORC but to make an ORC handicap to be worthwhile I'd need to upgrade the sail wardrobe. Not sure how my cruising Assy's will be for ORC. One day maybe I'll worry about it. I did find an ORC club certificate for a SO40 www.fgvela.com/certificadosorc/rating2012/orc%20club/E9623_C_060212.pdf interesting to read and see the generated polars.
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Post by petermc on Mar 4, 2017 22:20:34 GMT
I have an ORC club certificate, primarily got it because of the polars that the rating generates but I'm increasingly seeing some race series incorporate ORCi division results with the PHS results. I prefer the ORCi if possible because as you point out it does not penalise the crew and skipper for consistently sailing relatively better than the average of the fleet like PHS does here in Oz
in terms of weight reduction, I was reminded on the weekend of the weight difference between film and cloth sails as I put back on board a delivery cloth no.2 headsail. My crew reckon that the no2 Dacron (120%) weighed as much as my 163% and 150% film headsails combined. When combined with a film main I'm carrying seriously less weight around the course and less weight up high.
You have inspired me hoppy, now off to the boat to take off as much as I can before Sail Port Stephens in a couple of weeks time.....
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Post by hoppy on Mar 5, 2017 0:06:04 GMT
The excitement about starting racing soon has me thinking seriously about what to do with the solar arch I was thinking I will eventually remove it and store it, but now that I have started Jessabbe's diet I want to remove it ASAP. I have a storage locker for home stuff and boat stuff but the arch will not fit it. I could get one big enough but that will cost an extra $100 per month. Perhaps I can leave it in my sisters garage. Realistically I'm not sure when I will ever refit it. With a 7 week old daughter I'm having to rejoin the real world and get back working and any idea to pack up life and sail will be a long way off. At max I'll be doing 4 week vacation cruises and in that situation I will be able to live without the solar. So I'm trying to convince myself that the best solution that will minimise cost and maximise performance is to cut up the arch and bin it. Even cutting in half for storage and rewelding one day in the future seems pointless. I put in my "wish" for a sail number with the club on Friday. On Tuesday I believe there is a meeting that will consider it. The RMYS sail numbers start with "S" so I have asked for 040, so if it is approved I will have S040 on my sail S40 is available so number wise I'm ok and only single digit numbers are reserved for the committee, so it could be ok, but no one has a leading 0 so maybe it will be rejected.
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Post by hoppy on Mar 5, 2017 0:17:15 GMT
One thing on my possible "to do list" is to relocate my extra cabin top winches to the same position they are on SF40's. Their current location allows me to use them when the spray hood is up but if I want to use them for the Assy sheets, then the sheets rub on the cabin top. Generally I use the genoa winches for the assy but maybe that will be a pain at race buoys when changing sails. If I do move the winches, I might leave the holes and block them with bolts and silka
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Post by petermc on Mar 5, 2017 2:45:13 GMT
surely you could sell the arch if you really want to get rid of it and storage is a problem. Also spy a cockpit table that will need to go for racing
I did let the comment on Sydney Harbour slip by........
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Post by vasko on Mar 5, 2017 3:27:45 GMT
Not really sure why you are doing all this stuff... In my case instead of racing I acually enjoy sailing with my daughter and wife - and for them are this stuff that you are taking away is actually very important and make life a lot easier ...
I managed to sail with my daughter a lot the first 4 years about 12 weeks per year , but now she is 5 years old and stude t holidays start to be an issue .... We will be down to 6-7 weeks I guess...
Also your daughter will enjoy beeing with children her age ... E.g you will need to accomidate 2 famillies with let say 3-4 children e.g you want your boat as comfirtable as possible..,
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Post by MartyB on Mar 5, 2017 4:50:22 GMT
Dodger and bimini need to go away, at least on race day(s). Table in cockpit too should go away.......
Having those cabin top winches at the back of cabin are nicer than split as you have them.
Marty
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Post by rene460 on Mar 5, 2017 9:52:17 GMT
Hi hoppy,
May I suggest nothing too permanent until you have a chance to remember the weather here. Losing the Bimini may be good for reduced wind age and ease of movement around the deck, but when you have raced on a day or two of 40 plus degrees (no, not F), you will have a new appreciation of the value of your Bimini. You may find the improved crew performance is worth more than the reduced windage.
Also, even if you replace it with a smaller panel, you will find it valuable to have a solar panel to have your batteries charged when you arrive each week, much better than leaving shore power connected. However you may be able to reduce the number of batteries in the house bank to reduce weight.
The next few months will give you the nicest weather to be out on the water so I suggest not wasting it on projects until proven necessary, eg winch relocation. A few practice drills and some races will tell you which are important and point to the best new locations. Next summer will remind you of whether you really want to lose the Bimini.
Enjoy your return to racing.
rene460
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Post by hoppy on Mar 5, 2017 10:07:21 GMT
surely you could sell the arch if you really want to get rid of it and storage is a problem. Also spy a cockpit table that will need to go for racing The table has to stay until I can relocate the GPS. Luckily I got the solution when I was at MHYC as there was a SF40 Zeusus with the GPS besides the compass under a custom grab handle. Then I can take the table off and leave it on the dock on race days. I did let the comment on Sydney Harbour slip by........ haha... Sydney is prettier and better for cruising, but it's too crowded on weekend and those bloody ferries
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Post by hoppy on Mar 5, 2017 10:17:22 GMT
Not really sure why you are doing all this stuff... In my case instead of racing I acually enjoy sailing with my daughter and wife - and for them are this stuff that you are taking away is actually very important and make life a lot easier ... I managed to sail with my daughter a lot the first 4 years about 12 weeks per year , but now she is 5 years old and stude t holidays start to be an issue .... We will be down to 6-7 weeks I guess... Also your daughter will enjoy beeing with children her age ... E.g you will need to accomidate 2 famillies with let say 3-4 children e.g you want your boat as comfirtable as possible.., Not taking off anything that will make it less comfortable for them. In fact it will be more comfortable especially when there are others onboard. On the delivery home, I had to sleep with the to Assy sails as there was nowhere to keep them and there was minimal space to store the food and drinks and even the crews bags. Now that I have emptied the lockers up front (except for blankets), I can now probably put both sails in the middle locker to get them out the way. The bimini and spray hood will stay onboard for cruising and if I was to relocate the winches, then I will just use the inboard winches just like I did for the first 3 or 4 years before I added the extras.
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Post by hoppy on Mar 5, 2017 10:27:52 GMT
Hi hoppy, May I suggest nothing too permanent until you have a chance to remember the weather here. Losing the Bimini may be good for reduced wind age and ease of movement around the deck, but when you have raced on a day or two of 40 plus degrees (no, not F), you will have a new appreciation of the value of your Bimini. You may find the improved crew performance is worth more than the reduced windage. Also, even if you replace it with a smaller panel, you will find it valuable to have a solar panel to have your batteries charged when you arrive each week, much better than leaving shore power connected. However you may be able to reduce the number of batteries in the house bank to reduce weight. The next few months will give you the nicest weather to be out on the water so I suggest not wasting it on projects until proven necessary, eg winch relocation. A few practice drills and some races will tell you which are important and point to the best new locations. Next summer will remind you of whether you really want to lose the Bimini. Enjoy your return to racing. rene460 The bimini and dodger/spray hood will remain onboard and will probably just be kept folded for races unless conditions dictate they should be deployed. I probably would feel uncomfortable not having any solar for the reasons you mention, so I will probably try to keep 50w onboard, either as a removable flexible panel or deck mounted panels. I'm currently not working, so I have the time to do the projects and sail If I take the daughter with me, then the admiral will not be complaining also The Vice Admiral supervising the weight loss program
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Post by hoppy on Mar 5, 2017 10:36:50 GMT
All of this came out of lockers around the table and it's not everything I will take off from those lockers. They will probably come off tomorrow and I'll weigh it all then.
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Post by vasko on Mar 5, 2017 14:59:38 GMT
Not really sure why you are doing all this stuff... In my case instead of racing I acually enjoy sailing with my daughter and wife - and for them are this stuff that you are taking away is actually very important and make life a lot easier ... I managed to sail with my daughter a lot the first 4 years about 12 weeks per year , but now she is 5 years old and stude t holidays start to be an issue .... We will be down to 6-7 weeks I guess... Also your daughter will enjoy beeing with children her age ... E.g you will need to accomidate 2 famillies with let say 3-4 children e.g you want your boat as comfirtable as possible.., Not taking off anything that will make it less comfortable for them. In fact it will be more comfortable especially when there are others onboard. On the delivery home, I had to sleep with the to Assy sails as there was nowhere to keep them and there was minimal space to store the food and drinks and even the crews bags. Now that I have emptied the lockers up front (except for blankets), I can now probably put both sails in the middle locker to get them out the way. The bimini and spray hood will stay onboard for cruising and if I was to relocate the winches, then I will just use the inboard winches just like I did for the first 3 or 4 years before I added the extras. the most important things for family sailing are : - hot water - huge amounts of hot water - fresh water - huge amount of fresh water, tons of it... - electricity - huge amount of it 12v and huge amount of 220v - large LED TV( as less possible consumption) in the saloon with built in DVD/B-RAY and USB disk with child films - expect it to run about 10h a day - also tablets with at least 4 powerful USB-s charging in every cabin. - microwave - Steam Sterilizer is a must - either microwave type ( less energy consumption on the way) or electric type in you stay at marina's - washing facility - a automated washing machine ( private - mothers do not like mixing baby stiff with adults stuff , especially with random adults in the washing facility at the marina) machine like the one that I was talking but you were making fun for 3kg ) will make your wife agree to come with your daughter a lot more then without it... - CLEANLINESS OF THE BOAT - mothers love clean boats - if you can hire a local cleaner who cleans and leave the boat smell on cleaning chemical - do not hesitate hire her asap - no matter how expensive worth every penny .... - get all the baby safety stuff - although we did not really use it much - my daughter still hate lifejackets and refuse wearing one... but Baltic has a baby one which is really safe - change your doors, ALL OF THEM to be unlockable - if your daughter lock herself by mistake in a room or head you will experience huge nervous breakdown from everyone around and may endup with never on a boat again ... - YOU SHOULD ALWAYS BEEN ABLE TO SEE YOUR DAUGHTER when on or around the boat - my daughter fell from the pontoon about 30meters away from us when she was 2years old ! we both ( me and my wife) almost got a heart attack! - when we arrive at the end of the pontoon the water was completely calm and our daughter was nowhere to be seen ! my wife jumper in the water the water the same second to try to dive and find her.. luckily our daughter was holding one of the pontoon piles under the pontoon and was not visible easy... all was OK - and although the chance in calm water a baby to actually drown until under 4 years old is zero (because her instincts prevail her brain before reaching 4)- when it happens to your child the zero chance do not matter - in brief START INVESTING IN SWIMMING LESSONS NOW if you ever plan to have your daughter around water.
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Post by vasko on Mar 5, 2017 15:07:49 GMT
I also see you have some nice blue fabric cushions everywhere - expect them to become all possible colors covered with everything that you can't even imagine now - leather covers a lot better... also put some mosquito nets on all hols on you floorboard - or else all your bilges will be full of small things - everything that can pass thought the holes will be put there...
ALSO ALL BUTTONS that can be clicked or pushed - WILL BE pushed and clicked - make sure you have some kind of key typoe breaker that can prevent damages from button that should not be pressed are pressed... ( needed to change all full kit of o-rings of my watermaker after running for some long period without open tap and no seawater entering)
ALL SPEAKERS that are open and visible will be pushed in the center and will not be able to produce quality sound anymore - 2-3 time scan be proportionally recovered with powerful vacum machine but not more...
in general expect everything that can or cannot be to be pushed or clicked or kicked...
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