Chew Files

[roland_trim]

Pointing is an art at Chew in those conditions, it is more guess the wind direction of the next gust. If you look carefully the bearaway filmed is achieved over a 45 degree windshift.

It was a strange day with kite runs on a seciton you had tacked over few minutes earlier. I'm not sure, but sometimes I'd be tempted to swap waves for constant-ish wind direction. Sorry for not heading down to Netley, but didn't really have enough energy for sailing - which happened in short fun bursts and certainly not enough in the tank to pack and tow.

[Tim Noyce]

No worries! I am a big fan of club sailing. Being able to go sailing and get home again in just a morning, or just an afternoon means that it is possible to go sailing a lot more often (and as Kate will agree, being able to sleep in your own bed and wash and dry your sailing kit between outings is a real bonus!)

[Hayley_Trim]

Fun little blast around at Chew today. Took Evo out in moderate breeze with a few slightly more interesting periods. We watched Paul Clements and his wife go for a sail in Shiny.
We came in for a break and decided to take Shiny for a spin. Meanwhile the wind arrived with intent.
Er.
So, Shiny moves.
Quite fast.
And very fun.

Crew might just be buzzing a little bit.
OK, grinning a lot 

[roland_trim]

Today's prescribed burst of short energetic exercise was meant to be 3 laps of Chew. It was blowing alot more than the forecast, but we took Evo out anyway. The launch was stylish and everything felt electric. GPS shows that the boat moves much faster than it feels - Hayley asked if we were dragging, speed was over 10knot upwind (ish).

Near the top of the lake I looked down to check the foil for weed and realised the hatch cover was missing. During the following conversation I misjudged a gust and in the ensuing faffing about landed on the boom. Now we have two booms, sadly neither are long enough! Need to remember to go over the back instead of into the water!

Sailed back in under jib - max speed 6.2 knots, 5.1 knot 10 second average. Break is clean so hope to use tomorrow's half hour exercise session as sailing with an anaconda boom (the repair will look like snake that has swallowed a bowling ball) :-)

[roland_trim]

Anaconda is cured - roll on tomorrow

[Torchy]

  

Loco should be out tomorrow...we have an interesting taper on Loco's boom - I think it needed extending to take the Fyfe main and starts with a slight bump. Amazing stuff carbon.

[simon_jones]

Your taper was made by Dean and I. It replaced an old section of mast tube boged and bodged in to fit the 05 rules sails.

[Torchy]

I think it's pretty cool Simon

[Hayley_Trim]

Nice little sail in Shiny today. Meanwhile Mr Croote was making mincemeat of the mustos and our handicap ...

[roland_trim]

This weekend saw Richard and Tom taking Born Slippy out for a blast on Sat. Reports are that they had wind and therefore suitable buckets of fun. Good news for BS followers, I forgot to tell Rich and Tom that they were testing the new kicker/cunno controls - Hoppy they are as you requested and still attached, so we'll call that progress.

Sunday saw Rich out in Evo with me. Rich is the better helm and was properly patient with me as crew - especially as the "to-do" list grew on our laps of the lake. Strange how many things needed for  the mode shift between display stand and sailing boat - for the next outing I think we will use more than good mannors to keep the main ratchet attached to the boom (during the de-rig it fell off!).

Rich is sailing BS for the inlands. Anyone fancy crewing?

[roland_trim]

Another fun day at Chew. With Marmite, Subtle Knife and Born Slippy racing to more or lesser extent.
Westerly - so binary 10-15knots of wind with extra random directions thrown in for good measure.

Marmite cleaned up the afternoon race, with Subtle snapping at their heels before an unsheduled wash at the race officers "kind" two sail gybe mark. BS made 1 start, but preferred howling around finding gusts -  with the fat one who normally steers hanging off the wire and a spare RS200 helm at the back.

[roland_trim]

Condensed version:
"I love Marmite."

Expidited version:
 Am not a fan of dentists and am finding the after effects of anaesthetic from my root canal work this morning are making me truely zombified. However, the grin delivered from hooning around in Marmite on Chew yesterday is a feature that will remain longer than the strange tingling in my gums.
 Arrived late at Chew (never check you emails on a Sunday morning). Paul helped me rig and waited for Ed. Ed was delayed and pulled into the club carpark 10 minutes before the start. Technically we may still have been on the shore when the race started, but the RO let us start. The lasers were not too keen on the Green Cherub crashing their line with 30 seconds till thier gun and we hit the pin mark of the start line whilst avoiding a particularily vocal radial.
 Ed manfully played "guess the course" and we sailed through the Flying 15 and then the fast fleet (there may have been a Solo fleet as well). By the end of lap 1 we only had the fireball to follow. After a really fun 3-sail-complete-length-of-Chew downwind leg, including 3 Gybes we were the lead boat. We held this to the finish line, completing a neat 360 for hitting the start mark as a bow before taking the bullet.
 Thanks to Paul for lending me the boat, Ed for crewing and the post race mini blast (it's more fun with no boats to knit through). Ed mornfully pointed out that without the 360 we'd have won on handicap, but 2nd when adjusted does not compare to the grin from the sail. Certainly the best sail I've had all year - no mistakes, no swimming and no time lost to traffic incidents. First time taking an "on the water bullet" around cans. Feel really guilty that the wind did not hold for the afternoon, sentancing Ed and Croote to a more random version of racing whilst I watched on from the rib.
 I love Marmite, need to get in the garage to get cracking on Evo2.



Long version:
Call me, but make a cup of tea first...

[Hayley_Trim]

I am greener than Marmite. Arm still won't let me sail, so I dutifully did Christmas shopping and card writing. "Am really pleased for you" - teeth gritted.
All sympathy, martyrdoms etc welcome

[roland_trim]

A forgot and an extra thankyou.

Thankyou Mrs Trim, kicking me out of the house and telling me to "just go sail and stop brooding" was just the right thing to do. She also politely reminded of another epc sail of 2012. The best days sailing of 2012 was the one Hayley and I had together also in Marmite - at the ISAF trials. This was clearly the #1 sail of the year, had the additional fun of big rolling waves, we beat olympic hopefuls in XX's and Elleanor and it had the essential of Mrs T hanging on a wire next to me (sorry Ed, I posted video for the reason why).

http://youtu.be/I80KxDnUSkA

[phil_kirk]

Well grovelled.  I think you were excavating a very big hole for a while but managed to find your way out in the end