Elementarry prototype test sail, 7th January 2005, Coffs Harbour, NSW Australia. S to SE Winds, 10 - 15 knots.

Report by Rob Denney:
I arrived at Coffs Harbour Friday to be met at the airport by Mark, who took me down to the beach where the boat was nearly rigged and ready to go. Such service! Donned the wetsuit and off we went, through small surf and a near on shore breeze. No problem getting going. I took the sheets, Mark the tillers and shunting was very easy. We played around a bit and practised shunting, then inadvertently capsized

The boat lay on it's side, but was easily righted with help from a passing fisherman (sorry no pictures, ed.). Top gps speed 15.6 knots, wind according to the local yacht club wind gauge, peaked at 15 knots. The sails looked a lot better, but still weren't perfect. The booms bonded to the masts worked brilliantly, and the new rudder bulkheads made the rudders far stiffer and stronger.

Had another sail on Saturday and took family and friends sailing. Both Bain (Harry builder) and Michele mastered shunting and two tiller steering very quickly. Mark and I spent half an hour buzzing upwind and down between two buoys a couple of hundred metres apart and managed to convince ourselves we were ready to race. Tack shunting was improved again, to the point that I reckon we could go from hull flying hard on the wind on one tack to hull flying hard on the wind on the other tack as quickly as a beach cat. No breakages to fix.
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Sunday morning headed for Point Manning for their annual marathon race (no photos of the race). 34 kms/18.5 nautical miles of mostly downwind sailing in a narrowish tree lined river. 50 boats, 12 in our class, 2 very hot F18 cats with spinnakers and double trapezes, 2 nice A cats, a couple of Hobie 18's, a Taipan 5.6 and a couple of one offs. Breeze very gusty and changable, max was probably 20 knots in the puffs.Got there an hour before the start, and was ready to go in 40 minutes. Tying in the battens takes a large part of this, perhaps a reason for a bolt rope mast.

We got a mid fleet start and blasted off on a broad reach, at similar speeds to everyone except the F18's, one of which was very quick under spinnaker. The reach became a run, and we ended up on the light air side of the river, very slow. Shunting to get to the other side was far slower than the others gybing so we lost ground, although picked it back up once we got the breeze. The boat was marginally slower ddw than the H18's and A cats gybing back and forth across the river when we were in the same breeze, much slower when we were on the no wind side. We may have been quicker if we had gone wing and wing. Shunting was totally controlled and safe, at least 2 of the cats capsized during their gybes.

We had not fitted sheet cleats and Mark (who had never raced a boat before) and I are really too old for this sort of racing so sat side by side half way along the beam, easing the sheets, luffing or bearing away each time we flew a hull. Fit young fools in an optimised boat would have been moving in and out with cleated sheets and sailing much, much quicker. They would also have moved aft on the lee hull during the shunts to speed them up. They would also have lifted the forward rudder as soon as the breeze was aft of the beam, something we only did occasionally.

The rest of the race was in pretty much the same vein, apart from us going aground to prove the kick up rudders work and a very short stretch hard on the wind when we sailed higher (and much faster) than a hot 14' dinghy which had started an hour before. We also had a very quick broad reach, definitely the fastest the boat had yet gone, but the gps had turned itself off, so no idea how quick.

We finished 5th, may have been third if we hadn't run aground. Elapsed time was 93 minutes, the hot F18 did it in 73, a difference of about 25%. Can we find another 25%? With ease. More active crew, optimised sails and controls and better tactics would easily supply the deficit.

We then did some thinking and decided that, if we fitted trapezes, the boat could be a metre or so narrower, which would make downwind shunting faster. This would make it 3m wide. For the loss of another 500mm, we could make it in one piece, saving a lot of weight, cost and complexity. The next day we tried it untelescoped. Rigging was easier and it felt much easier to sail, according to Mark on the tillers. It was certainly much easier to fly a hull, which we did with gay abandon until we got over confident and capsized. We were unable to right it, due mainly to water in the pocket luffs, so tossed out the anchor, removed the sails from the masts (another reason for a track on the masts) and easily flipped it back up. We were about to start paddling in when the police boat came and offered us a tow. Interestingly, with a beam wind, no sails and only one rudder down, the boat was moving very nicely at right angles to the breeze, we could have blown/'sailed' ashore.

Further thought lead to the idea of a seat outside the windward hull. Along with a righting pole system, these mods will be made in the next few weeks and we will try again.

The boat is a rocket, very easily sailed and controlled and quick to rig/derig. We now need to fine tune the controls, try different widths and options and learn how to sail it fast.

How did the schooner rig work? Extremely well, at this stage of the game. Shunting is very easy, we can luff the boat head to wind until it stops, then pull the foresail to windward, bear away with the rudders and go sailing. With the Easyrig, this would not be possible after about 25 degrees from head to wind. The schooner seems to go upwind well (need some serious windward work to test this) although how much of this is due to the near rectangularity of the sails, I don't know. Our sails/rigs looked awful compared to all the other boats, we need to get the sailmaker involved in the fine tuning of masts, booms and sails asap. Having said this, the masts flex nicely and seem to have very low drag when the tops are feathered. Once we decide how wide to make it, we can look at fine tuning the bend characteristics. We are producing a mast in an afternoon now, so this is no big deal.

The steering also works very well, as long as you hold on or sit inboard during any violent course changes. This is a good idea as a matter of course, as the boat accelerates in the slightest puff.

The boat sails nose down when pressed, but this does not affect the handling. The bow shape rises through any waves with ease. Can't wait to try it downwind in big seas/breeze.

The fishnet trampoline is a pain to rig and keep tight. Lots of options to explore here, but all that happens is wet feet, so this is not urgent. The triangular beams are great, deflecting water downwards, although at speed it is still a wet ride.

We did not try the kite, although I think I have now figured out how it can be flown, after a week's practise on a leadmine.

Is it a Tornado beater? Not yet, but it certainly has the potential to be.
Is it fun? Absolutely, with far less stress on the sailors than Tornado racing.

Regards, Rob

Sandwich maker goes Sailing
Yes, I did eventually get a short sail after various combinations of Rob, Mark, Bain and our friend Tim, took turns to zoom around the harbour on the Elementarry. They were very appreciative of my sandwiches and I was taking photos so I felt content watching their obvious joy. The wait was worth every bit of buttered sliced bread.

Mark (captain and husband, in that order) and I on board, we quickly left the shore. Mark on the sheets near the leeward hull and me sitting at the 'rear end' (as in the end furthest from where we were headed) of the windward hull holding a tiller in each hand. Now you will appreciate that I am no sailor. Floating around the river on my self-made Bolger designed sailing dingy doesn't count for much although it has given me the beginnings of understanding about the wind - water - boat relationships required by a sailing person. Besides, I had full faith in Capt. M.

Two rudders make this boat very maneuverable, especially when you don't know what you're doing - o.k. when I didn't know what I was doing - so following clear instruction I held the fore rudder parallel to the hull and steered with the rear rudder. Easy. Whilst the beam obscured my view of the fore rudder somewhat it was possible to feel when the rudder was parallel and not fighting the water. Along we went.

Capt. M. on the sheets was controlling the speed we were going…hm, straight towards the rock wall and a lot faster than my dear dingy could ever dream of going. I'll admit that my faith in Capt. was about to waver as the wall got a lot closer before he began to do something with the sheets (I'll get to understand that next time), and said "we're about to shunt, get ready to turn the rudders". I did so immediately, which was too soon - better to wait until the boat slows down, that way Capt. doesn't get drenched and fall over on the tramp as the boat virtually stops dead and the rudders make a 'noise'.

Next time I was ready. Capt did his thing to the sheets. Boat slowed, I turned the rudders around from where I was sitting by pushing, then pulling with the tillers in a circular motion. Capt. did something to sails and tightened sheets while I slid smoothly-ish along the windward hull to the new 'rear end' all the while grasping the tillers and staying on board. That was it - faster than it took you to read this paragraph - shunt complete and off we sped in the other direction. It really was that quick and easy.

Indeed, we sped across the harbour, faster and faster until up she went, flying a hull. This I was not ready for, and being instantly over excited by my new perspective I steered off the wind and down we came, as in, the boat . . . then me, with a thud and I'm sure I heard a small chuckle from husband. Once I'd collected the tillers and myself, I paid more attention to what I was doing with the rudders. Making Capt. promise not to sheet in harder I was able to maneuver the boat until the point of balance shifted and the hull lightened i.e. lifted, but not totally out of the water, not just yet. That excitement I will wait for until next time. And I think I have to do some sit-ups.

A few more shunts around the harbour and Capt and I headed happily to shore. It was someone else's turn to have some damn good fun.

Cheers, Michele