New Gear

[tome]

Tried out our new No3 jib hanked on the removable inner forestay during a long beat down channel. Wonderful sail, sets much better than the reefed furling genoa and gave a pleasant balance to the helm in conditions up to a lively F6. Boat was upright and it still gave us 6.5 knots in 13 knots apparent wind. Can easily tack her single-handed, and delighted with the new arrangement.

Whilst in Brest I connected our new NASA SSB receiver to the insulated backstay. Turned on just in time to receive the R4 shipping forecast clear as a bell, and enjoyed full coverage of the England v W Indies test matches both in port and at sea. Excellent piece of kit, wouldn't want to be without it.

New cockpit cushions arrived just in time for our departure. We had been quoted over £400 by a well known local supplier who couldn't meet our delivery, so tried a new (to us) company Rifa Design. They quoted £240 and I was very pleased with the results which were made to our templates. Nicely finished in blue vynil with white piping, and very comfortable - real luxury. Contact is Mike O'Brien 01243 576538 or design@mikeobrien.co.uk. No connection, just happy to recommend.

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[Twister_Ken]

So the new innner worked out OK. Good. Has the baby stay gone yet?

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.writeforweb.com/twister1>Let's Twist Again</A>

 

[tome]

Inner stay is great. Needs a bit of tweaking as it could do with a tad more tension in the deployed position, and the halyard lead isn't quite fair. I was pleased that the sheeting angles were good for the No3 with the cars aft (it's quite high-cut). When it came on to blow during the night (isn't it always at night?) a quick 2nd reef in the main turned what would have been a handful for the 2 of us into a doddle and I must say really enjoyed the sail.

Baby stay isn't yet removable as the inner stows to stbd just inboard and ahead of the cap shroud and I wanted to make sure this worked out with the genoa. All looks good, and I'll stow the baby to port in a similiar position. Always something to do...

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[iangrant]

Any luck with the weather fax off the radio?

Ian

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[tome]

No, never used it yet on anything apart from 198kHz. I made up a lead from the audio out to the mic input on my laptop but couldn't bring myself to switch on the PC whilst away. I'll experiment further in Northney as I've downloaded all the software etc. I'll be staying onboard a couple of nights next week to avoid wife's highly strung visitors so will play!

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[dralex]

Good to hear of the success with the inner forestay- nice to hear some real feedback after the recent discussion.

<hr width=100% size=1>Life's too short- do it now./forums/images/icons/wink.gif