Good breeze and good lift, what a fab afternoons soaring at Hunts. Even managed to make a start on the Libelle and finish covering the Hammer. A very productive day!
Hammer makeover
Work is well on the way with the Hammers makeover. This follows a horrendous crash last year when I stalled at very low altitude and wrote off the wings. This crash was so avoidable that I'm still really annoyed with myself when I think about it. But as the ole saying goes there aint no point crying over crushed balsa.
Harry lent a helping hand to prep the fuse whilst I worked on the wing roots.
'B' rig Bash
Challenging conditions but overall exciting fun. 13 races, 3 discards and wining by a single point from my last design (Edge) skippered by Rob.
Joio's launch
Last Sunday Joio had her first race. The conditions weren't brilliant with a light NW wind wafting over the lake leading to big holes and 180 degree shifts. Overall we finished in a fairly disappointing third position but I'm pretty confident that a few tweaks will see us performing a lot better. This evening I have re programmed the RMG winch end points to my new HiTec transmitter. There is now adequate travel for the sails to sheet right out and I have also started to alter the fin rake further aft.
The forecast for next Sundays race is looking a lot better so given these tweaks and a little more mast rake I hope Joio will be a little more assertive and be up on the pace.
The forecast for next Sundays race is looking a lot better so given these tweaks and a little more mast rake I hope Joio will be a little more assertive and be up on the pace.
Going potty
Did some work in connection to the rear deck and RC fit out this weekend. I thought I'd try something a little different with this build and locate the relatively heavy rudder servo and battery as low and as close to the centre of gravity as possible.
In order to achieve this I made a little tray for the receiver and cut the bottom off a normal plastic pot to the same depth as a standard servo. Formed a liteply top and cut apertures for the servo and battery. The pot is then glued directly to the hull just behind the fin box and in theory the servo and battery should remain nice and dry. The top of the pot is then fixed in the preformed kicker well recess. The void between the top and bottom of the pot allows for good ventilation of the hull whilst the lid is off.
In order to achieve this I made a little tray for the receiver and cut the bottom off a normal plastic pot to the same depth as a standard servo. Formed a liteply top and cut apertures for the servo and battery. The pot is then glued directly to the hull just behind the fin box and in theory the servo and battery should remain nice and dry. The top of the pot is then fixed in the preformed kicker well recess. The void between the top and bottom of the pot allows for good ventilation of the hull whilst the lid is off.
The pot bottom ensures everything inside stays dry
Joio continued
Since Christmas I have neither soared or sanded but last weekend I did both and what a productive weekend it was. Two halves were joined to make a hull and apertures formed for the kicker/pot well, rx and rudder linkage. The Wildthing and Mefisto also had blast at Hunts in just over 30mph winds. So my Joio mojo is back and this evening I've been cutting and resining the fin/mast case.
Roux G8
Not strictly soaring or sailing but a bit of cycling! Here's my new bike, a bit different to those more common agricultural things you see being ridden by MAMILs. Since the very first mass produced bikes in 1872 the designs have continued to develop and my new ROUX G8 is no exception. Hub gears, Carbon drive belt and Swing shock make this bike fun, fast, friendly. It's a real blast!
IOM's drifting
The wind slowly switched off as the afternoon drew on. By the end we were being overtaken by the Ducks
Joio un-plugged
Just a progress photo showing Joio's laminated hull de-plugged. I'm slowly working on the plugs to produce the mast pot well and the mast/fin case.
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