Sailrocket

Sun, 1 May 11 12:13

Yesterday evening we had our third session of tow testing of the bare platform.

It was a beautiful evening as we towed the wing-less platform up and down speed spot with the whole team taking turns in the boat and in the RIB in order to observe all aspects first hand.

We saw on our second session the day before that the addition of the first trial 'step' on the front float made a big difference to it's ability to release from the water and step up into planing mode.

THE NEW SECOND STEP GETS FITTED TO THE AFT UNDERSIDE OF THE FORWARD FLOAT. THE 'FIRST' STEP CAN BE SEEN FORWARD... BUT IN THE FIBREGLASS TROLLEY.

The new second 'step' on the rear underside of the hull quickly ventilated from behind at speeds as low as 3-4 knots. This enabled the up forces on the front of the float to win the battle and start lifting the hull upwards as speed increased. This in turn allows the first original step to 'get access' to the air and also ventilate. Voila... the hull keeps lifting and we are planing.

We wanted to see this work first hand before we went and added them to all the three floats. The back float was hence still suffering and struggling to break free from the water. We tried a few other trials with foils up and down and the beam swung fore and aft before deciding to head back in.

LAUNCHING THE 'CRITTER' (THE FOIL IS ONLY HALF LOWERED IN THE BOTTOM PICTURE).

Yesterday, we went back out with steps on all three hulls. The leeward hull is so lightly loaded without the wing on that the step really isn't necessary. I was hoping for a bigger change on the rear float. Whilst the step was an improvement, it seems that we still have a low speed where the aft float gets caught in the wave pattern generated from the front float. There is every chance that this might just be a phenomenon caused by tow testing and that the addition of the side force of the wing could break the whole 'loop' so we shouldn't get too concerned until we conduct some sailing trials.

It was interesting yesterday to watch the foil behaviour. We were typically towing at speeds around 15-17 knots. The fact is that the foil was virtually doing nothing and you could hear it rattling around in its locking mechanism rather than being forced against either the upward or downward limiters. When the foil is fully submerged when the boat is stationary, there is as much lifting area as there is downward pulling area. The effect is that when it has an angle of attack created by any side force i.e. a sail or a tow-line, the overall force is neither up or down.

You have to remember that the foils on our boats are actually pulling the boat down into the water. On most hydrofoilers the foils are there to lift the boat up and out of the water. On the Sailrocket designs, the angled/inclined wing does all the lifting and it is the foil that keeps us down. So... when we start off and the full foil is submerged, there is no 'net' down force from the foil but the wing is pulling up. As we accelerate and the wing powers up, it gradually begins to lift the boat up with it. This means that the foil rises and the top section comes out of the water only leaving the angled lower part in the water and this is the bit that does all the 'down' work. When the boat is hauling along at full steam, the back of the boat will naturally ride at the height where the up and down forces balance. If it gets 'bumped' too high then the balance will try and pull it down and visa versa.

This means we can only do so much towing the boat around without the addition of the actual sailing loads.

JEFFRO DOES A FLYBY OF THE TIMING HUT.

It sure was a beautiful evening. It was a perfect opportunity to let every other team member go for a ride. I really enjoyed seein Ben in the cockpit. It always surprised me to see boat builders spend so much time building boats only to see them go out the shed and the next set of plans come in. Surely the joy has to be in actually seeing what you have spent so long building in its element. This way you can truly appreciate what it is you are creating. It has to make the whole experience richer.

BEN GETS TO PLAY IN THE HOT SEAT OF THE BOAT HE PLAYED A LARGE PART IN BUILDING.

Helena was all concentration. She knows that she will have the option to pilot this machine for a record attempt at some stage... and she knows that that day may well be approaching. It's not talk anymore. What she does and how hard she pushes it is soley up to her. There will be no restrictions and if she wants to go for an outright attempt... then that will be her call. Yesterday she also got to drive it for the first time.

HELENA PAYS ATTENTION. SHE MAY WELL BE PILOTING THIS AT WELL OVER THREE TIMES THIS SPEED ONE DAY.

The only one missing was Hiskia... but he'll probably get his turn today.

The warm East wind was blowing lightly this morning which would indicate a nice but relatively windless day ahead. We will do one more session of tow testing where we will actually measure some of these loads... and then we will roll straight into the wing trials. We might be able to do both of these today if this wind settles a little so as not to corrupt the numbers.

I must admit that I am still a little concerned about the 'hump' drag. In respect to our situation, this 'hump' is the amount of drag that builds up before the boat makes the transition into 'planing' mode. You often see it in fast powerboats where they need to use a lot of power to get started but once they are up and planing on the surface of the water, they don't need so much power. This is because they have overcome this transition from low speed displacement mode to high speed planing mode. Some shapes do it better than others. We are discovering how big our 'hump' is right now and will try and use a few tricks to bend it to our will.

ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL NAMIBIAN DAY COMES TO AN END. NOW FOR THE BRAII!

We now have a heap of great video footage from on and off the boat which Helena is editing up. We will get it up soon. You will also be glad to know that we ran a successful live video feed from off the boat a couple of days ago. It basically involves an iphone 4... so looks like I have to get one whether I want to or not. When we get this weapon up to speed, you can all come for the ride. The Braii afterwards might be more difficult!!!

Cheers, Paul.

2 comments

So far so good with the wing.

Thu, 28 Apr 11 12:17

The first days trials with the wing in a decent breeze went well.

We only set it up on land rather than take it out... but we saw what we needed to without the complications oh handling the package on the water as well. The wind was around 17-22 knots and we only raised the middle section of the wing which is the section that should be free to fully rotate through 360 degrees if necessary.

There is so much to be seen and learnt about this new wing. We started by seeing how it handled during the wing raising process. Normally we had to pull the old wing up with a 6:1 purchase via the strut and a Harken track. This time we just let go of the wing completely and as it is tail heavy, it hung with its back down and in this position the wing generated substantial lift. The mass imbalance wasn't enough to allow the wing to rotate so tail down that it stalled. So by generating lift, instead of having to haul the wing up, we simply eased it up by releasing the shrouds in a nice controlled manner. As the wing goes vertical, the mass imbalance becomes less pronounced and the wing naturally feathers more.

This my friends... is a revelation albeit calculated.

Once the wing was up we could just let it go. It would sit in the gusty breeze in the rigging yard perfectly happy with relatively little residual force.

We spun the boat around underneath it to simulate a few angles of the rig to the platform. We are aware of a few 'no-go' areas where we simply can't power the rig up as it will put forces well outside the shroud base which will lead to massive loads in the wing strut. As long as we respect these then we should be OK.

I would be lying if I told you that I was now totally confident in the wing. It takes a long time for these things to make you totally confident. Every now and then she would power up a bit unexpectedly or pitch forward or aft with a slight stretch in the rigging and we would all jump... but we will get used to this.

JEFF SHOWS WHAT LITTLE LOAD IS NEEDED ON THE WING TO MAKE IT FULLY FEATHER.

WING IN THE 'BACK-WINDED' STATE AS IT WILL BE AS WE TOW THE BOAT BACK UP THE COURSE.

So that all went very well. When it came time to drop it we actually had to pull it down. The mass imbalance is something we are well aware of as the wing in its current form is tail heavy. We can counter this by putting a pole out the front with counter weights on it. We might have to do this to help make the wing feather more. We will see how it behaves as we begin adding further elements. So far it doesn't seem immediately necessary.

On another note we are looking at decreasing the 'hump' drag in the floats. We want them to release from the water and plane/skid on the surface with less effort. I suspect that as much as the front of the float is lifting as the water flows over it, the back section is sucking down. It is only when the air gets to the 'step' in the bottom that the hull releases and the suction is broken. At low speed, this 'step' is too deep and the air can't get to it. We are going to try adding a simple and light second step on the aft surface to try and break this suction cycle. It is an easy experiment that may have a big effect on how well the boat accelerates from stand still. Ben is on the case today.

YOU CAN SEE THE SECOND STEP AS RECOMMENDED BY MALCOLM DRAWN HERE. IT WILL BE CLEAR OF THE WATER OVER 10 KNOTS. WE WILL MAKE IT OVERSIZE FOR STARTERS SO IT CAN EASILY BE CUT DOWN ON THE BOAT.

Other improvements were to the system that allows us to raise and lower the foil from the cockpit. I must admit that this has worked a lot better than I expected. It's a beauty and surely one that saves the foil tips on numerous occasions. Jeff is on the case of making it all neat and tidy... hmmm... perhaps not the best person for this;)

Yesterday we also tried swinging the beam fore and aft with the rig up. Overall it went pretty well although we need to increase the range to around 2.5 meters from the current 1.5. This will be how we steer the boat from standstill when the little rudder is ineffective. It will be very important to get this whole system safe and reliable. We have to be in full control of this beast at all times as we do expect to be sailing her in winds up to 30 knots. Whilst this is nothing by wind or kitesurfer standards... it's pretty punchy for larger craft.

Yesterday will mark two weeks since the container doors first opened on Namibia. I hope we can hit the water again for some trials with the wing up this time.

Good progress is being made every day.

Cheers, Paul.

4 comments

Getting ready for wing trials.

Tue, 26 Apr 11 12:20

Walvis Bay is back to its windy best. Yesterday we got down to the boat early so we could get the jobs done and hit speed-spot on the kites and windsurfers before sunset. It was a classic Walvis day and the wind built to optimal conditions for record breaking. Now this is how I remember it. Sitting on that strip of land on a calm day is like sitting in a race car in the garage. yesterday it was alive with wind energy. A raw power just begging to be tapped into.

It was good to take the uninitiated team members out there to give them an idea of what our pampered craft is going to have to endure. It has to be at home out there when it's 'honking'!

We put the wing up in Africa for the first time on Sunday. There are a few little things that need sorting out but we are already onto them.

Once we have a couple of other small details sorted, hopefully today, we will take the boat with the wing onto the water and start exposing the wing to some wind.

For the first trials I will remove all the elements which are not necessary and try and test one at a time, adding a new element for each test. We won't need the lower horizontal wing extension for a while as we work through the boats low speed performance... so that will stay in the container.

The lower 'wing fillet' that is the highly curved lower corner element of the wing is always necessary as that is where the wing hitches onto the beam and is also the junction for most of the upper and lower components. It always has to be on to join the wing to the boat.

For the first test we will only go out with the large main/middle wing section which is designed to be fully 360 degree feathering. This means we will remove the upper tip section and the lower 2 meters below the VESTAS logo. We should be able to raise the rig in the yacht club and launch the boat with this raised as it should develop very little power when not sheeted in.

That's the plan.

Yesterday, we fitted the foil raising and lowering system that will allow us to do this operation from the cockpit and even when underway at low speed. We are very happy with how well this functions.

Today is going to be a very windy day. Way more than we need. I'm dead keen now to try this wing out. How well it rotates/feathers may well determine just how fast this whole program progresses.

Hopefully this program will begin tomorrow.

Cheers, Paul.

4 comments

WET AT LAST! VESTAS sailrocket 2 makes her first tentative trip to speed-spot.

Sat, 23 Apr 11 09:29

Yesterday, a week after VESTAS Sailrocket 2 arrived in Namibia, we finally gave her a proper launch in Walvis Bay... and took our first real steps along what will be one very interesting road.

We arrived down at the Walvis Bay Yacht Club at 0630 hoping to catch the dead still morning water only to find a punchy little East wind that left the bay choppy. We proceeded to work through the priorities on the job list figuring that we would have to post-pone the towing trials until the following morning. As it turned out the winds began to subside mid afternoon so we went for it.

I was really looking forward to this. Although we ‘dipped’ her on the launch day in Cowes 6 weeks or so ago, this was going to be a real ‘working’ launch where she was expected to start jumping through hoops. By simply towing the bare platform around behind the support Rib she would stat revealing some of her little characteristics. Another valuable aspect is that it breaks the ice in the team’s mindset. After 18 months of working on her on the land, she will now come back wet and our minds will focus around her on the water performance.

We pushed her down the slipway where we had launched and retrieved VSR1 so many times... in so many forms and wheeled her straight into the water with little ceremony. The Yacht Club was busy with it being Easter and all so the locals came out to watch the desperados with their new toy.

We hooked on a long tow line and proceeded to slowly pull VESTAS Sailrocket 2 away from the land. Once out I straddled the hull, made my way back to the main foil and lowered her down to the locked position. She definitely looks deeper than the last foil and depth paranoia struck instantly... so up she came again. It’s a bit of a ‘lash-up’ affair right now but pretty soon we hope to be able to do it all from the cockpit. We must protect the foils from the numerous shallows that inhabit the sailing area. VSR2 doesn’t track very well without the foil down and the rudder is next to useless at low speed so I’m pretty much at the mercy of the tow-line and there is no point sitting in the cockpit.

It was a lovely evening. What a joy to be towing this new weapon across the lagoon towards the African sun as it made its way to the horizon at the far end of speed-spot. A beautiful setting for the introduction.

We dropped Hiskia and Ben off on the magical mile that is ‘speed-spot’ as we needed to lighten the Rib for towing. Once away from the shore I lowered the main foil once more and we began towing. The nose float immediately went under. I know not to get alarmed by these things in these programs... not until you fully understand what is happening. This was surprising however as these floats have huge amounts of volume i.e. each one should be capable of supporting the whole boat. The water was flowing very smoothly over the top as the nose is very well rounded for aerodynamic reasons as much as anything. I had a small passenger in the back seat. Mari was carrying the boats new little mascot so she could tell me if she thought it was going to be ‘lucky’ or not. I called the Rib back and Mari jumped in there just to lighten the load a little.

HMMMM!!! COME UP WHEN YOU'RE READY.

We were towing VSR2 by the nose and after another short trial we set up a more realistic bridle system. The fact is that the main fuselage needs to travel along at a 20 degree angle. It does not sit fore and aft but is cocked sideways so that it points into the ‘apparent’ wind at high speed and greatly reduces the aerodynamic drag on the boat. I figured that by towing the boat by the nose that we couldn’t get the boat to track straight through the water as the rudder wasn’t effective enough to get things in line at low speed. With the V’d floats being pulled sideways we weren’t getting full hydrodynamic lift, a lot of extra drag and the inclined rear foil was actually getting pushed down instead of up. Basically we were towing a mess through the water. Anyway, no harm... check... tick the box and move on. This will still probably be how we will tow the boat back up the course between runs so still relevant.

We set an approximate bridle so the towing point was about 10-12 feet inboard and set off again. The nose still went down. I found it hard to get an idea on what direction the boat was tracking in. It is very important to how the boat rides as, being a sailing boat... and a foiling sailing boat at that, it is designed to have the load applied from the side for the foil to have a positive angle of attack and be effective. If we weren’t getting that angle right then the foil would be doing either nothing... or worse, working in reverse(Being, inclined and curved in a way to counteract a huge side and up load from the wing, it actually gets a bit more complicated and hard to truly work in a simple towing situation without the up force from the wing). Annoyingly, the nose was still going down and even with the 60 hp engine at full noise, we couldn’t get the boat to ‘pop’ up out of the water. I worked the rudder through its range to see how much response I could get. I had to make sure that it wasn’t fully stalled and off to one side. If it was then it was completely ineffective and just creating drag which added to the whole problem. Quite often the nose would turn more to the right when I turned the steering more to the left. This would be due to the flow becoming re-attached and although the angle was decreasing, the effectiveness would increase. This is all kind of basic stuff but then this rudder shape is not your normal deal, it is a wedge shaped high speed section with a profile more like an axe head than a teardrop. It was still effective at low speed, but only in a very narrow range. Once I got a feel for this and we began a turn to the left, the bow popped up, the drag decreased, the Rib was able to accelerate... and we were off. We punched a big hole through the mythical ten knot barrier and up to the lofty heights of around 16;)

THAT'S MORE LIKE IT. TOW LINE STILL INDICATES WE ARE PULLING AT SLIGHT NEGATIVE ANGLE.

With no wing on the boat, the leeward float was riding very high. We were sitting on top of the water and it felt great. The steering became more responsive although, once again, if I went too far it would stall, become ineffective and the drag would slow the whole process.

So as the sun got lower, we played with this whole process a few more times before calling it a day. It was a very interesting little trial and as expected, we learnt a great deal. We will definitely do more towing trials in the days to come and we will start getting a bit more scientific about it all.

It was great to bring VESTAS Sailrocket back to the slipway all wet, pull her up the ramp and then hose her down.

She’s a water creature now. It brought back a distant memory of letting the ducklings go onto the dams for the first time where we grew up. You could feel their joy as a massive piece of their instinctive jigsaw fell into place, “Ahhh, that’s what I am”! Well VSR2, there is still one big piece to add, your wing. That might even go on today.

The whole day made me realise that we are now at the start of a very long leg of the whole journey. The new boat has very little about it that is intuitive, even to someone who has sailed a lot in her predecessor. It will take a lot of patience, practice and understanding to make it all work. Of course there will be issues but I know that these will not be insurmountable. The reward is there waiting for us at the end and problems that seem big on the day will quickly diminish in the big picture. The process of overcoming these obstacles is a big part of the whole challenge so it must be part of our own personal perception of ‘fun’ I guess. I must remind myself of that from time to time.

So party people, here we are. We are now properly back in action. Let the fun begin.

Cheers, Paul.

4 comments

Getting closer to the water... but wet nonetheless!

Wed, 20 Apr 11 12:11

Yesterday was a hot and sunny day where the wind built early. It had all the trademarks of a classic, pumping Walvis Bay day. We wheeled the boat out from the tent and began to get the feel of the new trolleys and general ground handling. This included wheeling it down to the launch ramp to make sure it all fits as it should. Everything went surprisingly well and I'm confident that we can do it safely with the wing on in a fair bit of wind. It was so close to the water that it was tempting just to push it all the way in.

Now, three things have changed from this scene above as against 18 months ago. The Yacht club has gone from red to blue, there is a brand new Orange boat instead of a hammered old black one... and Mari is about 1' taller and now lives on a boat!

So we are finishing off all the little details to protect the boat from the ensuing onslaught of corrosion. An outing on Thursday morning is still looking good... or was... until around midnight last night when a belting wind came across Walvis Bay that had us all running outdoors. We jumped in the car and headed down to the Yacht Club to make sure that the tent and boat were ok. There was lightning everywhere and the air was heavy. The tent seemed fine and the boat flashed orange with each huge lightning strike. We drove out to the water and sat in the car to watch natures firework display. The lightning was all around Walvis Bay but not hitting it directly. Fat drops of water began to fall and the wind dropped. We watched the lightning for about half an hour and then headed home as the rain increased. It virtually raned all night... and is still raining now, midday the following day. This is very unusual for a place that can go a year without i.e. They don't even have drains in the main street so the water just pools everywhere.

So todays job list that involves laminating on the boat has been forcefully delayed. One of these jobs is the fitting of the steering box. I think we can get by that for now. I still want to keep things on track so will simply have to get creative.

I've never seen this place rain like this. Of course, having come from the UK, we are getting the blame from the locals for bringing the rain! We keep on working in it expecting it to stop... but it's not. All the rivers will probably start running again in earnest. Oh well, good for the grass I guess. Let's see if we can still get out tomorrow.

Cheers, Paul

0 comments

Vestas Sailrocket 2 starts eyeing the water

Mon, 18 Apr 11 21:50

We are now 3.5 days in since the container doors were opened and VESTAS Sailrocket 2 was released into the Walvis Bay speed-sailing wilderness. We have spent that time getting all the basic facilities organised and finishing off the trolleys to make actually getting from the container to the the water a safe and reliable process. The new boat is bigger and heavier... and hence is more cumbersome. With the beam and the rig now at the back of the boat, the whole rig raising process will need to be changed. We could probably do it out on the water if we wanted to spend a lot of time setting up all the little systems and procedures to make this possible but I am going to start by simply pulling the whole nose of the boat up on the beach until the back floats are also aground. This way we can all walk around the boat and it will be very stable. Throughout this process we need to protect the front mounted rudder and the rear foil so we need to have special cradles made to suit. This will be different from the launch trolleys. The truth is that we won’t really know until we try some of these methods. For starters I simply want to do things simply and reliably with as little risk as possible.

The wind has been blowing in a manner that would suit our current agenda i.e. not too much... but enough. There haven’t been any record breaking days recently...but that’s not what we are here for yet.

BEN MAKES FRONT RIGGING CRADLE WHICH WILL PROTECT THE RUDDER WHEN WE LIFT THE BOW ON TO THE BEACH. HE HAS HAD TO REACQUAINT HIMSELF WITH POLYESTER RESIN.

JEFFRO PADS UP THE NEW LADDER. THE NEW BOAT SITS MUCH HIGHER THAN VSR1 AND WE NEED A LADDER TO GET IN TO THE COCKPIT. WE ARE TRYING TO PREVENT SCRATCHES FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE...PERHAPS SWEEPING BACK THE TIDE.

JONNY AND PAUL TRY OUT THE NEW/PROTOTYPE INTERPHONE INTERCOM SYSTEM FOR THE TWO CREW AND FOR BOAT TO SHORE COMMS.

PAUL LIES INSIDE THE TAPERING FUSELAGE OF VSR2. SETTING UP THE COMPLICATED RIGGING WHICH WILL ALLOW THE BOAT TO BE STEERED AT LOW SPEED BY SWINGING THE BEAM FORE AND AFT AND TO RAISE AND LOWER THE RIG FROM THE COCKPIT.

So the plan is pretty much to get all the platform systems (without the wing) functioning so that we can do some basic launching and tow tests behind the RIB. The idea is to test the launching trolleys and get the new team members familiar with the procedure. With the tow tests we can also get an idea of the ‘hump drag’ of the basic platform i.e. how much force it takes simply to get the boat up and planing on its floats. It will also be interesting to see how the much response we get from the small front rudder at sub 25 knot speeds. Many of these things will obviously change drastically once we add a big wing sail to the equation... but you always see some things that are interesting, unexpected and often relevant. Once we are happy with all the platform trials we will put the wing onto the boat and start doing some static tests outdoors. Once again we will get everyone familiar with the systems and their individual roles in the procedures. The next step will be to take her down to the water on a clam day and rig her up in front of the Walvis Bay Yacht Club. Once we are happy that we can basically handle the rig in a secure manner, either upright or laying down, we will tow her across to speed-spot, pull her up the beach and begin doing some trials in some breeze. We need to make sure that the new wing is as balanced as she is supposed to be. We need to see how well she ‘feathers’ i.e. how well she de-powers when we release the mainsheet. The last wing on our first boat was a bit of a ‘monster’ in this area! If all goes well here... then my friends... I reckon it will be time to go sailing. And you have no idea how nice it is to even to begin to be talking about this.

So, I reckon that we should be doing the towing tests on Wednesday night if it’s calm... or Thursday Morning if Wednesday night is windy. If this goes well then I reckon the rig trials will begin on the weekend. It will probably be around the middle of next week before we can actually go sailing but I am throwing in a random weather contingency there. It could be sooner or later. As I said in an earlier blog, I’m in no hurry to get to the scene of our first crash... but I am very keen to go sailing so I won’t delay the decision for any longer than is necessary.

A couple of days ago, Hiskia and I launched the new RIB and went across to speed-spot. It felt like I was there last week. I went and checked out the timing hut which is our office/home/shelter/HQ when we are on speed-sailing action stations. It was in a very sorry state and was obviously missing our attentions. It will be a good half days work for the whole team just to ‘re-float’ it above the sands. The only foot prints inside it were those of wandering jackals. It will be fine and I look forward to setting her right again. That little ‘sugar cube’ sits out there and watches over that magic mile day in and day out like a guardian. It is our only sanctuary in that harsh environment and for now we are pretty much its only custodians. This means it will probably be bright orange when we leave ‘heh heh’!

Cheers Paul.

1 comments

VESTAS Sailrocket 2... meet Africa.

Fri, 15 Apr 11 23:09

Today was agreat day. A special day. Today was the culmination of a lot of work by a lot of people who care about the adventure that is to follow.

Yesterday the 'Amber Lagoon' finally made it into Walvis Bay with our precious cargo onboard. Whilst things were being unloaded we re-arranged the container space at the Walvis Bay Yacht Club in anticipation of creating the space required for the new boat.

Right now, at this stage of the game, I'm pretty happy about where we are at. With that comes awareness and appreciation of every little achievement. Just seeing the ship come into port with VSR2 on it is a cool thing,

seeing the truck come around the corner with the new boat is a cool thing... and opening the container doors and seeing nothing broken is a very, very cool thing. I guess it stems from knowing what we have had to do to reach this stage of witnessing the evolution of a new boat. This location is the same and yet here we are with a new boat crafted from everything we have learnt before. This new boat should be the solution to all our previous problems. That's the vision... the dream... yet just less than a kilometer away is speed-spot. A perfect example of cold, hard, emotionless, reality. I tell myself that this is all just a question of physics but it is hard to separate the emotion that is a part of, almost a requirement of such an effort. To deny the emotion would be to deny your humanity. So, at times like this I embrace it. Later on when we get right down to business it will be controlled and the emphasis will go back to physics.

So the doors came open and everything arrived in perfect order. Helena left shortly after to pick up the rest of the team who had also just arrived at Walvis Bay Airport. Hiskia and I began burrowing into the heaped container and were well into it when Ben, Jonny and Jeffro arrived fresh of a long flight. Here we all were with a great adventure ahead. Happy days.

Well we did a quick catch up and then ripped into the job at hand. The old tent went up as it has so many times before. After the boat itself and perhaps the support RIB, this would be the next most important piece of equipment in the project. It protects the boat and wing from the punishing winds and weather of Walvis Bay night and day. If it is neglected and comes apart then its flapping destruction will probably take the wing with it whilst we sleep at night. This one is getting tired. We will see how it fares with the shapes of the new boat and make a decision as to its future.

Of course it was a joy to get the new boat out. I still think fondly of the old one and what a magnificent job it did... but now it's time to pour everything into the new one. It's time for its story to unfold.

I was pretty happy at how much we got done today. It's such a luxury for us to have a good solid team around us who are all as keen as we are to see this thing work. Ben has been part of the build of this boat from the very beginning, he knows every part intimately. Hiskia has been with us from our first run with VSR1 and every run thereafter. He helped us withe the scale model tests for this new boat 18 months ago and we brought him to England to see the build a year ago. He knows where this boat came from and what it has to do.

This is Jeff's second time down here and he helped us on our last record attempt when we pushed VSR1 to the limits. He has also followed the build of VSR2 closely. For Jonny this is his first time down at the coal-face. We have been neighbours throughout the build but friends for a far longer time. It will be fun to welcome him into a side of sailing that he has never experienced before.

At the end of today, everything was thrown together in an organised manner. The ice was broken and tomorrow we will begin on a long job list that focuses purely on safe sailing. I am in no hurry to get to the scene of our first wipe-out. We have a clever boat here but it will need some care before it can reveal just how clever it is.

VSR2 will spend her first night outside and that first night will be under the Southern Cross. She will have to become acquainted with Africa as we hope that together they will do great things.

A nice feed and a few beers were had as we introduced the 'new guys' to The Raft. Now that's a great pub!

Tomorrow, we really get into it.

A big thankyou must go to both Peters and May (especially Sarah) for... well, for just doing the job they say they can do. It is appreciated. Also to Eddie from Transworld here in Namibia who also just made s**t happen the minute the ship hit the port. To make this all happen so smoothly takes 'do'ers'. Too many companies just take and don't care. It's a pleasure to see some real, heartfelt effort.

After a day like to day you realise how many people it has taken to make this happen... to just get us here. This has not been a story of cash changing hands. I love it when people get involved because they realise it's a real challenge and adventure and that they don't have to sit on the fence and watch it pass by.

I promise we'll make it worth it.

Cheers, Paul

4 comments

Back in the 'Bay'

Wed, 6 Apr 11 19:04

So, I sit here writing this with the laptop living up to its name. Over my toes the African sun sets over "speed-spot". There is no wind and it's deathly quiet. In the depths of the silence you can here the distant surf on a shore you can barely see. The bird-life in this place is amazing. Huge flocks wheel in the distance, Pelicans settle for the night on a spit that will soon be submerged... but no flamingoes.

One drive down the main street and it feels like we never left. A hard 16 months of boat building just seems to disappear. It's actually quite surreal to be back. We have so many emotion charged memories attached to this place.

Things have changed though. I don't feel in awe of that amazing mile sitting opposite me now despite the beatings it has handed out. As a project, we have matured a great deal whilst speed-spot reamins the same as the day we first arrived. We understand it now. I feel we have its measure. I respect it and am ready for a real battle... it's hard to descibe... I guess I just believe in the outcome.

The Ship carrying VESTAS Sailrocket 2 was due to arrive tomorrow. I found out today that it will in fact be a week late. Apparently it has some "rain sensitive cargo" onboard and had to park up off Portugal for some time to wait for suitable weather! It's annoying because they didn't inform us or our shipping agents. Well, there is nothing we can do about it. Helena and I are here to sort out cars, houses, internet etc for when everything and everyone else arrives. We are constantly looking for a deal to make this whole thing affordable. These are funny times in the big picture of the global economy. No-one is immune. You can clearly see the effects down here. Inflation is coming and if you don't pay real attention then things blow-out quite quickly. We have to remain 'goal orientated'. What do we really need to get this job done. It's not a holiday we are after but a world record.

I like coming back here. The whole place is our arena. This is where our dreams will be realised. It sits and waits patiently for when we ourselves are ready to succeed.

I feel calm.

A new boat custom built for this beach is coming this way at a steady 16.3 knots. It was somewhere off Senegal this morning. It will arrive and we will apply all that we have learnt to try and make it realise its potential. What happens between now and then is all part of an unfolding story that we are happy to openly share right here.

We have brought a few more tools with us to try and bring you all closer to the action.

The boat is due in on the 13-14th.

Cheers, Paul.

8 comments

The 'eye of the storm'...

Mon, 14 Mar 11 17:35

Off she goes! After yet another very busy week, we have just seen the new boat on her way to Namibia. We spent the week pulling her all apart and preparing her new home in the container. She goes from being a pampered pet living indoors to being a beast of burden that lives outdoors. Walvis Bay provides so many of the key ingredients that we need, but composite boat building facilities are not one of them. We have to take it all with us.

Whilst loading up, one satisfying moment was when I noticed that one large, defiant bottle of champagne that we never got to drink sitting in the new container. It was the big bottle only to be opened when we got the outright record. It went on ice many times but survived every time. Well I'd like to think that the cork didn't feel so smug and secure when the new, bright orange hull sidled in alongside. Only one of those two items will be coming back from Namibia!

So as we prepared the container, Simon and the boys from COSWORTH came in and finished putting the 'nervous system' into the boat in the form of the data-loggers, load sensors and associated displays. The two boats sat side by side in the shed. The general feeling of moving on began to envelope along with the associated feelings of sadness. We have spent 16 months working here alongside the VESTAS R+D employees and they have been great. I think they too felt proud of the boat at that launch. Some of them were there when we started the first boat way back in 2002 and have followed the whole journey from the first sweep of the broom. We share a journey. I made a small plaque which we stuck in the cockpit. It says 'REDUX ROCKET 08/03/11' after the building where we all worked and the launch date. I got Mick, Dave and Richy to stick it on. Here's a few pics from the last week.

THINGS HAVE MOVED UP AND ON.

MICK, RICH, ME AND DAVE WITH THE SMALL PLAQUE IN THE COCKPIT WHERE I CAN SEE IT.

RICH CARTER FROM VESTAS DID THE FINE JOB OF FAIRING THE BEAST. HE DID A GRAND JOB ON SOME DIFFICULT SHAPES. I THINK THE RESULTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

1 RIB, 1 ROCKET AND 1 RIG. NOW... LET THE REAL CRAMMING SESSION BEGIN.

IAN AND JOHN FROM BLADERUNNER SHIPPING. MIGHT AS WELL BE SPONSORS AS THEY HAVE BEEN SO HELPFUL. PEOPLE LIKE THIS JUST MAKE STUFF HAPPEN EFFORTLESSLY.

LOADED...

AND THERE SHE GOES, WITH THE OLD CONTAINER ON THE RIGHT AND THE REDUX SHED ON THE LEFT. ONE ROCKET AIMED DIRECTLY AT 'SPEED SPOT', WALVIS BAY. TRAVEL SAFE.

It was with great relief to us that PETERS and MAY stepped up to take on the shipping. We worked with them with the previous boat and I have recollections of having issues with Namibian customs whilst I was out in the middle of Namibia somewhere with a sketchy phone connection. I made a quick call to Sarah and knew that the problem would be taken on and resolved as quickly as possible without the responsibility getting handed around. They take on the problem and stay on it until it is resolved. I like that and it is a desrved plug of a good and genuine service.

Also worth mentioning was Tim from MARINEWARE in Southampton who opened up late on a Sunday to make sure the container left with a stock of 5mm foam core (my mistake Tim, I owe you a beer or two).

So, away she went. When I mentioned it to Norman during a phone call regarding the next Little Americas Cup, he was the one who gave this blog its title. He commented that now that the container has gone that it must feel like the eye of the storm in that we have just come through one big drama and can enjoy the calm momentarily before we are deep into it again. Well, either way, I will try and enjoy the calm.

We set to cleaning up the shed and cleaning out the old container. It is like a shrine to the first boat. Every box, shelf and corner is full of memories. I am slightly romantic about the past I guess but this is the time to move on and hence it was tme to clear out. Now that we know that the first boat is destined to be a museum piece, we threw out every unnecessary piece. Only the bare essentials remain. We haven't scavenged a thing off the old boat. Everything is still there to enable her to be rigged and even sailed if push came to shove. I want her to stay entire for as long as possible. The container will now also be shared by as many of the moulds from the new boat as we can fit in there. No moulds will be thrown out until the new boat arrives safely in Namibia.

I have to admit to a slightly nauseous feeling to be cleaning out so much. We have all done it whether it be moving house, changing jobs or just moving on. Some people do it effortlessly. I do it a lot I guess... but not effortlessly. We dug up some real treasures from the very beginning and did put a few of the better ones aside. Yep, it's time to move on.

We owe so much to those that have helped us get to this stage. We aim to repay every one by giving this our absolute best 'no excuses' effort. That big bottle is toast!

Cheers, Paul

6 comments

Live from a fine champagne hangover...

Wed, 9 Mar 11 17:10

Post launch greetings to all.

Well, yesterday was brilliant and firstly I want to give thanks to all those who helped the whole day go off smoothly. Although we had planned to do a trial launch a few days earlier, the timing wasn't right and the tide was out. We did do a trial hoist with a crane and Mark Lloyd took a heap of great photos, which you can see in the Gallery. For that trial there wasn't a breath of wind so we were a bit nervous on the launch day as there was a little bit of breeze about.

These days always get busy and there are so many great friends and supporters gathered. You want to go and have a good chat with them all but don't always get the chance. It's great just knowing your friends are there.

A launch is a great focal point of a project. You have reached a significant milestone on a long journey. You let your new creation realise what it is by introducing it to the water for the first time. Seeing our new boat risks having a big identity crisis, it's about time we started giving her some solid hints.

We made some speeches at the start with our first boat sitting fully rigged on one side and the new boat hiding under a big spinnaker on the other side. It gave me a lot of confidence to have the first boat there. The new boat is ambitious, no doubt about it. That first boat sat there like our teams degree in speed sailing. The time came for us to stop talking and reveal the new boat for the first time. I was aware how quiet everyone was as the covers came off. I guess it's quite a creation to take in. We lifted the boat and turned her around under the crane before raising the new wing. The naming honours were given to Finn Strom Madsen from VESTAS. Finn is the head of VESTAS R+D globally and has been right behind us and the new boat right from the start. It was a pleasure to see the fine Pol Roger champagne hit that lovely carbon bow.

Pol Roger gave us a big help with supplying the great champagne. If there is one thing I believe in at a launch it's having a plentiful supply of ice cold, top quality champagne. These builds can be long drawn out processes and you owe it to everyone who has helped make it happen. You can also use it as an incentive reward to make the crane driver to pay attention.

The time came and up she went. It was high tide in the Medina. With Cowes basking in the spring sunshine as a backdrop she left my grasp and swung out over the water before being lowered gently in. We all clapped and just absorbed the moment. Although it wasn't part of the plan, I got Matty to come over in the RIB and pick me up. I had to climb in her to see how the bow would sit... actually, that's a lie... I just wanted to sit in her on the water full stop. As I climbed in and out of the cockpit I wondered how many adventures we would now be having in this new setting. When will that day finally come when I can climb out of that cockpit knowing that a world record is in the bag? I could feel the boat being pulled around by the small gusts so I jumped back in the rib and we lifted her out. It was with great relief that she was lowered gently back onto the shore. That was it. We had launched the boat. The UK had delivered us a gorgeous day and the champagne flowed. The crane drivers left with their champagne rewards.

We answered some questions to the crowd and just enjoyed the moment. There were many so many people there who had been touched by the project over the years and it was great to catch up with them all. So many of them had helped us at critical times... even if only with a well placed bit of encouragement. I felt a lot of good will on the day. I think everyone knows that we are not going to have an easy ride and we haven't been given this on a platter.

Some of the girls from Offshore Challenges had come down to lend a hand with the hospitality that they do so well and the boats were being handled by various members of the sailing team over the years. Everyone was having fun and it all just rolled along effortlessly. As the crowd slimmed down we began packing the two boats away, I wondered if they will ever be together again? We rolled the two boats inside for the night. If boats do have souls as we sailors believe they do, then I would like to think that the old boat is proud of the new boat on her big day... not jealous.

As the guys who have worked at VESTAS beside us during the build began to knock off from work, we would pull them over for a glass of champagne. They know what the day meant to us.

Just before dark I was the last one there. I just stood on that empty apron and looked across to Cowes. What a crazy journey this has been. I put the here-and-now moment in the big picture of my life and it all just sort of hit me. For a moment there I was overwhelmed.

As I left to catch up with the others I called some of those who had come on the day and thanked them for... well, for everything. I called Hiskia in Namibia and told him about the big day. We will be with him soon. The boat gets shipped out next Monday and in a month Hiskia will see a slightly more serious launch as she touches the waters of the main arena... Walvis Bay.

So a new leg of the journey begins. On behalf of all the team I am delighted to welcome you all along for the ride. Anything can and probably will happen. We don't expect it to be easy and we know the kiteboarders are very worthy competition. They are all going to be gunning it to stay at number one. It's very difficult to know what they have left in the tank. I personally expect them to be hitting 60 one day. We will have to learn to walk again here. Hopefully it won't be as painful as it was with the first boat.

Happy days.

Cheers, Paul.

7 comments