It was a pleasure to return to the water yesterday with a view to going sailing. Conditions were light and the tide was running out... but we decided to have a go anyway.

As we launched VESTAS SAILROCKET on the Walvis Bay Yacht Club slipway a small pod of dolphins came around the corner only meters away. They escorted us out into the lagoon lazily swimming around and under the boat in the shallow water before cruising slowly off to deeper water. Brad mentioned that he thought it was good karma for what is to follow with the new steering system... I'd like to think this was true... but our past has ripped such romantic notion from me. There is no magic, only our ability to understand the facts and apply our knowledge to the situations at hand. Some times, if we have worked dilligently and are prepared for an opportunity... it all falls into place. Sometimes it goes the other way.

Quietly I was happy to have the dolphins accompany us out.

We set up quickly to make the most of the falling tide. Brad bet me a bottle of rum that I wouldn't be able to get VESTAS SAILROCKET up and going in the light winds. It was only gusting to 16 knots and generally around 14-15. There were a number of things I wanted to try out beside just going sailing at speed. One of the tests was to see what the low speed response of the new single rudder steering system was going to be like. We had limited the rudder range to plus and minus 15 degrees. The last low speed rudder could deflect to almoist 30 degrees... but it had to work against the fixed skeg.

So we headed out on Run 58 with all systems up and running. The boat seemed very reluctant to turn up onto the course and I had to ease the wing further than normal to make the pod sail out around the outside and assist the turn. This becomes easier in stronger winds. The foot steering controls are now reversed to tie in with the hand steering setup. A couple of times I found myself reverting to the old inputs and having to rethink my inputs. With practice it should become more natural. The fact is that there is no right or wrong way to set up the foot steering as many different craft use different inputs i.e. an aircraft and a landyacht or billycart. I used to push with the right foot to go right but now I push with the left to turn the foot pedastal with my left foot to orientate the boat to the right. I used to fly ultralight aircraft that would steer on the ground with the front wheel in the same way... I just have to remember what I'm strapped into!

As VESTAS SAILROCKET jumped up onto its new rear planing surface I radioed to Brad that he owed me a bottle of rum. The bear away went well and I cruised down the course peaking at 28.6 knots. The steering felt lovely but then it always does at these low speeds. All of the systems we have trialled work well below the mid thirties. We called it a day after one run having seen what we needed to see. next up was to download all the run data and check that all the secondary systems were working as expected.

recently we had uncovered a serious problem affecting the quality of the data recorded on each run... and every run we have recorded since its installation. It's an area that continually frustrates me and I still find it amazing that we are the ones who are constantly left to finish the work of other supposed experts-in-their-field. Still... we will work through it and all come out the wiser. We are a team and must keep working to maintain thius aspect as it will be what ultimately leads to our success. Whilst someone may get their wrists slapped today, they may solve our woes tomorrow. Go the team.

Today looks like it will be windier so we will try and raise the game a notch and head into the dreaded mid thirties.

Cheers, Paul.

Hi all,

So another page turns as we put the design and build of the new steering system behind us. Yesterday We  got up before dawn to conduct some towing tests. It was a real pleasure to be pulling on the Musto drysuits rather than a white dust suit.

The RIB was launched and VESTAS SAILROCKET followed. As with all new systems, the devil was in the detail. Whilst the main body was largely finished a week ago, we spent another week making sure we got the quality and precision we wanted at the start. The new setup looks fantastic but the proof will be in the testing!

Here you can see how the new rudder is tucked under the new extended aft planing surface. This should greatly reduce the onset of ventilation. The aft planing surface is tapered towards the back to give a slightly softer ride and provide a more 'pressed' foot print in the water so as to help prevent air from reaching the foil. It will not be as efficient as the wider, higher aspect planing surfaces but we will get to that later. The priority is on control.

So the tow testing went well and our attention to detail paid off. We had some issues with the correct bridle system for the tow but generally I found the system a pleasure to use. The new steering concept relies on a unique method where the one action gives a ramped response to the rudder. In the central position, + or - 4 cm of action fore and aft on the hand/foot steering will only move the rudder about 2/3rds of a degree. As we leave that range fore and aft, the response gets ramped up so that at + and - 10cm of range we get 30 degrees of rudder response for low speed manouvering. I will wait to see how it performs in the arena before I go on too much about how this was achieved, needless to say.... nothing is easy.

I am pretty happy with what we have achieved in a relatively small amount of time and many people deserve thanks. George has done an immense amount of work and the quality of the finished product is a direct result of this. the guys at Brumar Turning Services here in Walvis have been brilliant as was UWE Jasperson at JAZ Marine in Capetown.

Here we are doing a run down the speed course in somewhat lighter conditions. We are doing around 25 knots.

Paul, George and Hiskia.

After the tow testing we moved on to static load testing where we applied around 225 kg of side load to the system from both sides. Whilst I know it could take a lot more... it really shouldn't unless something goes wrong and it needs to drag us out of danger in a hurry.

So after all these boxes were ticked we used the new jig and laser system to verify that all the dimensional accuracies were maintained from our initial setup after a full dynamic and static system workout. Everything was fine.  We went for a beer.

A funny thing happened in our local bar/restaurant last night when an old friend just walked in. None other than Tracy Edwards. It was through Tracy's Maiden campaign that Helena and I met. When Maiden parked up back in 2002, I focused all i had on building Sailrocket. Tracy helped us out a lot with accommodation in Southampton back in those early days. It was a freak encounter and great to see her.

Today we began reassembling the wing. It began blowing early and hence was obvious that we were going to be blown out. I decided to leave the wing inside the container for another day. Our time will come. The boat is ready but we will try the new system out on milder days initially. It offers so much promise and improvement that it makes me nervous. I don't like to think too much about it so as to remain impartial to what is to follow.

The next couple of days are also set to be windy... but we will see. We are all very keen to see the fruits of our labour. It was with great pleasure that we packed up early today and headed home to do the office work. I fell asleep and sleapt throughout the afternoon. It's the first fully relaxed time we have had since the crash.

So we are effectively back in action. the kiters look set to have a couple of big days ahead of them in Luderitz and Hydroptere is back in the water in the Med. Haven't heard a peep from Wotrocket but a little birdy told me that the Macquarrie Innovations boys will be back in action soon... so it's all go.

Cheers, Paul.

Hi all,

We've been very busy down here at Walvis Bay putting together the new control package. We have done all we can to keep to our timescale. I said I wanted to be ready to hit the water next Monday. We may miss this by a day or two but that will only be due to the level of static and tow testing we will endeavour to do before sailing. The back end of the boat has been completely modified. There will not be one single component from any of the previous systems onboard. New foils, bearings, planing surfaces, brackets, control rods... everything!

This system has been thoroughly engineered from start to finish and modelled extensively in Malcolms calculations for a number of realistic and extreme scenarios.

It is however a new and unique method of steering so we will tread cautiously at first. There will be very little 'feel' or force feedback when we are operating at high speed. This is due to the gearing that is necessary to give me fractions-of-a-degree control inputs.

New team member, George Dadd, has been putting in an enormous amount of work down here to model and spec the system. He works until three in the morning and then I get him up at breakfast to go through what he has done and begin correcting or implementing it. We are pushing him pretty hard but I think he is really enjoying it. Coming straight from Southampton University... this is one hell of an assignment he has to hand in. Speed-spot can be a tough teacher!

We have been supported by some real champions through this process. Uwe Jasperson at JAZ MARINE in Capetown has once again sorted us out with the special bits we can't source locally. Uwe has had new rudder moulds and some key metalwork components CNC'd up to the tolerances we require. He did it all in record time and it will be with us tomorrow. I love it when I deal with that level of efficiency and response. In these parts it's a real luxury. Next is Jose at BRUMAR TURNING SERVICES in Walvis Bay who has taken on all the machining of key parts. George has taken up residence in his office to feed him drawings and specs. The tolerances are going to be fine and there are quite a few pieces. Finished pieces are already emerging and once again it's a pleasure to work with pleasant, efficient proffesionals. Jose has built parts of previous systems and even opened up on weekends to do so... he's been one of our best local supporters.

Meanwhile...the kite/wind surfers are tearing up the speed course in Luderitz a few hundred kilometers south. It was a super windy day here two days ago which means it was windier down there. They have made a speed course that satisfies the minimum depth requirements (50cm) for a ratified course and are already posting some pretty rapid runs. They had winds of 40 knots from the perfect angle and managed some 45+ knot runs. It takes a lot of energy to get these guys up to these speeds. Once again they will be banking everything on that 'perfect' day and if it comes... well, I think we all know that they have the skills and balls to do the job. From our perspective... I can honestly say that I wish them well and that they deserve every success. We can only work as hard and fast as we can on our own project.

I'll post some photo's later today.

Cheers, Paul.

Hi all,

well as I sit here in a wind-embraced container on the coast of Africa, the vac pumps and hair dryers are whirring away in the background doing their magic on various pieces of composite. We can do these repairs now with our eyes shut. i actually don't want to make the repairs too strong as I would like to keep the damage contained... as this was. The beam is already mostly repaired as is the wing. We could be sailing within one week of the damage... but we won't be.

We will take this opportunity to do a full revision of the back of the boat. We would dearly love to get away from the complex and confusing system currently in place and move to something much simpler. We are looking ata variety of systems where we can use one rudder, slung under the rear planing surface to reduce ventilation, that can swing through 20 degrees for low speed work (foot steering) and then go to a 4 degree range (hand steering) for high speed work. That is a very brief summation of the variety of tasks it needs to perform. We are also considering having a temporary fixed skeg in place a safety system whilst we trial the new steering.

The fact is that we have never had a high speed round-up as long as we have had a fixed skeg in place. We have had reduced steerage through ventilation... but that has not resulted in smashed up boat. On Run 50 we had the Low-speed rudder tear off and take the skeg 'fixing' point with it... so we made the two systems fully independent. This time the aft planing surface tore off and took both systems out. Despite making 99% of the planing surface stronger... a weakness at the very leading edge lead to water getting between the hull and the planing surface and this tore it down. Normally this would ride higher and cleaner over 30 knots but due to the new shape... this wasn't the case... and here we are listening to vac pumps and hair dryers!!!

the good news is that our new team member 'Gorgeous' George has taken three months time out from Southampton University. He is here with us and right on the case of designing the new back end...and... malcolm is currently on a bus and only a few hours away from Walvis Bay. We are going to throw everything we have at getiing this boat to work. the back end is now a clean sheet of paper. firstly we will focus on reliable control. forget 50 for the moment... let's do 45 knot average runs with ease. Then 50 will come.

Cheers, Paul.