Hi all,
The winds already blowing here and VESTAS SAILROCKET is locked and loaded.
We've already raised the rig once today just to check all the instrumentation and associated calibrations. The new strain guages are in place on the rear skeg. We have performed a test calibration on them and they seem to be giving good solid feedback.
Brad arrived yesterday from the UK so we have a full sailing team here. The wind has started earlier than usual but is forecast to be in the region we are after.
Overall the boat seems to be in pretty good shape. I've changed a few of the cockpit controls which should make things ALOT easier to manage in a situation. I've taken the wing control lines off the pedastal between my knees and moved the cleats to the underside of the deck back near the front edge of the cockpit cut out. The three lines which control...
A/ the main wing flap bungee (which forces 100kg of load into the flap to pull it to a negative angle of approx. 12 degrees. This negative flap angle prevents the rest of the wing from going to a negative angle and compressing back into the beam. This compressive scenario has been the major cause of damage to VSR).
B/ the flap bridle line which sheets the main flap on . This bridle picks up on four of the main flap ribs. It is the last thing I sheet on... after the low speed rudder is kicked up and I am fully lined up on the course. It can only be sheeted on once I have taken off the flap bungess... otherwise the two would be fighting each other.
C/ the mainsheet... this controls the angle of the wing. I actually no longer hold this down the course as I am holding the other two in my free right hand. If I just dump the main without deploying the flap and bungees first... then the wing will go negative, backwind... and fold the beam.
So there it is... three ropes in cleats in a line in front of me. The ropes fall very easy to hand and can't get shaken out of the way during a rough run.
One of the problems we are dialling out is that the main flap was deployed too negative which meant that it would effectively sheet the wing on aerodynamically when deflected. I could let the mainsheet go and the wing would keep sailing. There would be less power as it would pay out a little... but still enough to make VSR coast on for quite a while rather than stop. I am dialling the flap deployment angle back... but have to do it carefully as many other factors are at play. the wing is inclined around 33 degrees and the wing itself is tail heavy... so it wants to rotate into a sheeted on position. But there is an apparent wind speed where the aerodynamics will overcome the mass imbalance and this can be achieved in a number of scenarios i.e. The wing feathers well initially by sheeting out... but as the boat slows, the apparent wind drops, the mass imbalance comes into play more... and the wing begins to sheet on. We still have to play with this. The main thing is that it never goes negative.
Righto, I have to go tinker some more with the back of the bus. The winds hanging in there. Fingers crossed. I want to come out of the corner swinging for this next round. This next three month period will be the last one for VESTAS SAILROCKET as we know it now. If it doesn't deliver this time... then it's time to reconsider what we are doing. It would by no means warrant the end... but perhaps the consideration of a new beginning based on what we have learnt. Anyway, we'll worry about that later. We still believe that we can crack this with what we have and will do our utmost to make this the case.
Let's see what the day brings.
Cheers, Paul.
p.s. I'll look into the possibility of e-mailing out blogs to those who subscribe. I hate all this registration rubbish... but we hate spammers even more... so it's a necessary evil I'm afraid.