Yesterday was yet another very long and busy day getting everything ready for the launch.

The container carrying our first boat arrived a few days ago as we plan to have the two boats fully rigged next to each other on the day. We pushed the first boat on her flat tyres into the big VESTAS R+D shed and fitted the beam to the hull. She's like an AK-47 compared to the new boat. Everything fits nice and easily... almost loose. I'm so used to working on the new boat now that I can put the old one in perspective. with little time to ponder we went back to the other shed and began fussing over the new, young glamour.

A few hours later we had pushed her around so that both boats sat together. The Mk1 looks like a push-bike sitting next to a Moto GP bike! The new boat just looks absolutely incredible. I look at the cockpit of the first boat and sort of can't believe she was so damned fast. The things we made that boat do... aye yi yi. Putting the two together makes me all the more fond of the first boat. The new kid on the block has a lot of work to do until she can earn anywhere near the respect I have for that first boat. I know if I spent a few days working on the first boat, I could climb back in that cockpit and do 50 knot runs all day. I would like to say how much I like her elegant simplicity but the truth is that she became quite fiddly and intricate in the end. The new boat will be a lot better all round.

For those of you who liked the first one... you are going to love this next one. It's insane. Big, bold and very ambitious.

I don't care who you are or what you are on, if you were on the same speed course as this thing, you wouldn't want to start in front of it.

Today we are doing a full load test on the main foil. We had a few detail build issues and we want to be confident that they haven't affected the strength. The foils are mainly built around stiffness criteria i.e. so they don't flex too much under load. The load we put onto this today will equate to a speed where other parts of the boat will have failed long before. Full load testing is always a nerve- wracking affair.

Five days to go now until we launch. Their is a possibility that we might jump through a nice little weather window before these cold North Easerlies get wiped by the next SW front. There is a calm patch of no-wind-blue-skies in the transition. Right now they are saying this will be right on our launch day. Of course things can change... but the chance is there and I'm sort of feeling lucky.

Cheers, Paul