Hot as hell... and no wind!

Hi all. Not much to report from the sailing side as we haven't had any decent weather to get out since the first run over the 'hump' nearly a week ago.

The weather is described locally as 'East' weather meaning that it is likely that the East winds will blow down out of the high desert plateau's inland and cance out the normal South West winds. There is a battle going on between the two winds and quite often Walvis Bay is in the middle. The upside is that the days are hot and gorgeous. The downside is that what makes them so gorgeous is the lack of wind. It's braii weather.

Nonetheless we work on the boat every day to get it as ready as can be for the one or two good days that may fall into our lap. We only really have 8 possible sailing days left after which we have to pack up. If one of these days is a good one then we have to be ready to get out there and tick as many boxes as we can.

I want to see VESTAS Sailrocket 2 do reliable start ups and get easily into the 40 + speed range using the conventional foil. We should be able to see how stable she is as she gets faster, get a feeling for the steering and see how well all the systems work. If we are happy then we will do a quick pit-stop and switch in the high speed foil section for the main foil. Whilst we have made it over the low-speed hump, the next 'hump' will involve the performance of the high speed foil and how well it performs in the low to middle speed ranges. It will be fascinating to see how much wind that needs to really get tracking. If we can get that over 40 knots in winds around 22 knots... well, that will be the day I know we will have cracked it.

I have no true idea of how hard,easy or realistic this will be. We have our theory and list of options to assist us... but some of those are costly on many fronts i.e. whole new main foils and we want to be pretty sure of ourselves before we start ordering new ones. They aren't lollipop sticks. If we head back to Europe now not really knowing if the foils are any good then it adds another element of risk to our return session later in the year. We desperately want to get VSR2 up to its record setting potential this year so we want to be chasing high speeds asap.

Time is running out now and we need some weather related luck to fall into our ever optimistic laps.

Half the team are working full-time through the complex COSWORTH wiring system. So far we have the basics of Wing and rudder angles working but the strain guage logging system is proving to be.... errr... stubborn. Fortunately Jonny and Helena have a lot more patience than me with boat electronics so I have left them with it. It's all a bit of an uncertain mess now but once they have it sorted then it should get tidier.

The cockpit is starting to look very business like. We have the two Cosworth displays sitting to my left just inside the rim of the cockpit. The small diameter, quick release steering wheel has a multi function PTT (push to talk) button on it which activates a really cool comms system which we are helping  MOTOCOMP develop. Basically it gives an absolute first rate wireless, noise cancellation system based on the Interphone F4 units used on motorbikes (which gives very clear voice transmissions even in open face helmets up to high speeds and is pretty much waterproof). The units allow a full two way conversation between the crew which is clear as a bell... and for the pilot to link wirelessly with a VHF radio to transmit off the boat. The fact is that you are often in a windy environment when using marine VHF's and most noise/wind cancellation systems are crap, let alone wireless. This system works brilliantly and is crystal clear. We are just getting started with this. The fact is that this project is a great place to test these electronic products. If they can not only survive but excel in our environment... then I will happily recommend them to anyone. I look forward to having great comms on and off the boat at last.

Outside now, I can hear the small Dremel grinder gnawing away at carbon as Ben fits the front seat. All the control lines are now run forward into organisers either side of the steering wheel. It does look a bit weird. It looks like a racing car cockpit and yet it has all these ropes hanging out of it. Yacht, plane, race car.... what's not for a guy to like about this toy?

So tomorrow is forecast to be better, as is Tuesday. Fingers crossed  the good winds from the south west will triumph over the evil winds from the East;)

We're ready.

Cheers, Paul.