Here she comes... or does she?

As I write this in Walvis Bay, the new foil is post curing in an oven up in Bristol. Helena has a lot on in the UK tomorrow. If things go well at check-in then the foil will probably still be cooling down as it passes 30,000 feet.

Dan Emuss at Independent Composites has worked bloody hard on the foil and I’m sure he has done some nice work. I doubt he has had a day off since he started the job.  He’s done what he can to build them quickly whilst also refusing to do anything that might compromise the quality of the final piece. Thanks Dan.

The foil will be escorted down by Ben (who is joining us in Namibia as team boat builder for the second time). Ben was also one of our original boat builders who started VSR2 from scratch so it will be great to have him back. Hopefully he will get to see his handywork really do its stuff. It has been a real mission to try and get this foil down to Walvis Bay. We are trying to bring it down on a flight as sports equipment which is what it is. The trouble is that it only just sneaks inside the maximum dimensions. The bare foil weighs 31 kg and the maximum allowed weight is 32 kg (Funny how it just worked out like this). We barely have enough spare weight for packaging. I decided to send the foil 'raw' i.e. before it is faired/painted as this will make it lighter and we won’t be so worried if it gets a few little ‘dings’ on the way. The main part we have to protect is the Leading edge as this is pretty fine. Anything above the high-speed waterline I am not worried about. This thing is one tough, solid piece of carbon. It is also a pretty odd shape to handle being a 2 meter long ‘L’ shape. Despite it technically fitting inside many airplanes oversize luggage and sporting equipment criteria, many have flat refused to allow it onboard. It’s easier to say "no" than to try and help. South African airlines won’t allow it and British airways won’t either as it is 18 mm too long!!! VIRGIN Atlantic are the only ones that are being helpful with this one. The big problem with bringing it on a plane to Namibia is Johannesburg. It’s a nightmare. Everyone is warning us to avoid it like the plague. We have to go through there to get here and there is a real chance that you can arrive in Walvis Bay but your luggage can still be stuck in Jo’burg. They won’t put the foil on the small regional jets and by the sounds of it the road transport/cargo system is a warzone at the moment. Courier companies want a lot of money and I know they can be horribly unreliable in this part of the world. The foil could still end up stuck in the warzone chaos of Jo’burg. I’m over courier companies.

Sooooo we have resorted to Plan ‘G’. Helena picks the foil up tomorrow and delivers it to Ben at Heathrow. Hopefully VIRGIN will check it in as Sporting equipment (please, please, please). Ben is flying to Cape Town. The VIRGIN flight still goes to Jo’burg but hopefully the foil will get transferred onto the SAA flight for the final short leg to Cape Town. Virgin seems to think it will. So SAA will have to carry it anyway. From Cape Town the ‘G’ man kicks in. Gary will meet Ben and together they will drive all the way up to Walvis Bay (19-20 hours, 1000+ miles) with the foil on the roof of a Toyota Hilux. If all goes well then it should arrive by late Sunday afternoon. If not… well it could be anywhere between Heathrow check in and Cape Town.  We have looked into and tried every option. This is the safest and fastest… but still carries risk. It’s not here yet. Virgin will have a fan for life if they get this one through. Either way… at least you can communicate with them and they are trying.

That’s just the foil drama… there are a few others underway as well but I’m pleased to say that it is all seemingly coming together. We have lost a little time but many people have been working hard to help get their respective parts finished and down here for the first runs. The guys at SMD sensors have really gone for it with the custom pressure sensors we will be using on the foils to measure the air/vapor pockets. I hope they work. SMD seem to be genuinely excited about getting involved and it shows. The sensors were made in America on short notice and quickly shipped to the UK for final assembly. Simon from COSWORTH will pick the sensors up tomorrow and mate them to the data logging system we have onboard VESTAS Sailrocket 2. Helena will bring this little ‘nervous system’ down on Monday when she flies with the remaining loose ends.

As the foil has taken longer than we first expected, Alex and I haven’t been in a rush to fully rig VSR2. There is no need for the wing to be sitting outside getting covered in sand. It has been pretty windy and we have left the wing safely in the container. We have been re-skinning a few of the wing surfaces and generally doing maintenance jobs here and there. I haven’t even been for a windsurf yet as I am trying to push through all of the ‘loose ends’ and remain as reactive to any issues as possible. I figure we are going to have about 7 good weeks of sailing. This should be fine provided we have no big ‘shockers’. I think we will know quite quickly if the new foil is any good.

When Ben arrives we should be able to mount the new rudder. Here it is alongside the old rudder. It should be better on a number of fronts and be complimentary to the handling of the new foil.

THE WHITE LINE DRAWN ON THE OLD LARGER CARBON RUDDER IS THE HIGH SPEED WATER LINE AS IT COMES OFF THE FRONT PLANING SURFACE. THE NEW RUDDER IA AROUND 80% SMALLER AND IS MADE FROM HIGH STRENGTH ALLOY. IT ALSO HAS A FEW PROFILE MODIFICATIONS TO HOPEFULLY HELP IT THROUGHOUT THE SPEED RANGE. WITH THE STOCK IT WEIGHS 6KG WHILST THE LARGER SOLID CARBON ONE WEIGHS 4KG.

Assuming plan ‘G’ works and Ben and the ‘G’-man arrive on Sunday afternoon, I reckon we could be sailing by around Thursday next week. Ben will have to fill and fair some of the foil sections whilst we will fit the new rudder, the wing and all the strain gauges and pressure sensors. We will be very busy… but at this stage this is still an assumption. Between now and then… there is Jo’burg! As far as making plans go, customs and cargo via Jo’burg is a pretty big ‘wild-card’.

Let’s see what happens! (Come on Virgin, make it happen)

Cheers, Paul.