Sarasota Herald Tribune

For Fathers Day, our project was featured in the Sarasota Herald Tribune. Read the Article here.  The Observer also wrote an article, which can be found here.

Sarasota Sailfest Report

We had over twenty multihulls attend Sailfest, including five A Cats.  The A Cats were all of the "O" design by O.H. Rodgers.  Both mornings began with strong breeze before dying and shifting.  The first day was all about connecting the puffs and deciding when to go wild or when to go mild downwind. Sam and I both suffered at making this decision, but we applied what we learned from the first day to the second day.  Sam was fast downwind, particularly when the breeze was above 8 knots. Woody and O.H. were quick when the breeze was light, doing the mild thing. Even though the fleet was small, the racing was tight with the top three boats only being separated by two points after ten races. Sam took three races and I won two. I finished first, Sam finished second, and Woody Cope finished third. This was the first regatta that Sam and I both competed in, 14 months after we began building our boats. Here is the link to the results.

On the Water and Two Boat Testing

Two weeks ago, we were finally on the water and super pleased with the boat.  After a few minor setbacks, and some great time testing together, I'm getting up to speed, but we still have improvements to be made.  Thanks to Chris Dilling from Grafik Efx for hooking us up with an awesome paint job.

Sarasota Sailfest April 20th and 21st

Every Spring the Sarasota Youth Sailing Program hosts a youth regatta with opti, laser, and 420 classes.  In 2011, Multihulls were added and every year they have been welcomed back.  Usually it has just been the F18 and F16s, but if we can get 5 A cats then we will get a start and we already have two A cats in Sarasota.  It is also the weekend before the annual Gulfport Regatta. Here is the link to the online registration: http://www.regattanetwork.com/event/6521

Remember it benefits Sarasota Youth Sailing!

Update

It is 3 days before The Hall Spars Admirals Cup at Davis Island Yacht Club. I've been really busy, which limited boat work. However, we did make a spare daggerboard. It came out a little heavy because we used a symmetrical laminate rather than coring the bottom so it can be used as a spare for either side. We also gel coated the mold before the lay up which gave us a very nice finish.

New daggerboard sliders

The last daggerboard deck sliders didn't hold up as we had planned. This caused some damage to the bottom of the trunk. We made a new system and I bonded on a carbon piece to the deck that we made off of a mold. Then we made the sliders fit in the new deck piece.

Coconut Grove Sails and Canvas Invitational and Intergalactica

     I traveled down to attend the Invitational and Intergalactica in Islamorada on Saturday the 11th.  The Invitational was held on the 13th and 14th and we had beuatiful conditions of 15 knots and sunny. After battling with Tracy Oliver, who was sailing on a Barracuda, I emerged with a narrow victory.  Then Ben Hall, Ben Moon, Bailey White and a group from Atlanta showed up for the Intergalactica, which began on Thursday.  After a light day one I was winning a tie breaker with Bailey White for first.  Bailey sailed a DNA.  Friday brought breeze in the morning, which died to nothing in the last race.  Ben Moon, on a Nikita, won the day, but could not overcome Bailey on the DNA. I placed third after tying with Ben Hall, who used a Barracuda with flat sterns and L rudders.

    Overall it was a great experience and I met many good people.  It was a busy week sorting out issues with my boat and I would like to thank O.H. Rodgers for helping me with my repairs and Skip Kaub for donating carbon for a minor rudder head repair.  I also would like to thank O.H. for the use of his molds and the help along the way.  He designed a fast boat, which won all three races on the first day of the Invitational, Woody won the first two and I got the last one.  I went on to win two more the next day.  After some modifications, the next event is A class Midwinters at Davis Island Yacht Club.

from left to right: Tracy Oliver, Jeremy Herrin, Mike Krantz

Downwind in Breeze

Boat Start

Racing Downwind against Tracy

Paint and practicing

We recently painted the A cat made a modification to the starboard daggerboard. I have just been working on boat handling and getting comfortable on the trapeze downwind. Now I am off to Virginia for Christmas then in January is the Invitational and Intergalactica.

Almost there

I have sailed the boat about five times, each time in more breeze. The last time i sailed was in 17 to 21 knots and I trapezed downwind in the flat water. I could match the speed and angle of a viper f16 once up to top speed.
Now the boat is back at the house to finish. We are fairing everyday and plan on spraying paint this coming weekend. The starboard board needs more toe in. I cut off the bottom 4 in of the rudder also. I have also added a lower position on the mast for the forestays so I can put more bend in it upwind. There is 5 weeks until the events in Islamorada.

Sailing

Yesterday, I managed to go sailing finally since I have been busy sailing the f18.  The wind was too much to go sailing at first but backed off just enough to go out. I sailed for about 25 minutes before realizing I had cracked a rudder head, which altered the steering.  There was enough time to go upwind and downwind twice though.  The boat had excellent height upwind, but seemed to lack speed. Downwind the boat performed well and I even trapped a little.  I think the boards should be raked further forward though.

Rig up!

Today we made 2 rudder heads, tillers, and put the mast cup in. Then we raised the mast and I had to figure out all of the shroud lengths, making sure the rake was right with a level, and also checking the tension. Then I pushed up the sail. Tomorrow we should get 545 sprayed on it and hopefully I will sail it next week.

Update

We've made great strides in the last couple of weeks. Fairing is almost done, rudder head mould is complete, rig is here, and the boom is almost done. We will Make the rudder heads this week and finish aligning the boards so the boat can be measured.

Hung up

87 lbs, and we're ready to prime! Mast and sail will be here next week!  A special thanks to Michael Peters Yacht Design and Buckeye Sports Center, for becoming a part of the project, and to Harry Fendt for the photography.

Put Together

   Lots has been done the past few weeks.  We put together an alignment jig, glued the boat together, and taped most of the boat, (we're waiting for a few more feet.)  On a smaller scale, we built pieces for the traveler track to sink in flush and are currently working on building covers to the beam-hull joint to increase platform stiffness and aesthetic appeal.  The blue foam you see is shaped down and we will use it as a male mold, then will be ground it off.  The boat is really starting to look good and I'll post a few more shots as soon as all the fairing is done.

   Aside from all the boat building, we've been doing some sailing too.  A few of us from Sarasota Youth Sailing took out some of the more veteran cat sailors for a ride they wont soon forget!

Final result

After our disappointing first day with results of a 15 and 12 we realized we were no longer contending for a position at the front of the fleet. We set a goal to make mid fleet. The next day we moved to 12 with two 8th place finishes. The rest of the regatta we steadily moved up two positions a day averaging 8th place finished each day. The last 2 days we had to make many tactical decisions to beat the Irish and the Italians. The next to last day we did not perform, leaving us in 10th place with one race left and 3 points out of 8th place. The last race was light and we won the pin and showed great speed to the left and tacked with half the fleet from the left, only to get a huge right shift, but we found the Irish in last and Italians right behind us. The last upwind was very challenging with our competitors spreading out and shifty breeze. We rounded with one boat in between us and the Italians and Irish. We needed to pass 2 more boats downwind to secure 8th. We split opposite of the fleet and it paid, we crossed France, Norway, and the Omans. This got us the necessary points to secure 8th place overall, mid fleet at ISAF youth worlds. The team had one last night together and everyone split early the following morning. I am now flying to Boston for the hyc regatta with over 25 f18s. Then it's back to building a cats.

ISAF Youth Worlds Endings

What a day we had on the last day!  To jump from tenth to eighth we had to put two points between us and the Irish and three between us and the Italians.  We had a difficult time finding any power in the boat up with a nasty chop, strong current, and light breeze.  Combine that with erratic wind shifts and one of the heaviest crew weights, we found ourselves toward the back of the fleet for most of the race.  On the last run, we were able to split off on starboard tack to find pressure and calmer waters, we made tremendous gains and were able to get the job done at the finish, gibing inside a fleet of boats that were minutes ahead.  Overall a great regatta and an awesome experience to have worked our way up through the standings into a respectable eighth place.

Race Day 4

We're still moving up!  Today we had our best finish so far, a sixth but started the day with a disappointing tenth.  It was a productive day in that we eclipsed the Irish team and were able to close the gap to three points on the Italian team, which should be a very manageable objective for the last two days of racing.  Currently we stand ninth; progress is always good but we're still not satisfied!

ISAF Youth Worlds

Today is our day off, we have raced three days and have three more days of competition.  The racing has gone well.  Having never sailed the SL 16 or any other catamaran without dagger boards, we have had a very steep learning curve.  As if the boat hasn't been difficult enough, the breeze has been blowing offshore giving shifty and gusty sailing conditions.  Over the past few days we have made strides refining our boat speed and  strategy allowing us to lead yesterdays first race for the first two legs against a very deep fleet.  After the first day we were 14th, but slowly we are climbing up the standings and currently are 10th.  The next two positions are within striking distance, with 9th being only a tiebreak away!  Follow Team USA's results, including Mitchell Kiss who is leading the Laser Radial class!  http://www.isafyouthworlds.com/editions/2012/results.php

ISAF Youth Worlds

Its finally here!  This morning we arrived in Dublin after flying through the night.  After settling down, we went over to the Royal St. George Yacht Club, the event host.  Had a first look at the boats, and I was able to meet a few of the event organizers and local sailors, which will be a great resource for us.  The fleet looked quite numerous, and tomorrow we will be able to get our equipment, and hopefully get out for some practice.
Follow the action! http://www.isafyouthworlds.com/

More Progress

Over the past few weeks the rear traveler bracket and the pads the traveler bar will rest on were made.  The deck, stern, and bows were taped together and faired.  The eyebolts for the stays were bonded in.  Today the bag was stripped off of the knuckle of the rear beam where a sleeve was placed over the beam to hull joint.