Long one

28 August 2022

Remembering the hot engine after the last race, I tipped about two litres of coolant into the heat exchanger last week. I wonder where the fluid is going, it doesn't seem to be leaking into the bilge and the oil looks fine. I also took out and tested the thermostat using Bay Leaf's cooker and her best non-stick saucepan. The engine now runs fine and without overheating. 

On Sunday I had Jonathan Webb and Sue Berry with me for the final race of the club's Bank Holiday Series. We struggled to get off the berth due to the mud and the race officer had already mentioned that he'd be starting on time at 1130, luckily the tide began to lift us and we got off just in time, motoring to the start area just as he called the 10 minute countdown. 

Like last time, the wind was from the SE and the course was set into the wind and into the tide, but perhaps a bit more wind. We only just had time to set the sails properly before we had to make our reach towards the start line, a few seconds early so we stopped and flapped for a moment before sheeting in and getting to full speed. We then found ourselves making long tacks towards the Weather Station. Jonathan had a mapping app running and sent me this screenshot of our course over ground:


At the top left, we can see the little loop we made as we lined up for the start. Then long zigzags trying to make progress to the SE as the three Limbos disappeared into the distance. At our final tack the rain came, the wind dropped, and we can see at the top right there how Bay Leaf's course began to falter. We ate the pork pies with our coats on and considered retiring but then the wind picked up, Bay Leaf got moving, and suddenly it was clear that we could make it. We went round the Weather Station on a gybe 1hr 55m after the start but then it was only 25 mins to make the long run, with wind and tide behind us, to the South mark (on the left of the image). Turning North towards the finish at the harbour entrance we saw Ayella ahead of us having to tack to make it, being swept West by the tide, and the same happened to us - making just one tack a few minutes before the finish, as can be seen at the top left of the image. Behind us was little Van Nuys at 16' long making excellent progress. Finishing on 2h 44m about 10 minutes behind Ayella we thought perhaps we had her on corrected time. Back in our berth by 2.30pm we went for a well earned drink having secured 5th place a minute behind Van Nuys on corrected time.

Start: Start 1, Finishes: Elapsed time
RankBoatClassSailNoHelmNamePYElapsedCorrectedPoints
1Dedicated DancerLimbo 6.69943YD Robinson10371;41;271;37;501.0
2LegendLimbo 6.6127M Nicholls10371;49;161;45;222.0
3BodkinLimbo 6.6127A Dudley10371;55;001;50;543.0
4Van NuysExpress PirateK299P Caldecott13852;53;102;05;024.0
5Bay LeafCentaur1499A Tyrrell13052;44;272;06;015.0
6AyellaSea Wolf 26 bk91XS Gibbs12212;34;262;06;296.0
7Free n EasyCentaur2157N Clare1294RET 9.0
7PoppiCobra P Colyer RET 9.0
Overall Bay Leaf finished in second place behind Dedicated Dancer in the Bank Holiday Series, which is most pleasing.

Cruiser Bank Holiday Series 2022

Overall

Sailed: 2, Discards: 0, To count: 2, Rating system: PY, Entries: 9, Scoring system: Appendix A
RankBoatClassSailNoHelmNamePYR1R4TotalNett
1stDedicated DancerLimbo 6.69943YD Robinson10371.01.02.02.0
2ndBay LeafCentaur1499A Tyrrell13052.05.07.07.0
3rdVan NuysExpress PirateK299P Caldecott13855.0 DNF4.09.09.0
4thLegendLimbo 6.6127M Nicholls103710.0 DNC2.012.012.0
5thBodkinLimbo 6.6127A Dudley103710.0 DNC3.013.013.0
6thLittle AukOysterman J Norris13505.0 DNF10.0 DNC15.015.0
7thAyellaSea Wolf 26 bk91XS Gibbs122110.0 DNC6.016.016.0
8thFree n EasyCentaur2157N Clare129410.0 DNC9.0 RET19.019.0
8thPoppiCobra P Colyer 10.0 DNC9.0 RET19.019.0


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cowes weekend 2023

Image
 4 July 2023 With Bay Leaf's new engine running well we set off for the weekend in Cowes for Round the Island. About 12 boats from the club were going this year. Sue was with me and we both had a space arranged on our friend Stuart's boat Moontide for the race, but travelling to and from the island in Bay Leaf. 29 June - Littlehampton to Gosport We met at the boat around 0800 Thursday and loaded all the clobber. High water at 0811 gave us a departure time around 0900. Starting the engine on battery 2 I noticed the red light stayed on, indicating lack of charging, which was a small worry but we had battery 1 if we needed it. Setting that thought aside, leaving harbour at 0905 we set full sail on a starboard beam reach, heading 240 degrees.  On the GPS it looks like there's a direct line to Boulder / Street but Selsey rocks are in the way, and sure enough the Mixon pole came into sight around 1040. Passing it on our starboard side abeam at 1110 we turned east towards the Looe...
Read more

Re-powering project Spring 2023

Image
24 June 2023 Following difficulty with the gearbox last year (it wouldn't select easily into forward, and then only turned slowly) a quick look in the box showed little oil and evidence of loose filings. Not good. My friend Spencer at the club offered to slip the gearbox out over winter while she was ashore and have a look. In order to do that, he had to get the engine out and into the cabin. Spares for that gearbox are not available. A reconditioned replacement gearbox would be £600 + vat. The old Sea Panther engine, which has a history of being difficult to start, was already out. So after a bit of thought I decided not to put the old engine back in and instead to source a new engine + gearbox. Spencer has re-powered a few boats at the club and was kind enough to find time for this project.  Marine Enterprises are very helpful on the phone but items on their web site bear no relation to what they actually have available. So there was no Beta engine around. But there was a Perkins...
Read more

Gosport weekend Sept 2024

Image
Saturday 7th Sept 2024 Club cruise / race Littlehampton to Gosport. I was all set to make this trip single handed in Bay Leaf but David appeared just as I was getting ready and offered to come with me. The race course was from Boulder / Street in the Looe to the Main Passage outside Portsmouth with a dog-leg to Dean Elbow (green) and to Winner (south cardinal) to try and give us all points of sail in the NE breeze. Six boats from the club were setting off, plus one who had already gone 12 hours earlier. With HW Littlehampton at 1425 I knew the tide would be in our favour from 1330 so we got off the berth at 1200, hoisted the mainsail, and motored directly to the Looe making 7 knots over the ground. Bay Leaf's new engine is super-powerful and smooth, easily giving 5.5 knots through the water, with the tide behind us giving us 7 knots total. There was a little light rain on and off. David did most of the helming and I did most of the crewing - sail handling and fenders and stuff.  We...
Read more