West Coast Mini Race 2008.

Seems like it always comes done to the wire before events. On Tuesday I will deliver the boat to Victoria for the West Coast Mini Race. This is the first official mini race on the US West Coast. The start is Saturday July 5th and the first leg will finish in San Francisco. It looks like the summer weather pattern is slowly starting to develop here in the NW and should make for a good race if it holds up. iBoat are providing the race trackers so you can follow the race at http://www.iboattrack.com/racetracking.html and also on our site. Special Thanks to Hans Spiller for his support of the Mini program and Craig Horsfield Racing.

Last few weeks have seen large improvements in the boat. New rudders seem to have made a vast improvement in boat handling and the new electronics and running rigging should allow us to have a good run down the coast.

Spring 2008 races are underway.

The spring sailing season has started here on the West Coast in some rather unpleasant weather. Last week's race to Smith Island saw us sailing through hail and snow and rain, with a only a few tantalizing glimpses of sunshine. Still, it is good to be sailing again after a long winter of working on the boat. Some tracks of recent races, as recorded by my new (home-built) data logger:

Center sound 1
Center sound 2
Center sound 3
Smith Island

1000 Mile Solo Qualification Course Completed 08/05/07, Class Mini has accepted the qualification 11/01/07

I set off from Seattle early in the morning, two days later than anticipated due to some last minute problems. I got off to a slow start, beating out of Puget Sound, but once I passed Port Townsend and was heading into the Straights the weather started ratcheting it up quickly. I found myself sailing upwind in 25 – 30 knots with very short, steep chop and a thick fog rolling in. Throughout one very long, trying night, I was beating in the Straights with limited room, dodging commercial traffic. During the night, I got stuck in something – probably a crab pot. With a lee shore about a mile away, I pulled off a couple of quick gybes and managed to get free, later to find out that the keel box was leaking. In the morning, I also discovered that the rig was bending badly on the second reef and needed to be retuned.

Turning south in the Pacific, the weather looked good with a light westerly for a day or so and then a south westerly which quickly veered back to the northwest. With the wind from the northwest, I started moving to flying sails. I had a problem with the autopilot going a little crazy, resulting in 2 sails in the water. While I tried to retrieve the sails, the boat went out of control and I ended up stuck under a life line as my life jacket inflated.By the fourth day, the wind had changed to 20 knots from the NW and, with a small spinnaker and one reef, I started to move on. But not for long. The weather began to build more and more and for the next 2 days I was in winds upward of 40 knots at times. With just a storm jib, the boat had some incredible surfs but also got knocked down a few times. Jan Brant and Andy Able were very helpful with their advice on how to set the boat up for these conditions. Amazingly, we never lost the solar panel despite the big waves breaking over us.

As night fell, I decided to take the precaution of calling the US Coast Guard to let them know my course and position. They were great, tracking my progress for most of the night and keeping in contact with Kurt and Carolyn on the shore side.

After the wind and seas abated, I had some great sailing down the coast with the spinnakers flying as well as frustrating calms. Entering the Santa Barbara Channel I was surprised by the number of oil rigs. At 11 pm, 25 miles from the marina, the wind died. It was a long, slow finish. I picked up a bit of wind early in the morning and arrived at the marina around noon. Thanks to some great help by Evan, Rich, Gill, Matthew, Teresa, and John, the boat was broken down and on the trailer in good time. Now back in Seattle, the winter will be spent making repairs and adjustments so that she is ready for the next sailing season. Many thanks to our supporters Chris IQSolar, Kurt for all the weather and late night calls. Andy Abel, Jan Brandt, Kathy and Carolyn. You all made it happen.

Solo Qualification Under Way!

Early on the morning of Wednesday, July 25th, Craig left for his 1000-mile qualifying passage, one of the many requirements that must be met to gain entry in the 2009 Mini Transat. His course will take him from Seattle, through Admiralty Inlet past Port Townsend, through the Straits of Juan De Fuca, then around Cape Flattery to the Pacific Ocean. Once in the Pacific, he will sail south, down the coast, passing several waypoints before reaching Santa Barbara, California.

Craig managed to persevere through an exceptionally rough night in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. 25 knot headwinds and big seas battered him all night as he tacked near the shore and dodged commercial traffic. Despite a couple of (repairable) breakdowns and catching something on the keel for some time, Craig managed to get out of the Strait midday on Thursday. Today, Friday, he’s making good progress toward his next waypoint off the coast. Winds are expected to lighten and back to the south for a short time before becoming more favorable later on.

To track his progress, go to: iboat track

And if you have any words of encouragement, please send them to kurt@mistychula.net or carolyn_hutcheon@hotmail.com and we’ll be sure to relay them along.

Headed to France for Mini Fastnet (12th June 2007)

There has been a lot of action in the mini fleet lately. In the first American mini race, eight boats lined up and started the Bermuda 1-2 from Newport to Bermuda and back.

The Europe Circuit is in full swing and the Mini Fastnet will be starting next week. On Tuesday I am headed to Douarnenez in France to sail it with Andy Abel in his boat Series Zero 670. You can follow our track and position online at iboattracker.com

Over the last 2 months I have been sailing and working on preparing the boat. Thanks to Kurt, Tom, Jeff, Doug and Carolyn for all the help in planning, purchasing and time sailing with me. We have made a lot of progress: electrical, instruments, and autopilot are now all functioning. Most of the equipment is installed. Erik Bentzen has been a great help with solving problems and suggesting ways in which we can improve performance. I am slowly realizing that solo sailing isn’t really “single-handed” - without the support and help of others this could not be a reality.

Rapid is almost ready for the 1000 mile qualifier. The last few sailing trips have been dialing in the autopilot. More sails have arrived - we just added a Genniker and a Maxi (Grand Spi) Spinnaker to the boat.

The current qualifier plan is to leave Seattle for Santa Barbara in mid-July. Class Mini has been sent a proposal and we are waiting for it to be accepted.

IQSolar have come on and made custom panels for us to help power the mini in this challenge, Kathryn of KamGear providing time and sewing help to get all the Canvas work sorted

We are in the Mini Fastnet

Andy Abel and I are entered in the Mini Fastnet June 16th. Andy is currently in Spain finishing up the new Zero, Phoenix Racing. This is a good opportunity for us to pool our resources and knowledge to help get both boats and skippers in top form.

Center Sound Race (11th March 2007)

There are new photos in the photos section taken during the CYC Center Sound Race. Kurt Hoehne and I entered the mini to get in some local racing as we prepare the boat for the 1000 Mile qualifier in Late July. The race started off Meadow Point and went to the south end of Whidbey Island and back. We started in P7 with boats like the Olson 30 and Hobie 33. It was a down wind start in a slowly-building southerly. Just before the turn, the wind increased and we got a feel for what these boats are like with down wind boat speeds of +11knts. Had a small problem at the rounding and then started the 14 mile upwind leg. The tide was ebbing strongly. Staying close to the east shore to minimize the current, we made our way back with 1 reef in the main and solent. We finished our first race, but now have a longer list of improvements / changes to make to improve performance and ease of sailing.

Current Seattle News (4th Feb 2007)

Currently the boat is at CSR Marine getting some much needed work to get her in top racing trim. I am using this time to sort out equipment, catch up on work, and do all the planning needed to keep the project going. I have made many small changes already to improve ease of sailing and improve performance.

The progress has been slowed by very unseasonable Seattle weather, from huge wind storms to snow and ice. The latest round of cold weather has resulted in Rapid having at least 1 more week in the yard. It was just as well I tied the boat down to the trailer in the last storm that left us without power for 4 days. A trimaran blew off its trailer and landed on a Rocket 22 causing extensive damage.

March is just around the corner and Kurt and I will be entering the CYC center sound series: three +/- 30 mile races here in Puget Sound. This is a good time for wind and it will help me put the boat through its paces.

Andy Abel from Phoenix Racing and I have been collaborating on information and boat setup he will be headed back to Spain in the next few weeks to setup his new boat for the 2007 season. I will be joining him in France for the Mini Fastnet in June we will be going all out for a good finish as we will both have experience in the Zero.

Rapid is finally sailing (10th Dec 2006).

After various delays, the boat is out sailing. Not that the local weather has helped- snow storms and gales slowed us down. The boat is sailing quite well out of the gate. Kurt and Bev joined me for the initial sail, as I still do not have AP or instruments on the boat. On the initial sail, the rig setup had a little too much rake and mast bend which affected the mainsail shape and balance. We shortened the forestay and tightened the lower diaganals and intermediate shrouds and now she is very well balanced. I am amazed at how well she can sail - you can leave the helm without problems and there is no problem holding track. This is very encouraging. There is still a long road forward of changes and upgrades that will need to be made to get every thing sorted out perfectly. Small issue but they are adding up. For example today we noticed that you can not open the escape hatch as it hits the rudder bar that connects the rudders. I'll need to shave a little of the bar and shim up the attachment point. I will provide all this information back to MOS in a hope that they can make the required changes in the yard.

The last sail was in about 20knts of southerly, the first time we've had enough wind to test if we have enough rig tension and what she is like off the wind. We turned downwind and hoisted. 30 seconds later Rapid rounded up and lay on her side. I managed to tangle the spin sheet around my boot and we could not ease. Quick recovery and we were off planing downwind. Going quite fast and before long we had to turn around and head home, as Doug had to get back. The mini claimed first blood as the stantion sliced open Doug's hand. It turns out that the stantions at the top where it is flattened and the tube welded on is very sharp and the inside is beveled creating a sharp edge on the outside. In the long run I will machine new tubes and weld these on in place of the stock. Short term pvc tube and some rigging tape (maybe it was a good thing it was a hand not a sail, just kidding. I guess that it's time to get some bandages on the boat as we had blood all over the deck).

MiniMax 2006,
partnered with Elaine Chua

My mini sailing started with the MiniMax.

I arrived in Port Camargue in France a few days early to get in some sailing and get used to the boat. I would be sailing with Elaine Chua on Feng 650.

The race started in some good breeze of about 12 knots. We had to do a triangle in the bay before we could head out on the main course. We got a conservative start but this being a 250 mile leg we had plenty time to get back in it. 51 boats started the course and the inshore triangle. Working a few shifts on the first leg we were getting back in the pack. On the downwind legs it became clear these boats like to sail hotter angles to keep the speed up. Completing the inshore leg we headed out along the cost to for the Island of Porquerolles about 130 miles down the track.

No sooner had we settled in on the rumbline for Cape Sicie did the VHF light up in French telling us we had missed a mark in the course. Because there was enough water, we had sailed inside a navigational mark, but the rules required us to honour these marks. Many boats had done the same and there were to be some time penalties for these infractions. We turned back and sailed on the correct side losing about 2 miles on the fleet. Now back on course we had ground to make up. We where tight reaching with genoa up and no overtaking lanes in sight. We tried to stay close. We had been advised to stay out of the Bay at Marseille after about 8 pm since the wind there starts to die, so as we fell into night we decided to stand more offshore. At the same time the wind started to veer and we could possibly go to a Code Zero or our large Asymmetric Spinnaker (Grand Spi) that is rather flat and so better for reaching. The wind had lightened and the true wind angle allowed us to carry the Big Spin all night at about 70° apparent. Most the other boats could only carry Code Zero (or Genniker as the French call them.) All night, in about 6 knots of wind, we held 6 knots boat speed. Sometimes we would get a puff and we would accelerate to 8 ­ 9 knots. We knew we were making gains on the fleet but were also further out to sea off the rumbline. There was a lot of shipping around Marseille so we had to make sure to stand clear of all the traffic. Turns out when you are tired and it is 4 am it’s hard to keep track of all the ships and to sail the boat fast. I was worried that when we had to gybe back in the morning for the Cape Sicie we would be behind. In the early morning the wind started to drop and lift allowing us to make the gybe. There was a thick haze that cut down visibility so we could only see two other mini’s close to us at this point. We had no idea at where Feng was placed. At the 6am radio positions in French we managed to catch a few of the key boats’ positions. We had managed to pass at least half of the series fleet in the night. Staying offshore had proven to be a good move. Still very light winds and about 50 mile to go to Island of Porquerolles before we could turn south to Corsica. As night set in, the wind veered into the west allowing everyone to fly their spinnakers. With no deep running spinnaker, we sailed higher all night for our best VMG. In the morning we had made good progress south but where about 8 miles further off shore resulting in a horrible gybe back into Corsica. We kept sailing south until about noon. With more wind and a shift we made the gybe for the finish 15 miles away. It would take us about 6 hours to make it into the bay in light conditions and then a further 3 hours just to get to the finish. It was a very frustrating finish with very little wind – at times we were almost there but going backwards without wind. On the positive side, the bars where still open and we could get a cold beer and some food. On this leg, lots of dolphins and whales had made their presence known.

Corsica seems like a great place. Everyone is very relaxed and all. The town of Ajaccio is surrounded by high hills which is what had made our approach to the finish complicated. We spent 2 days here relaxing before the restart. We didn’t have to do very much to the boat to be ready so had time to relax and walk around. Next time, I need to have a camera with me. The start of leg 2 was pushed forward by about 6 hours in an attempt for us to get passed some bad weather that was forming up the coast. In the end we would have a slow sail and the committee would finish the race half way for us to avoid a building gale.

Feng had a better start on Leg 2 and we were able to sail the middle course for the first mile before some lanes opened up and we could work on the favoured right side. We managed to get some good shifts and the long 6 mile beat up out of the bay proved very good for us. We left the bay in about 10th place, very close to all the top proto boats. We were in a great position and everyone was up on the wind, heading up the course with no passing lanes. This would hold until nightfall when the wind would start back into the west and allow us to put up some spinnakers. Night brought some very changing weather. Some big shifts and some thunder clouds mixed it up a bit. We kept changing sails and gybing to stay on the rumbline and a little west, as was our plan. Most of the fleet was doing this and we were in close proximity. Little did we know we were going to meet up with he small high pressure cell we were trying to avoid. Most the fleet got parked with no wind in the early morning for about 6 hours. A few boats had escaped in the East and would beat everyone to the finish by more than 10 hours. The wind came back from the NW and started to build. We should have switched to a headsail and gone more in to the west, but stayed on the spinnaker as we were making for the waypoint. The wind would later go more north and freshen, helping the boats that had put in the west early. We made it into the bay at about 7pm with a fresh NW wind, thinking we had 2 hours to the finish but once we got in a mile, we just stopped. A long evening of trying to move in zero wind followed. At about 11pm we managed to get some shore breeze and start making it to the finish. Trying to find a small buoy in the dark is very interesting even if you have the general GPS location. In the end the race official at the finish directed us in on the VHF and a flashlight. 8 hour to travel the last 5 miles - that was frustrating.

These boats are fun to sail, fast off the wind and easily driven. They don’t like wind in the 2 - 4 knot range and are also not great upwind, but everything else they seem to take in their pace. It is hard going upwind in a chop - the boat is short and falls off every wave, pounding a bit. It was better to put the weight forward in the boat and to put the bow down to maintain some momentum. It is very important to stack the boat - and that means everything, even the coffee cup - to the high side, making work for every gybe and tack. When close to the finish and at starts we would have it all packed in the center so that we could tack and play shifts, but once out and on long tacks, say 30min or longer, we’d move everything, gaining about 0.5 knots for sure. The boat is light on the helm, but it is important to balance the sail plan. It is easy to stall the rudders and round up in a gust. Quick mainsheet and traveller is needed when the breeze is up. The Series boats are quick and a well sailed boat can give some of the hot carbon prototypes a run for the money.

I will need to be able to understand more French when I get back again, important as all position reporting and briefings are in French. Mini sailors are a very close knit set of people and all happy to help.

Andy Able had the other Zero in the race and made for interesting comparison.

For more info on Elaine Chua and Feng

The Mini is almost here!

After various delays, the boat is in the container and on its way! Due to arive late October in Seattle.

Hull 20, Mini 655

Zero hull 20, Mini 655 is starting to become a reality. After many delays the boat is now funded and getting built. Currently it will have to wait for 21 to be finished as she is headed for California in the same container.