Friday, January 26, 2007

rapscallion in training




well, the snow is on the ground and the clock is ticking. Racing season is just around the corner and there is much work to be done. Currently, there are 5 laser 28s in our club fleet; next season there will be 6. The new addition, a transplant from Milwaukee, will be VERY difficult to beat. The owner has been sailing the boat since it was new. He knows how to make that boat go fast and he doesn't make mistakes.

But, for me, life is more interesting from the underdog's eye view. Maybe it's cause there's no pressure to win (we are talking about local club racing, it's simply league bowling with sailboats).... But, see, the other laser sailors take this stuff very seriously. The rivalrys are bittersweet and very entertaining.

I plan to fair the keel, and get a new set of sails, well, make a new set of sails. I designed them using a computer, and tested the shape with models made of paper mache in a wind tunnel made out of blankets and a box fan. I will use dimension polyant cloth. I was going to fair the keel with mashed potatoes, but I was told that wouldn't work.... ahh well...
a racers work is never done...

3 comments:

Dana said...

Re: the mashed potatoes fairing theory… if you use a sufficiently strong surface coating, let’s say chap stik, almost any pliable material can be well used as fairing material. I have proof. The trick is to choose the correct flavour. (I suggest avoiding “cherry”; after I tried it, an entire colony of new invertebrate creatures took up residence on my boat. Some of those individuals were so highly evolved that they were able to take out membership in the Canadian Conservative party.) My own Cal 20 may not be the fastest yacht around, but it IS the slowest.

EVK4 said...

Slower than a Catalina 22? I think a drag race is in order. Even though I find feather boas to have way too much extra windage.

Dana said...

I might accept your challenge to race, but I sure as hell won’t do it “in drag.” Besides, I’ve put on a little weight and none of my wife’s bras fit any more.