IOM Sailing

We went out to our pond on Sunday to try to sail our Victoria's but the wind was more suited for IOMs. I had the chance to sail Al's KITE and Hew's VEKTOR. What fun! Had the B-rigs on and still did some nose diving going down wind. Here a few photos. Below are a few close up shots of Hew's VEKTOR

Bulb

Some how the tip of the trailing point of the bulb got bent last night. We will have to figure out a way to straighten it up.

Installing Keel Blade

After fixing the keel blade so it fits properly in the keel box we lined up the location from the plans the center of gravity for the bulb and the location on the blade where it is to be located. We realized the slot on the bulb needed to be longer so here i am drilling it out to extend the slot in the bulb. eventually the bulb will be pinned to the keel blade and epoxied in place. Some holes were drilled into the bulb to reduce the weight. The bulb and the keel can not weigh more than 2500 grams. I had to reduce it by 60 grams or more to make it work. This weight reduction will have to be done again after it is epoxied together, but hopefully only a small amount of lead will need to be removed.

Fairleads

Fairleads for the Jib sheet were made out of stainless steel wire, bent and then installed through small holes drilled into the deck and bent back under the deck. These 'tabs' will be epoxied next time some is mixed up to secure these fairleads. The blue tape was used to protect the finish on the deck. A wire was also bent and installed on the cockpit coaming to prevent the mast ram from falling out. You can see it in the photo, but the mast ram is not installed yet.

Rudder installation

Yesterday we installed the rudder tube in the hull and then cut the rudder shaft to fit as well as grinding down a flat spot on the shaft for the set screw to hit.

Resumed Construction

After a long absence from the boat yard due to work and a bit of personal travel, I finally got some time in the boat yard today. We fixed the keel blade situation and some other work. I will update and post pictures tomorrow. She is coming along and i hope to have her in the water soon.