8th October 2022 trip to Bala

 the weather looked sunny and calm and saturday racing was on.

left at 0900 and got to Bala in good time. set about doing the few jobs i needed to do 

1. fix new water bottle carrier via 3m to cockpit area velcro detach 

2. same for optimum watch starboard side 

3.  attach retaining bungy cord to centreboard grab handle to keep centreboard down if capsized. 

4. stick magnetic strip to starboard boom to hold small course diagram 

boat was already to launch checked phone before putting in its case and i had a message some one was intrested in the boad on FB market , to cut along story short it was a scam and i missed race 1 and decided not to do race 2 due to the wind being a tad strong , packed it all away and brought some kit home ready , couldnt find the trailer key for the lock but found it at home .

boat is for sale at £5k ono includes the new drop down rudder.

intended r1 course 

August Regatta pics Bala

 

Bala regatta 27/08/22

 the trip was very last minute as wind was not good very light 

0800 i set  off and stopped a few times to tighten the loosening cargo strap at 1000 i arrived and set about unpacking then rigging the boat, all went well  brief at 1200 race at 1300, set off 1230 to sail down the lake   got there intime for the start to commence 

wind was very light and the comets soon caught us for 3 mins they got in the way but it was a drift and didnt finish very high up the fast fleet

race 2 was more wind after a postponement the boat went well and was a joy upwind but the downwinf was painful

race 3 had a cracking start and got to the windward mark in 3rd behind the very fast solo and fireball.

the downwind leg was painfully slow again getting pipped by the blaze of martin clift

so 11th 6th 5th , a slow sail back a quick derig and put Muutley to its new berth spot

very pleased overall . a hot day lack of enough water but a pasty to eat before the trip home .

Kicker upgrade

 

back in the spring i attempted an upgrade from 8 to 1 to 32 to 1 on the kicker using 12 plate 4mm dynema , i failed to understand how to do it and got 16 to 1

now the boat is home i set myself up and redid the lot to get it to 32 to 1 

basically adding one more line and block , to tidy up i used new lines being the blue and yellow , it all worked out well and looks good .

Trolly repair

 well luckily someone in the village is a welder fabricator

so Tuesday last week i dropped it off with a photo for referance 

hopefully shouldnt be too long 

Trolley damage

 

Trolley damage

 had a report Monday 15th that my trolley had been damaged.

so a trip to New Quay was on the cards to recover the boat

this was what i found 

reset optimum watch

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRGYn2Tsnx4

17/7/22 Mutley 93

 with an early start for racing on Cara of Menai, i moved the boat off the beach finally to on the main slipway. it was hard work pulling it up the slope but im sure it will be better overall.

also decided because of this and launching /returning i would get a flip up rudder as the cassette one is too stiff to lift with ease.

bit pricey but with discount and postage £663 

May Bank holiday Regatta

 at the sailing club early to do the mast chock install and it worked, also reviewed the rear traveler as well to see what came undone.

wind was north and forcast 13knts building, waves were choppy , on launching on almost low tide had to walk the boat across the bar that has formed in the harbour 

bit wobbly to start but wind was steady tacking was awkward because of the waves, in the end the boat handled ok.

wasnt sure of the actual ine but started behind, had a battle with Trystyn Wood in his new RS100 8.4 upwind down wind he had the spinaker  to my single sail.

we all finnished close together on the water and on handicap.

during the wait for race 2 the tiller extension came off and was sorted intime but crossed line 26 secs late. waves seemed to build but Mutley coped well so that gave me confidence , some good surfing back to the Quay where Chris Seal ood was running the race.

i didnt do race 3 but came in , fun was had over by the 2nd quay with the wind tipping the boat over in the shallow water as i walked the boat in.

a few beers after and wait for results, came 5th overall 

R1

R2

 

photo by Chris Seal

Expensive mistake

 well not making sure the green rope is really tightly tied is an expensive mistake if you turtle the boat and lose the mast chocks 

have to make my own i think 

update

==== 

 i have now added 2mm line to go thru the rear chocks with a recess for knott the trailing line can then trail down the mast hole and be secured off as with the front chock , cant afford to lose them again.

NCYC Easter regatta

 early start to easter saturday with sunshine and wind forecast ,

boat rigged and dressed all before the brief , wow good going on my part.

3 races to do last being a triangle.sadley never got to see the end of race 1 as i was doing well untill i got stuck under the boom with bouyancy aid , over Mutley went with me trying to get untangled from the mainsheet, my drysuit was also leaking more as i felt the cold water give me a shower inside.

this hampered my attemt to get to the centreboard to pull the boat back over 

i neglected to do my bouayancy aid up as well so that didnt help either so i was low in the water, the safety crew arrived grabbed me on board and then between us we got the boat back upright to find the mast chocks had gone and mast had unstepped. so that was curtains, a slow tow back to the beach on a very low tide i finally got ashore having a job to walk in my drysuit with legs full of water.

in conclusion i made mistakes.

1. i knew drysuit was leaking 

2. didnt wear bouyancy aid correctly

3. didnt tie mast down tight as chocks fell out (green rope)mast wouldnt have fallen out just came loose.

4. never did pratise capsize on boat , need righting line to assist

we all learn from mistakes , i will resort to long wetsuit from now on

and something over the top in colder times, if this had been a solo sail it would have been a disaster and prob RNLI rescue

lesson to be learned

photo credit Chris Taylor from his mavic 3 drone 

Warmup and race till capsize and then recovery 

Sailing Log 2021-22

 2021

25/7/21 ERL2007 SOLO 2H22 cruise 

19/7/21 ERL2007 SOLO race 32m + Cruise 

13/6/21 ERL2007 SOLO 5.8NM++ 1H30

13/6/21 ERL2007 SOLO 43M race not recorded

18/7/21 ERL2007 SOLO race 1H34M 

18/7/21 ERL2007 SOLO sail 1H41M  5.22m

25/7/21 ERL2007 SOLO race 1H4M no distance

25/7/21 ERL2007 SOLO race 49M no distance

25/721 ERL2007 SOLO sail 2h22m full length of Bala 

28/8/21 Mutley93 Dzero  R1 3.28NM 59M 

28/8/21 Mutley93 Dzero  R2 4.43NM 1H18M

2022

23/02/22 Mutley93 Dzero R1 30mins   R2 19mins plus sailing in and out 

03/04/22 Mutley93 Dzero R1 2.4NM sail out plus race  50mins total

                                             R2 2.9NM race plus sail back 45mins total

16/4/22 Mutley93 Dzero R1  ABOUT 40MINS BEFORE RETIRING 

14/05/22 Cara of Menai Fulmer 32 Race Aberaeron-New Quay-Aberaeron- Ynys Lochtyn 18.nm 4h33m  

28/05/22 Mutley93 R1 4.86NM 1H12M sail out as well

28/05/22 Mutley93 R2 2.69NM 59M23 sail in as well

29/05/22 Cara of Menai Fulmer 32 Cruise to Aberaeron and back 11.99nm  3h4m

12/6/22 Cara of Menai  Jubilee Cup R1 11.0NM 2H26M 

12/6/22 Cara of Menai  Jubilee Cup  R2 6.2NM  1H4M 

1/7/22  Cara of Menai NQYC KBR R1  20.9NM 4H11M39S  includes sail out and back 

17/7/22 Cara of MENAI Aberaeron regatta r3  9.1nm 2h 01m sailed from NQYC

17/7/22 Cara of MENAI Aberaeron regatta r4  8.9nm 1h 54m  return to NQYC

27/7/22 Mochyn Du Cardiff BAY Yacht Club 8.6nm 2h 19m Tuesday bay race evening

30/7/22 Cara of Menai NQYC Summer series 8.4nm 2h 9m 

27/8/22 Bala Regatta fast handicap R1  2.4NM 1H34M plus sail out 

27/8/22 Bala Regatta fast handicap R2  2.3NM   1H14M

 27/8/22 Bala Regatta fast handicap R3   3.7NM 1H49 plus sail home 

28/8/22 Cara of Menai NQYC Summer series  6.4NM  2H29M

• 
  

 

Frostbite final round 03/04/2022

 minus 4 overnight , not looking forward to it, but winds and sun were ideal.

a quick breakfast roll to start and off to rig the boat , the clew ties didnt play ball , luckily Tim came to me rescue, this held me up and i was late leaving the beach.

the race started fairly prompt a windward leaward, i made mistake of being on pin end and wind was too light, the boat went well and i caught up quick to finish 4th on handicap.

race 2 i got the mainsheet caught around the tiller and misssed the start by a few mins, however, i went left and tacked for the mark and made up a lot of ground, in the end i ended up 2nd on the water and 3rd on handicap, Martin won the series laser and chris 2nd , i got 7th having only done 4/8 races, however on those 4 i had done i would have got 3rd overall, so that was a bonus to think about. the new kicker went well, i doubt i will do the 32/1 16/1 seems fine.

R1 2.4NM sail out plus race  50mins total

R2 2.9NM race plus sail back 45mins total 

r1

r1

r2

r2

Rig Boat and kicker upgrade

An early start to get parked up as it was going to be a sunny warm day.

rigged boat ready so that i could see the kicker in the correct place, i removed the first part and boom strop.

replaced with a new 60mm loop and 240mm loop and placed under the eylet after eventually borrowing a philips screwdriver.

i had 2 harken 29mm blocks spliced already, as it was easier to pratice at home. all i knew was all 3 ropes had to go around the mast and be spliced.

i had done 2 but couldnt work out how to do the third, eventually i tried it as a 16/1 and it worked fine. when i got ho9me i watched the vid again and worked what i had done wrong

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trqwQAgeVWo  

i am more confident rigging the boat now , its all pratice , but it all works now. only had the boat since Feb 2020 lol