A big day is shaping up...
Sat, 15 Oct 11 11:16
Today is shaping up nicely... perhaps a bit too nicely. The morning greeted us with perfect blue skies and the wind kicked in before 11. This has the trademarks of a 'honking', old school Walvis blow.
We got in early to start cleaning up the 'bird'. We double checked the data which I'm happy to say was all good. It's great to have the COSWORTH gear back on line. Data logging is always difficult and time consuming to get right... but it's worth it as it can give you 'black and white' answers. It appears that VSR2 is well balanced at speed and nothing is overloading rudder-wise.
This morning I doubled the purchase on the mainsheet from 2:1 to 4:1. I should be able to get that wing right in today. Add that to the confidence of knowing that VSR2 is well balanced and we have more clear, high speed road ahead of us.
We will use Twitter today to post updates from out on the course. This will automatically go up on the front page of the website. We don't want to bombard all our Twitter followers so we will keep it to the important bits. Tomorrow we will endeavour to set up a different Twitter account for those who want all the nuts and bolts of a live-feed and don't mind the bombardment.
Cheers, Paul
p.s. thanks for the support and encouragement in the comments. These are exciting times for the project.
PS - Ventilated foil
Submitted by Tim on Sat, 10/15/2011 - 14:31.Paul - your comments about the sounds coming from the foil at speed were interesting. Wondering aloud what is the possibility of a video down the foil trailing edge to see the foil venting in action at speed.
Scalps in sight
Submitted by Tim on Sat, 10/15/2011 - 14:15.Paul, Yours is fantastic news! Terribly exciting to read of your boat and your team's successes on Friday. You've climbed up the speed ladder so quickly it is frankly astonishing. I trust that you are being careful.
From your blog it sounds like the pieces are coming together beautifully. Here in land-locked Vermont, I wait with baited breath for the next updates. As you continue to advance in speed, I curiously wonder where the weak link will be: the rudder, the foil, or somewhere in the rigging?
All the best,
Tim, Vermont
today
Submitted by teamvmg on Sat, 10/15/2011 - 12:53.have a good one team
I thought of you yesterday as I was doing 40 knots on a jetski. 5o with an engine would scare the pants off of me - but SAILING would be something else!
paul [In florida]
Fingers crossed.
Submitted by morgan on Sat, 10/15/2011 - 12:09.Here's hoping for a great day.
Good luck for another great
Submitted by Alasdair Cameron on Sat, 10/15/2011 - 11:49.Good luck for another great day ahead. Can't wait to hear how you guys get on.