Paul's blog

Happy 3rd Anniversary Sailrocket 2...

Paul — Mon, 16 Nov 2015 16:14:52 +0000

Here's a little reminder of some fond memories from special day that many of us who read this shared some time ago.

On this day three years ago the spell was broken. After 11 years of wondering if this day would ever come, on a "oh well, let's give it a shot anyway" type of day, we decided to go for a run rather than just tow Sailrocket 2 back across the lagoon to her hangar. I'm so glad we did.

All things considered... that was pretty close.

Paul — Wed, 07 Oct 2015 13:08:16 +0000

Well, to be honest, that all got a much closer to really happening than we expected when we set out. In the end the real show stopper was the same old nemesis of all speed sailors... the weather. The forecast changed rapidly and the stiff SW-WSW winds we were looking for simply faded away. These winds would have enabled us to run in close to the Cause-way along the shore where the water is flat and we have places to rig, launch, lower and retrieve the boat. Alex and I went out in a RIB (Thanks Tom Peel) and surveyed the course on the expected 1.25 meter tide.

Centre Court Weymouth...

Paul — Mon, 05 Oct 2015 12:30:49 +0000

So far so good.

Sailrocket 2 has come together very nicely. A big thanks to all those who have helped or offered to.

Many hands made light and fun work of re-skinning the whole wing whilst Alex and I went over many of the little details of the boat and her systems. This boat was built to be used and to last. She's in good shape and putting her back together has given us a lot of confidence to take her out for a run.

THE SKINNING AND RIGGING TEAM. THANKS AGAIN.

A beautiful day to be back...

Paul — Fri, 02 Oct 2015 11:26:17 +0000

Today started with a lovely, blue and crisp Autumn morning. When the alarm went off I commented to Helena how dark it now was at 6 A.M. We had our own special brew of coffee, jumped in the van and drove down to the Sailing Academy. It's only just over a mile away. The sun wasn't quite up and there was little action. We opened the creaky doors of the container and let the dawns early light flood in. The container had been taken over as a workshop and home to the Sailrocket 3 models but now they have served their purposes and been cleared out.

Sailrocket 3... here she comes.

Paul — Wed, 09 Jul 2014 13:41:35 +0000

Greetings all,

well it has been a while but I think the news story (on the front page) shows that we haven't been idle. I have held back on saying anything publicly though as I like to be pretty sure of what I'm talking about before saying anything. There comes a point, as with Sailrocket 2, where a good concept just keeps shining through the scepticism (often your own) and can't be held back.

If you liked what the project achieved last time, you won't be disappointed by where we are aiming now.

A few videos...

Paul — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 23:38:05 +0000

Greetings all,

We have been archiving a lot of our footage from the past 11 years and there sure are a lot of memories in there.

Recently our friends at CNN Mainsail put a huge amount of effort into cramming our project into a 23 minute program.

We think that considering the time restraints, they did a really good job. They worked very hard to get all the details right.

Whoomp, there it is... now for the next mission!

Paul — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 04:04:00 +0000

Greetings everyone... from Arctowski Polish Antarctic research station on King George island.

Right, firstly... this turned up in the mail the other day. I could stare at it for hours. It's little things like looking at this that really bring it all home.

I just look at it and ponder what it took to get it.

Blown Away... The 65 knot+ run (With video)

Paul — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 13:30:00 +0000

So let's get this down here before I start forgetting stuff...Last Saturday looked like it was going to be a strong day from the moment it popped onto the long range Windguru forecast. Amongst a bunch of fluctuating average days it barely deviated as it approached. We began to focus on it as being the day when we would go all out. Almost annoyingly, the day before piped up and blew just enough to force us to fully gear up and head towards speed-spot. We stopped just short of launching the boat.

Speechless.

Paul — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 18:15:17 +0000

Fresh off the TRIMBLE... 68.01 over 1 second, 65.45 over 500 meters.

I'll let the pictures tell the story. The triple rum and cokes are already hitting the mark.

MALCOLM AND GEORGE WATCHING THE BEAST DO ITS STUFF.

POD HIGH AND SMOKING...60+ RUN 2

Now... Let's see what she can really do!

Paul — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 08:36:28 +0000

Well the big forecast is playing out. It's 1017 here and the wind is already in. Our little corner of the Walvis Bay Yacht Club is buzzing as we prepare for the big day that we know lies ahead.

This is the first big wind day we have had in over 6 weeks now.

Today we focus purely on taking the outright record over 60 knots.