Dear Member,
Our old hard dinghy had proved to be too small to get both of us ashore safely if there was a bit of a lop on. So last winter I made a slightly larger one using the same cross sections but spacing them out to give a LOA of 9 ft instead of 7 ft 6 ins. I made the new dinghy from 4mm plywood covered in epoxy/fibreglass and used the stitch and epoxy paste method. To fit on the deck in front of the sprayhood the new dinghy had to have a cut out in the side to fit around the mast. The cut out is filled on launching with a specially shaped block. I tried to keep the weight down as much as possible and the result at 65 kilos was only 7 kilos (14.4 lbs) more than the old dinghy.
We lift the dinghy on and off with the main halyard. At the beginning of the season it was fairly hard to do this with the halyard winch, and seemed to be getting harder. We realised that something was wrong with the masthead sheave. When we laid up I stripped the masthead box and found that after 20 years the bronze bearing had worn out. I also found that the four 4 inch dia. sheaves were made of solid stainless steel weighing nearly 3.3 lbs for the four! What a weight to have at the top of the mast. The four replacement plastic ones from Francespar weigh in at 1.3 lbs. This saves 110 lbsft in heeling moment which more than makes up for the 14 lb weight increase in dinghy. Assuming the dinghy is 7ft above the waterline there is increase of 98 ftlbs of heeling moment.
But I am afraid we are still in a loosing situation because the relatively new fully battened mainsail is quite a bit heavier than the old one. Added to this we have a genoa and working jib both permanently on rollers. This not only adds windage and weight aloft but also being right in the eyes of the boat they exacerbate pitching. However when we fitted an electric anchor winch I managed to move the chain locker 3 ft aft, so hopefully we have negated some of the adverse effect of the two jibs.
The liferaft needs be to hand, but is it really necessary to have it on top of the coach roof? We have managed to mount ours vertically just in front of the steering pedestal, about 3ft lower than its previous location. There are many items above and below decks that should be kept low but it is just too convenient to have them in a high location e.g. books and charts, our holding tank (although this can be drained at sea) etc.
Weight and windage aloft is something we all should all keep a close watch on.
Merry Christmas and a happy and adventurous New Year
SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR 2002
FOR THOSE MEMBERS WHO PAY THE £15 SUB. EACH YEAR, THE DUE DATE IS THE FIRST OF JANUARY. REMINDERS WILL NOT BE SENT OUT.
NEW MEMBERS
We extend a very warm welcome to the following:-
James Johnson R32 SEABIRD of APPIN Glencoe
Charlene Bargeron R36 SHAMAL II Levington
Alessio Puglisi R41 SIKABAU Chester
Ann Brown R34 ALVIRA Titchmarsh
Cliff Renshaw R34 YOLDA Liverpool
Michael McDonnell R34 RIVAL SPIRIT Plymouth
REGIONAL NEWS ROUND UP
SOUTH COAST - Vice President ANDREW GARDENER R32 St BRIGID
The Laying Up Supper had to change venue for the first time in the existence of the Association. The Hardway Sailing Club felt they could no longer host the event as they have no Rival Association members.
Fortunately Andrew (with the help of Brian Wallis) found a new venue at the Hornet Sailing Club at Haslar also in Portsmouth Harbour. The event was well attended as usual and the food was just as good if not better than last year. Three crews came by boat and they were able to lie alongside pontoons rather than wade ashore through the mud. (We are getting decadent!) Also I imagine berthing was rather less of a challenge without the tide sluicing across the piles at Hardway.
Andrew and Tania have retired as South Coast V.Ps and Barry Thunder (R36 SALAMIS) is kindly taking over.
Barry took his R36 SALAMIS down to the Azores last summer via Ushant, and northern Spain. From Spain they motored in thick fog and little wind to the Azores nearly colliding with R36 RAIN GOOSE (Ken Scaife) along the way. There were a number of other RIVALS in the Azores attending the centenary of the Ponta Delgado Club Navale and an OCC Rally at Horta. The trip back to the UK was two handed with Gordon Stanley skippering. After five days of beating into strong winds they had fog and then a strong westerly as they tried to get into Falmouth. They eventually made it into Brixham having towed 120 metres of warp for two days to keep the boat going in the right direction. As Barry says "Oh the joys of sailing in UK waters!"
WEST COAST & SOUTHERN IRELAND - Vice President TAM HAZAN R34 EUGE
Tam reports that there are now four RIVALS on moorings at Holyhead. R36 PARAMOUR de MERE (Ian & Viv ADDIS), R36 RIVAL SPIRIT (T.Cramant), R34 STORMY RIVAL (Bob Douglas) and R34 EUGE.
Also R41 ISLAND ROSE (Stan Roberts and his Sea School) is a regular visitor.
The Summer Meet was held at the Holyhead Sailing Club. They had a talk on Search and Rescue by an RAF Valley instructor followed by a three course dinner. Club members joined in and a very convivial evening ensued. Chance visitor into the new marina that weekend was Oban based R34 REVEL (David Jenkins), who was a very welcome guest.
R32 GOOD LIFE (Keith Davis) continues his Mediterranean cruise and was last heard from in Sicily.
Tam met the new owner of R38 CIRRIPEDIA (Tony McMahon) in Dun Loaghaire in July and twice met D27 PELLEGRINA (Alec Rollinson), once in the new locked in marina at Douglas, I.O.M. (Hopefully not when it was drained by mistake!) and later in Liverpool Marina.
WEST COUNTRY - Vice President MICHAEL SMITH R34 WILLIWAW
Michael reports that the meet on the Yealm was a wash out due to the forecasted gales. However 14 people representing 7 RIVALS came by road for a meal at the Bistro, and a good time was had by all comparing the summer's notes. Listening to the forecast westerly F9 while driving home, he felt he had made a wise decision as it would have been impossible to leave the estuary in the morning.
SCOTLAND - Vice President LES MORISON R32 MEERKAT
Les has arranged for the Scottish Winter Dinner to take place at the normal venue of the Stirling Highland Hotel on 9th February 2002. Formal invitations will be sent out shortly, so if you don't get yours or you are a new Scottish member and Les does not know about you please give him a call.
EAST COAST - Vice President ERIC ORME R34 ALIZ MOTTE
Eric has arranged a Winter Dinner in the Smoke Room at the Butt and Oyster pub Pin Mill on the evening of Saturday 16th February 2002. The event will be informal with pub grub followed by a short Rival orientated nautical quiz. Please contact Eric if you wish to attend.
U.S.A. - Vice President GEORGE & JILL MARTIN R41 AEOLIA
Liz and Mark Scott (R38 LONE RIVAL) live within 2 miles of the New York Twin Towers but were mercifully not directly involved. However before the catastrophe LONE RIVAL was put through her paces in the Gulf Stream as they report.
LONE RIVAL is berthed at New Rochelle, Long Island Sound, and seems unique in their area. She celebrated her 23rd season (14 with them) with a round trip to Bermuda in June/July. Mark enjoys taking part in the single handed leg of the Bermuda 1‑2 Race every 2nd year, although he usually doesn't finish owing to lack of wind at the end. This year was no exception. They spent a most enjoyable ten days in Bermuda, then set off for the return passage with their daughter Chloe (9) as crew. Soon after leaving the Gulf Stream they were hit by a front which gave them some of the nastiest weather they've experienced - a thunder storm which lasted all night and up to 45 knots on the nose. Running off wasn't an option as it would have put them back in the Gulf Stream. LONE RIVAL coped admirably as usual. How she survives crashing off waves into deep troughs without damage always amazes them. (and me, ed) A Rival will get you through! Next year they will be heading to Maine for four weeks. Any Rival owners coming to Long Island Sound, do please be sure to email mscottarch#aol.com
THE NETHERLANDS - Vice President ANNE-MARIE GEERLING
No news at this time
BELGIUM - Vice President Robert Reyniers R36 MAROJA
No news at this time
OTHER NEWS OF BOATS
Tom Addison (R38 GALANTIS) wrote earlier in the year that they were enjoying the New Zealand and intended to the UK via the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean. We hope that they were past the Middle East before the recent events. He said that they found the R38 the perfect boat for a circumnavigation, needing little expenditure and ideal for a couple with the occasional guest. They crossed the Pacific at an average of 150 nm per day (best day's run 194nm). They do admit to having the spinnaker up a lot but averaging 6 knots is certainly going some!
Brian Coad after 25 years of ownership has decided to sell R34 RAASAY. Brian has sailed her many thousands of miles both racing with a crew and single handed. Last year he had to retire from the ANZAB race due to injury in rough weather so it was good to hear that he made it to the Azores this year to join the Royal Cornwall Y.C. members attending the 100th anniversary of the Ponta Delgada Club Navale. He had 9 days cruising the Islands before single handing back to Ireland. On the way he met a N.E. gale 150nm off the Irish coast and enjoyed 40-45 knots on the nose for 36 hours. RAASAY came through with flying colours as usual but at some point the propeller was fouled by a fishing net resulting in a 20 degree bend in the shaft and went into Crosshaven for repairs.
Malcom and Pixie Moore continue to cruise in the Caribbean with R41 MATADOR of HAMBLE but they have had their problems. They have given up on the NECO autopilot and replaced it with an Autohelm 6000. The foam in the head lining disintegration which caused the vinyl to sag in a rather theatrical manner. They are at Chauaramus in Trinidad and have found numerous skills available at reasonable rates. They reckon it is one of the best places to get things sorted out since leaving the UK. They have decided to buy UK base and have relocated to Perth in Scotland.