Ruffian Racing

At the end of the 2009 sailing season we needed a focal point for our sailing in 2010 and 2011. There was no debate, it could only be the RB&I in 2010 and the Azab in 2011. We paid the deposits and we were committed to the race and once again started planning for these very special races. In addition we put up posters for the race up on the club notice board, which we would like to think,  encouraged fellow Scarborough yachtsmen Wave and Dave (sounds like a comedy double act!) to join in the challenges in ‘Resolute’, either way the have signed up.

One part of Ruffian which had always bugged me was the battered looking pulpit which we had acquired when we bought her, but after a week of tube bending and welding, she now looks resplendent in her new one!

 Ruffian is still in good shape but we had always questioned which way to go regarding Seame or class’b’ AIS, the offshore regs for 2010 answered the question and we purchased (at a much reduced rate, thanks to the efforts of Stuart McDonald)  the Digital Yacht AIT 250 system complete with antenna’s. A friend of ours likened the unit to a dog kennel, which is probably about right but we found a relatively unobtrusive place to mount it under the nav station but still leaving the LED’s visible. The next problem was where to mount the VHF antenna, which presented a bigger problem, quite obviously, being ‘line of sight’ the higher up the better, so the mast head was first choice. On reading the instructions, which said that it had to have a 2 metre vertical separation from other VHF aerials so as not to experience interference and given that the offshore regs require the VHF radio aerial to be mounted mast head, there was no alternative but to pulpit mount it, which as the pulpit rail was quite full already, an aerial mounting bracket had to be fabricated (fortunately from the leftover s/s tube from the pulpit). A day later we connected the whole thing up, set it all up on the laptop and hey presto, all working.

 The next problem was how to display it and we decided to upgrade the Seapro 2000 to 3000, extend the chart library, which we have done but we will probably have to buy a new laptap to run it on, hey ho, it’s only money!

Our mainsail is starting to show signs of wear and so we set about the task of getting a few quotes from UK sail makers and also the direct approach, from the Far East! The latter offering 50% reductions on the prices we were getting from the UK makers and so we made the decision to further explore that possibility. What kind of sail did we want? First of all we needed something bullet proof, so once again we went for a laminate with double taffeta. We have always felt Ruffian goes well in a blow but suffers in lighter airs and as we have already ruled out the possibility of a lighter weight material, explored the possibility of increasing sail area by extending the roach. We laid out the existing main and laid a cloth tape measure where we thought the roach should extend to and took a few measurements at MUW, MTW and MHW(measurements required by the IRC handicapping system) and started to investigate how this would affect us. A quick Google took us straight to the answer on the RORC web site and surprisingly, our measurements were inside the prescribed limits. Fate then played a major part in ‘What happened next’, looking through the IRC year book we noticed that these figures were different from those on the website, a quick phone call confirmed that the website figures were incorrect! To find out how this would affect us we would have to submit the figures on an experimental ‘trial run’. It came back with 7points which is equivalent to 25 seconds an hour, something we hope we can live with for the increased performance. The old main had developed stress points at the ends of the batten pockets and to alleviate this problem, we had had the top two battens replaced with full length ones, something which instantly showed us the plus side of full battens, with this in mind and to carry the extra roach we decided on three full and one partial battens.

Our next alteration to specifications was the percentage of reduction for the reefs, Number three is non negotiable, being set by the offshore rules but we altered one and two to figures which we thought suited our needs better.

Every other measurement was double checked and off went the order with the deposit.

The next turn of events turned our stomachs. Enter Roger Buxton, ‘Oh that company, yea, they made me one, it was absolutely crap!!’ he sent us photos of the sail, with outhaul, halyard tension, backstay and mainsheet all under  maximum tension and it looked like a sheet of corrugated tin! ‘They built it for a straight mast, and didn’t allow for luff curvature but they did put it right at no cost to me’ 

Delivery is imminent; we will finish this report later.

With the extra roach we will have to fit a backstay lifter, and replace the stainless rigging with dyneema, discard the Sigma cam arrangement and replace with block and tackle (we reckon on 24 to 1 ) and have also moved and strengthened the attachment points out board but with the weather as it is, have yet to fit it.

OUR NEW SAIL FINALLY ARRIVES.

And so the work went on with the preparations for the race. The new sail arrived as promised just after Christmas, unfortunately Bucko's prediction was correct, they it built ours for a straight mast too!  To Far East Sail's credit they paid for the return and alterations that they had to make to the sail.  With a week before our departure from Scarborough, we still had no sail and were getting rather stressful!  An email to Far East Sails produced the sail on the doorstep by priorty delivery two days later.  To our dismay the sail looked no better, we were gutted.  We made the decision to give the sail further trials on the way to Plymouth.

Finally the day came for our departure and once again we waved goodbye to family and friends on the quayside.  We sailed our usual course to Dover only to be surprised that since our last passage down there, somebody had built a wind farm right in the middle of our course (note to dayskippers and yachtmasters, always keep your charts up to date!)  After just recovering from this shock, the fog closed in, causing us to make the decision to call in at Dover Harbour until it lifted and we continued on our way.  Trials with the sail had not gone well and we wondered if a stiffer lower batton would solve the problem, a chance meeting with our old sailmaker in Cowes solved all our problems.  He is now working with Hyde Sails out of his old loft at the marina and offered to cast his eye over the sail.  He agreed that the luff curve did not match the pre-bend and offered to recut the sail and forward it on to Plymouth in time for the race if this was acceptable with Far East Sails, who had no hesitation to give Hyde's the go ahead, adding that they would pay for the work.