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Blog 05/03/08 Had a really good time at the Dinghy Show in London last weekend and sounded out the possibility of a builder in England - which would obviously be useful for the long term supply of boats. Have found a very well respected builder who is interested. If anyone is keen to get a UK built boat let me know - it needs a few (5?)orders to make it cost effective to make a mould. I know there are at least three people who are very tempted, but don't want to be the first to commit... 13/02/08 First sail since October on Sunday - and only the second time ever with a crew. Beautiful weather, but frustratingly light wind (less than 3knots)! Struggled for upwind speed, not really sure why, but will try a few different things next time. Thank you to Mr R, who was interested enough in the boat to travel from Cornwall for a sail, who made a very pleasant sailing companion. There's a couple more (non sailing) photo's of the boat in the gallery. 16th January 2008 Following the Roll Tacks article in the mid Dember Yachts & Yachting, I wrote in to Y&Y to thank them and provide a little more info on the class. For my efforts I won the 'star letter' and £50 of whisky, polo shirt and beanie hat! So, thanks very much Y&Y! 3rd January 2008 Happy New Year! 2007 was a great year for me – collecting, assembling and finally sailing my NS14. And 2008 looks set to even better. The boat seems to have attracted a fair amount of interest. Since launching this website in mid August, there have been very nearly 1,000 visitors and over 3,000 page views. Indeed, as I write this there have been 159 page views so far in 2008! 14th December 2007 Lots of good news. I had a really good chat with Andy Rice (the Y&Y columnist) a couple of weeks ago about a whole range of topics, including the NS14. I am delighted that he has included so many column inches about the boat in the latest issue of Yachts & Yachting (Dec 14 issue). Many thanks Andy! I am unlikely to do any sailing for the next few months, but for all the right reasons. Number two son (aka William) was born on 30th November and it takes all my attention preventing number one son poking him! 24th October 2007 The first question everyone asks when they see my boat is "What is it?". The second is usually "Why did you get that?". Well, I wanted a boat that was a real pleasure to sail, not compromised to accomodate a thousand different requirements. I wanted a boat that was fast and simple, a boat that didn't require all of my spare time to learn to sail but that was rewarding to sail. Before I settled on the NS14, I had a go at designing my perfect boat. This is it: After some more research, I realised that my design was a NS14, only not as good! In the end, rather than building my own design I bought a ready made one which had 40 years or development and refinement behind it. 21st October 2007 A mixed bag of sailing this weekend. I intended to arrive early to sort a few niggly bits, like daggerboard elastic, and finally put the whisker pole fittings on. Instead I decided to start tiling the kitchen walls, making me a little late down the club (why does DIY always take longer than expeced?). Once down the club, I got chatting to a couple of guys who saw the boat and were very interested in it. It was so nice to discuss the finer points of rocker and bow profile with some one who understood, that I suddenly realised the race was about to start. I was late, by about 5 minutes! And it was a drifter - probably sailing 800 yards in an hour. Not much fun! And then, just as we all finished (I did catch some boats!) the wind freshened to a perfect force 3. Absolutey typical. I took the long way back ashore and had a blast. The boat sails so well in these winds, just smoothly accelerating on to the plane with no fuss. 5th October 2007 I have a few people e-mail to point out that I haven't actually described what the boat is like to sail. So, to right hat wrong, here are my early thoughts: In three words: - Easy, smooth, fast. Although it is a development class, this is not some radical machine that requires hours and hours of practise just to keep up right. Obviously, the more you sail the better you'll get, but the NS14 is as easy to sail as it gets. No kite, no trapeze, small sails and a hull form that has forgiven even my most ill-timed gybes. In fact the hardest part seems to be when hardening up from a broad-reach to close-hauled. The acceleration is so rapid that it has taken me by suprise a couple of times and I've found myself wobbling a bit, but the boat just sits on its gunwhale and lets me recover. The foils are very light, high aspect ratio and beautifully profiled. Steering from the dagger-style rudder is amazingly light. The boat handles superbly and offers a really smooth ride. The side tanks are deep and curved and make hiking as comfy as it can be. The acceleration has to be felt to be believed. When a puff strikes, this boat just sails quicker. No fuss, no delay, just an instant increase in speed. Despite (or because of) the wing mast, the rig is very simple. Just a kicker, ouithaul and cunningham. The shrouds are on tracks so that a) the rig can be tensioned and b) the leeward one can be let forward on a run (so the main can go further out). No lowers, no mast ram, no fancy gizmos, just a simple, unclutterd cockpit and controls that really matter. 15th September 2007 First proper race. It was Chew Valley Lake Sailing Club's 40th anniversary, marked with a big pursuit race and even bigger party. More than eighty boats, ranging from Mirrors to RS800s started - many in party mood flying bunting from their rigging. The wind was a gentle force 1-2 and the course was a figure of eight. I started with a fleet of Flying Fifteens and finished in eleventh place overall, which I was mighty pleased with considering it was only my third sail of the year (in any boat). The top spots were dominated by the RS700s who came by just at the end when the wind got up enough for them to plane down a long reach. Many thanks to all who helped organise a really fun day. 2nd September 2007 Second outing - singlehanded this time. Wind was a blustery 3-4, which doesn't sound too bad, but saw an I14, Cherub, RS800, Vago, RS700 and several others go for a swim at various points. As this was only my second sail of the year in any boat, I was quite pleased to avoid capsizing myself, which is more a testament to the boat than my skills. On the water I was behind a Finn but ahead of a Phantom (although the young lad must have been seriously overpowered), so guess a PY of 1060-1075 in singlehanded mode is about right. I found the hardest thing was hardening up around the leeward mark from run to close haul. The acceleration and extra power , coupled with a bit of heel and some weather helm (I hadn't taken any rake out despite not using the jib) spun the boat a couple of times so quickly that I ended up tacking accidently! There are some pictures (before the wing got up) in the gallery. 12th August 2007 First outing today. With a crew of 6'1" and a combined weight of probably 170kg, we opted to use the larger mainsail (8.2m^2). The wind was a gusty 8-10kts and being on a lake the water was flat. Aside from some of my knots in the kicker coming undone, none of my fitting came off, which was quite a relief! My initial concerns over tippyness were soon alayed, it is no more tippy than a RS200 and sits quite well on its ear (even if this may not be optimum trim!). Upwind felt fast, probably faster than an RS400, but its hard to tell in isolation. The acceleration as we bore off on to a reach was smooth and rapid, and even without a kite the speed was plenty fast enough for me. The most noticeable thing for me was how quickly it accelerated in every gust - the hull form really does seem to be easily driven. Hopefully I 'll get to race next weekend to get a better benchmark of performance. 30th July 2007
I have agreed a provisional handicap of 1028 with the Principle Race Officer (1075 singlehanded with just the mainsail). This ties in with the Aussie handicaps which officially rate the NS14 as slightly slower than a Tasar. However, I understand that there isn't much handicap racing in Oz and as a consequence the yardsticks can be a little unrelaible (especially as the NS is a development class). Everyone I have contacted thinks that the latest NS' are considerably quicker than Tasars and should have a handicap around 1000. I shan't tell my PRO that though! 29th July 2007
Back to the club to finish off rigging. Progress was much slowed by the many (welcome) interested passers by, wondering what the boat was. Guesses ranged from Moth to Merlin Rocket. I felt very proud as complete strangers passed preferable judgement, although most seemed suprised that it didn't have a kite. Indeed, I was talking so much that I didn't manage to finish off rigging! I'm away on my hols next week, but should launch the week after. Stay tuned to see if it floats! 28th July 2007
Took the boat down to the sailing club today to rig her up. Was greeted by the sight of dozens of three foot tall pirates setting sail around the island. Our son was due to join them, but he got stung by a bee this morning whilst picking strawberries, so spent the afternoon napping in his cot bed. Even wannabe pirates have to rest. I managed to hoist the sails, but still have the kicker, downhaul and outhaul to thread. The Landenberger sails look fab - just like a scaled down Tornado. By the way, if anyone tells you wing masts are heavy, they are wrong. My (aluminium) mast is undoubtedly lighter and easier to lift than, say, an RS200 or Laser mast. 27th July 2007
The ropes have arrived! Many thanks to the staff at P&B who kept re-sending out the ropes - I hope you can claim compensation from the Royal Mail. Someone somewhere must have 180m of colourful string, but it ain't me. 26th July 2007
A week and a half later, and quite amazing. The THIRD set of rope hasn't turned up either. Where are they going? I have checked and double checked the address that P&B have for me, and it is correct. Very mysterious. A fourth set is to be sent out - this time by courier to my work address. 24th July 2007
Having got the shrouds and forestay cut at the chandlery, I put the mast up today with the boat on my driveway. Its funny how I'd never noticed the telegraph wires overhead before! Its a good thing they weren't powerlines or my curls would have turned to spikes... I seem to have over calculated the length of the shrouds (can't get enough rig tension on at the mast rake I want), so its back to the chandlers for the twentieth time this month. Its a good thing I work next door! 16th July 2007
Would you believe, two weeks later the second set of ropes hasn't turned up either. Third set to be sent out, and I'm feeling very guilty. This must be costing P&B. 14th July 2007
The guys at Wet & Windy must be heartily sick of me now. I seem to pop in every day, spend an hour there and part with £1.36 worth of nuts and bolts - and invaluable advice. 2nd July 2007
Ordred the running rigging from Pinnel and Bax as they seem to have a wide range of ropes ina variety of garish colours. Unfortunately, even allowing for postal strike delays, they would appear to have been lost in the post, so they are sending out a second lot. 30th June 2007
They say measure twice, cut once. This is never more true than when fitting the rudder pintles. Getting the rudder on the centreline AND vertical isn't as easy as it sounds, but I think I managed it. Afterwards it occurred to me that some sort of jig would have made things easier. So nearly there now... 28th June 2007
Finished fitting out the mast today, which included attaching the diamond spreaders and the main halyard block. A little fiddly, but rewarding! 20th June 2007 The sails have arrived - they look great. The jib is just 2.4m2 with a zipped luff. The mainsail is 6.9m2 very high aspect ratio, with a square head. Just like a modern catamaran rig. I also have a larger (8.2m2) main to be used when sailing with a heavier crew (eg man sized). The idea is to be about the same speed as the normal NS, but with a heavier weight. 15th June 2007 Boom was simple enough on the whole. Just a few rivetted parts. But, by golly, rivetting with stainless steel rivets is hard work. After nearly giving myself a hernia, I discover that my neighbour has a compressed air rivet gun. What an invention! 12th June 2007 Slow going for the last couplke of weeks, but back at it again now. Hull is fully fitted bar the rudder pintles and jib tracks. 31st May 2007 Well, the hull is nearly fully fitted and the sails are on the way. Hoping to launch by the end of June! There's a useful forum on the Australian NS14 website, which has provided me with answers to my many questions. I'm still stuck for a name though. Please e-mail your ideas... 27th April 2007 After admiring the hull in the garage for the last fortnight, I drilled my first hole tonight. A most un-natural thing to do, putting holes in boats! 12th April 2007 Back home! Quite an adventure collecting the boat, but no dramas thankfully. Got to Titisee about 7pm - its a very beautiful town in the Black forest near the Swiss border. After picking the hull, Landy helped me pack the boat onto the roof of the Mondeo, and went through all the bits he is also supplying (mast, boom, foils, tiller, blocks, cleats and a variety of other fittings). Had a tour of the sail making factory which was very interesting. Stopped overnight in Luxembourg before catching the ferry back. 10th April 2007 Just about to set off to Titisee in south west Germany to collect the boat. Taking the ferry from Dover to Calais, then driving through France, Belbium, Luxembourg, France (again) and finally Germany. Roughly 400 miles, which should be easily doablr with no boat on the roof. |
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