Friday, December 5, 2014
VOR: Team Vestas running aground
Sucks to be the Skipper / Navigator this week. Lucky everyone is okay! Will be interesting to see if they can get back into the race though it seems really doubtful with such extensive damage. Its not clear yet if they'll even retrieve the boat but I really hope so!
Tuning: New prebend
Been playing with the mast some more, as we've had good speed my fingers are crossed that I haven't broken that but only improved it.
Last week I managed to get rid of the hook at the top of the mast - basically by rolling back to everything loose and re-tightening. I suspect the D2 pressure induced the hook.
Afterwards though I took a picture up the mast track decided the mast was not longer in column. One of the problems I had been having was setting the D2 tension so yesterday I went back up, dismantled them, cleaned them and had another go. Cleaning them made a HUGE difference. Previously the idea of hand tight was impossible, as you couldn't turn them by hand even when loose, now you can and I feel more confident about their tension.
In the picture below you can see the turnbuckle - there are rotating sleeves at A and B. As pressure increases A will likely bind and you have to be careful too not rotate the rod rigging - I started by trying to grip the rod but moved to gripping the turnbuckle body instead.
Last week I managed to get rid of the hook at the top of the mast - basically by rolling back to everything loose and re-tightening. I suspect the D2 pressure induced the hook.
Afterwards though I took a picture up the mast track decided the mast was not longer in column. One of the problems I had been having was setting the D2 tension so yesterday I went back up, dismantled them, cleaned them and had another go. Cleaning them made a HUGE difference. Previously the idea of hand tight was impossible, as you couldn't turn them by hand even when loose, now you can and I feel more confident about their tension.
In the picture below you can see the turnbuckle - there are rotating sleeves at A and B. As pressure increases A will likely bind and you have to be careful too not rotate the rod rigging - I started by trying to grip the rod but moved to gripping the turnbuckle body instead.
Straight? Straighter for sure.
Notice the lack of bend up high.
Old shot for reference
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
Race: America's cup - bah humbug!
Was really hoping this came to SD, even with our fickle winds getting up close to the boats would have been a lot of fun.
Not to be...
What do they have that we don't?? :)
Not to be...
What do they have that we don't?? :)
Monday, November 24, 2014
Race: Volvo Ocean Race - SCA in a better place?
I'll make no bones about supporting SCA in the Volvo Ocean Race. Firstly they have the least experience in round the world sailing of any of the crews even if skipper Sam Davies could out grizzle most grizzled sailors out there (not in terms of appearances), secondly they're all an all girl team and sailing is extremely male dominated.
After being in last place for a couple of days they finally started to look good last night:
.PNG)
With light airs hitting everyone and lifting the fleet the right started to look good. What's more wind is going to fill in from behind the fleet.
This morning Abu Dubai had tacked, and my gut says that SCA should too though I haven't properly checked the GRIBs. SCA is going to get the new wind early and look well placed.
The wind in the image below is for later today (I think, the time scrubber isn't very accurate).
.PNG)
Overall though the fleet has compressed and it'll be interesting to see how today and tomorrow play out.
Here's a nice clip from Brunel showing the fun they've been having over the last few days - probably enjoying a respite right now!
After being in last place for a couple of days they finally started to look good last night:
With light airs hitting everyone and lifting the fleet the right started to look good. What's more wind is going to fill in from behind the fleet.
This morning Abu Dubai had tacked, and my gut says that SCA should too though I haven't properly checked the GRIBs. SCA is going to get the new wind early and look well placed.
The wind in the image below is for later today (I think, the time scrubber isn't very accurate).
Overall though the fleet has compressed and it'll be interesting to see how today and tomorrow play out.
Here's a nice clip from Brunel showing the fun they've been having over the last few days - probably enjoying a respite right now!
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Race: Hot Rum II Lessons
Learning all the time here. Yesterday's race was terrible, we placed 101 out of 124, taking our overall position to 80th.
We can make this respectable in the next race.
And I could have saved it early on. As we pulled away from the start line we had wind but were slow relative to both the other 36.7s and targets. We stayed slow. We aren't slow anymore.
Lesson 1. Don't be slow. We aren't slow. Know how fast you are relative to the other boats and react if you aren't keeping up or overtaking. React early.
Lesson 2. Need to train more people in checking for kelp using the camera, or get a kelp window installed in the hull.
Lesson 3 (II). Get better at clearing kelp. The flosser doesn't work, reason being it floats at the top of the keel and generally the kelp is spread down the keel. Last time kelp messed up a race we decided to add weights to the flosser to help drag the kelp off the keel. The weights are on the boat but not on the flossing line. The idea is to try and avoid backing down, get the flosser to the top of the keel and drop the weights either side to pull the line down. Tomorrow I go to the boat and put the weights on the line.
Lesson 4. Work down when you can. Having caught back up too the fleet we should have beaten Fandango but went too high. They beat us by 30 seconds across the line and less in reality as we had starboard rights on them.
Here's a quick edit from Jonathan.
We can make this respectable in the next race.
And I could have saved it early on. As we pulled away from the start line we had wind but were slow relative to both the other 36.7s and targets. We stayed slow. We aren't slow anymore.
Lesson 1. Don't be slow. We aren't slow. Know how fast you are relative to the other boats and react if you aren't keeping up or overtaking. React early.
Lesson 2. Need to train more people in checking for kelp using the camera, or get a kelp window installed in the hull.
Lesson 3 (II). Get better at clearing kelp. The flosser doesn't work, reason being it floats at the top of the keel and generally the kelp is spread down the keel. Last time kelp messed up a race we decided to add weights to the flosser to help drag the kelp off the keel. The weights are on the boat but not on the flossing line. The idea is to try and avoid backing down, get the flosser to the top of the keel and drop the weights either side to pull the line down. Tomorrow I go to the boat and put the weights on the line.
Lesson 4. Work down when you can. Having caught back up too the fleet we should have beaten Fandango but went too high. They beat us by 30 seconds across the line and less in reality as we had starboard rights on them.
Here's a quick edit from Jonathan.
Saturday, November 22, 2014
Race: Hot Rum II
Funking Kelp.
Thick blue line is boat speed through the whole race. Guess at what point we cleared the kelp....
Judging by our speed vs polar speed we were dragging it from the start to the bottom mark (halfway). While the wind was higher we were just slow compared to the other boats, when it dropped at the leeward mark we were parked.
This is the kelp.
I should have checked much earlier, I thought about it.
That is all.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Gear: Light weight spinnaker sheet
1/8th inch amsteel - very light, came in handy yesterday as it kept our spinnaker flying when others were still floundering and helped us edge past people into clearer air.
Still some mods to be made to make it really useful.
Still some mods to be made to make it really useful.
Weather: Hot Rum 1 Weather Review
Predictions for the race were:
Sailflow Zuniga: West @ 7 knots max
PredictWind: 7-10 knots
On the water we saw 6-7 knots at the start, with dips to 3 knots. Direction north west in the channel. Going past Point Loma at about 2pm we peaked at 12 knots TWS and 8-9 knots BSP. Significant channelling of air around the end of the point.
On the way back we saw 3-10 knots on the west side of the channel, the east side seemed light. The middle was a death trap we got stuck in. We weren't the only boat to get stuck in it but many boats saw our problems and sailed around the area.
Heading past the last mark we got headed about 30 degrees and tacked into the channel too early. We should have eaten the header and pushed onto the west side of the channel to get into the wind we'd used on the way out and could see on the way back. The header was probably due to wind wrapping around the point. Hindsight.
Looking at the graph for Mission Bay it seems the wind was fairly steady and slowly drifted north during the day:
This is what was predicted vs recorded for Zuniga:
.PNG)
Sailflow Zuniga: West @ 7 knots max
PredictWind: 7-10 knots
On the water we saw 6-7 knots at the start, with dips to 3 knots. Direction north west in the channel. Going past Point Loma at about 2pm we peaked at 12 knots TWS and 8-9 knots BSP. Significant channelling of air around the end of the point.
On the way back we saw 3-10 knots on the west side of the channel, the east side seemed light. The middle was a death trap we got stuck in. We weren't the only boat to get stuck in it but many boats saw our problems and sailed around the area.
Heading past the last mark we got headed about 30 degrees and tacked into the channel too early. We should have eaten the header and pushed onto the west side of the channel to get into the wind we'd used on the way out and could see on the way back. The header was probably due to wind wrapping around the point. Hindsight.
Looking at the graph for Mission Bay it seems the wind was fairly steady and slowly drifted north during the day:
This is what was predicted vs recorded for Zuniga:
Race: Hot Rum I
First close quarters race - 132 boats finished with Kraken in 69th, 14/34 in class and 2/6 36.7s in the race, finishing about a minute behind Adventure.
This was a lot of fun, and we were doing really well until the wind deserted us mid channel coming back and we sat and watched a LOT of boats pass us. Looking at the track we lost 15-20 minutes and about 30 places there, dispiriting but once we got back into the wind we were trucking, held off larger faster boats and caught Adventure who had passed us while stranded.
After a bunch of good starts in recent races we were late, very late - perhaps a minute. Not sure what happened but with a strong tide I did a timed run towards the line but when trying to replicate it for the actual start we didn't accelerate.
However.... we crossed the line with speed and worked high and had overtaken all the other boats on our start time before leaving the shadow of Point Loma. Part of this was good strategy - a delayed spinnaker launch to work high, and convincing a couple of larger boats not to roll us. Much of it was great luck, just as we were getting into our stride we approached a graveyard of boats. They were sat in no wind, and busy destroying what wind there was for each other. With a bunch of fast boats behind us I had some trepidation as we approached but a small gap opened up and our momentum carried us through.
On the other side we picked up speed again and found the wind and soon got our legs stretched at eight knots.
My rough notes are below - then some pictures courtesy of John - check out the number of Spinnakers trying (and mostly failing) to chase us down!
This was a lot of fun, and we were doing really well until the wind deserted us mid channel coming back and we sat and watched a LOT of boats pass us. Looking at the track we lost 15-20 minutes and about 30 places there, dispiriting but once we got back into the wind we were trucking, held off larger faster boats and caught Adventure who had passed us while stranded.
After a bunch of good starts in recent races we were late, very late - perhaps a minute. Not sure what happened but with a strong tide I did a timed run towards the line but when trying to replicate it for the actual start we didn't accelerate.
However.... we crossed the line with speed and worked high and had overtaken all the other boats on our start time before leaving the shadow of Point Loma. Part of this was good strategy - a delayed spinnaker launch to work high, and convincing a couple of larger boats not to roll us. Much of it was great luck, just as we were getting into our stride we approached a graveyard of boats. They were sat in no wind, and busy destroying what wind there was for each other. With a bunch of fast boats behind us I had some trepidation as we approached but a small gap opened up and our momentum carried us through.
On the other side we picked up speed again and found the wind and soon got our legs stretched at eight knots.
My rough notes are below - then some pictures courtesy of John - check out the number of Spinnakers trying (and mostly failing) to chase us down!
- 11/8/14 - 9 - Tom, John, Cheryl, Charlie+1, David, Jonathan, Ted, Kelly
- 69th or 72nd. 2nd 367, 14/34 in class
- For the most part we raced a great race, with a 20+ minute section of the wind gods stranding us (right, we were in the wrong place at the wrong time, but sat there as a warning for all who would follow).
- About a minute late to the start line but good speed and a lucky break on a boat graveyard near the sub pen put us heading for the first mark in a really good position (ahead of all 36.7s just beyond it).
- Holding off on spinnaker hoist to get high on fleet worked.
- Lightweight spinnaker line worked, combined with our <0.5oz spinnaker we were trucking at times others weren't.
- Foredeck crew work was great. Our test hoist left the spin halyard in the wrong place but we fixed it on with a quick spin drop Followed by a genoa hoist. Something to watch for but it worked out okay.
- Bottom reach leg was essentially an upwind leg and we were out pointed by everyone but fast.
- Backstay for pointing is now critical to pointing (perhaps even 3-5 degrees?) with the rig tuning as it is. Adding backstay got pointing up without sacrificing speed (we were already "fast" at > 5kts).
- New guys Kelly and Anna were awesome. Cheryl and Anna trimming were awesome.
- We got stuck below point loma, actually doubled back on oursleves. Lost about 20 minutes. Right. 20. No really, see the link below if you want:
- Race replay (some boats, not all last time I checked)
- My conclusion is in any midrange or less W-NW breeze that is wrapping around the point you should hug the point high, and keep driving high.
- Once beyond the Bermuda triangle we were significantly behind Adventure. We kept high and beat a few other boats to the finish line. It seemed like we were faster and higher than Adventure and we weren't short of them at the finish line. We also tacked on top of and and handsomely beat a 40.7 then beat off an unknown significantly larger boat that tried to roll us. Thank you to the handy lift we luffed on top of to drop them off.
- Rig tune: V1s ~34, D1s Loose. Worked well in the conditions.
Monday, November 3, 2014
Technique: Weather
I've been reading a book called "High Performance Sailing". On chapter one at the moment it's all about weather and was talking about cloud and wind interactions. At one point we got hit with a decent gust and looking up where it came from you could see a big dark cloud with a thick rain storm under it. Textbook, the rain creates a down draft in the middle of the cloud that radiates outwards, this then combined with the base ?15knot breeze.
We hoisted the spinnaker but sadly noticed the boom gooseneck was coming loose before we gybed onto the faster down wave tack - had been hoping to beat our high speed but guess it'll last until next time there's good conditions.
The gooseneck problem is just a sheared cotter pin but it was tricky to fix in the waves, now I understand the connection better there will be spare pins on board and we'll fix it on the go if it happens again.
On the way back in we got another lesson in cloud wind influence. Just as we got back to the harbor the wind dropped from 12 knots, to 8 knots, to 4 knots spinning around in all directions and boat speed dropped to an uncomfortable and bouncy 1-2 knots.
We were running downwind and directly downwind of us was another larger rainstorm - pushing wind back in our direction. Behind us was another cloud, but n
o rain. This cloud was probably pulling wind into it and up, again working to cancel out the main wind. We were stuck in the middle.
After about 10-15 minutes the wind turned back on and hit nearly 20 knots.
What's crazy is to get good at racing we need to understand these cloud wind interactions, and be able to map them (moving!) across a race course and combine with racing rules and tactics.
Tuning: V1s at 40, D1s just on the gauge (3, gauge bottoms out at 2)
Friday, October 31, 2014
Technique: Tuning, reference shots
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Top photos: V1 34, D1 0, Headstay Default, Left = no backstay, right = lots
Top photos: V1 40, D1 1, Headstay Default, Left = no backstay, right = lots
Not a huge amount of difference in the base setting, I'm still amazed at the bend with a bunch of backstay on!
Not a huge amount of difference in the base setting, I'm still amazed at the bend with a bunch of backstay on!
Saturday, October 18, 2014
Race: The Rick Johnson Memorial
The Rick Johnson memorial regatta marked a year racing Kraken. Looking good the day before three crew withdrew last minute ........ so we sailed with five on board.
Winds were 9-13 knots all day and we got some lovely sailing in. Sarah took on the foredeck, and mast and will probably have a few bruises to show tomorrow but did great in a jump in at the deep end situation. The rest of us jumped around the back of the boat trying not to step on each other's toes too much. I'm aching and I was behind the wheel most of the time!
With three races we placed 2/4, 2/4, 2/4 in class and out of the 7 boats racing 2nd on overall corrected time. This was a smaller fleet than last year where I seem to remember placing 7/8.
Starts - not terrible, a bit slow at the first one, a little late on the second (though we may have won it?). Second by a few seconds on the last but fairly quickly powered over Briar Rose.
Upwind - good boat speed and pointing. Overpowered above 10 knots but mostly controllable with traveller. Did not do a good job tracking the shifts but did do a good job covering Shamen and pulled off the best lee bow on them to date. Gringo beat us one upwind getting inside at the top mark but otherwise I think we won all three initial beats and we passed Gringo at that top mark anyway. The new tuning seemed to work really well, but probably could have tightened the rig more than I did after the first race. Overall we were pointing as high as everyone else and going as fast, or a little faster so I'm not going to complain too much, just keep pushing this aspect.
Downwind boat speed seemed okay. We had the pole too low and sometimes had the sheet tweaked needlessly. Maneuvers were tricky and overall stressful on everyone as shorthanded and lacking experience sailing this way but we survived and didn't break anything (though I'll be going up the mast this week to bring a halyard back to earth!).
Hopefully we learnt enough to improve next time though.
The Oceanside "C" leeward mark bites us more than any other leeward mark. I don't know why. Going to have to go and sprinkle some Kraken rum around it. It bit us both times today, once a nibble, the second time a big chomp.
Still - second and close to Shamen in first place in two out of three races despite being shorthanded. Actually quite awesome to have made so many mistakes and be so close to them. Next year!
Here are some bonus dolphins that joined us while milling around between races:
Wind: 8 -> 13 knots
Rig: Vs -31, Ds hand tight
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Race: Volvo Ocean Race
This probably won't be my last shout out to this race before it's over. Right now the boats are heading past the coast of Africa and aiming for the trade winds on their first leg. Racing has been tight though from today the spread of the the 7 boat fleet has gone from less than 10nm after five days racing to nearly 30.
They are pushing out a load of videos also - all viewable on their website.
There have been lots of lead changes over the last few days and it can be followed on their rather snazzy app - below is a iPhone5 screen shot. Personally I'm shooting for SCA (all girls, was leading a couple of times but currently at the back) and DongFeng (mostly grizzled round eyes but a couple of Chinese sailors on board) who were at the back of the pack but are currently leading.
They are pushing out a load of videos also - all viewable on their website.
There have been lots of lead changes over the last few days and it can be followed on their rather snazzy app - below is a iPhone5 screen shot. Personally I'm shooting for SCA (all girls, was leading a couple of times but currently at the back) and DongFeng (mostly grizzled round eyes but a couple of Chinese sailors on board) who were at the back of the pack but are currently leading.
Here's a longer video introducing some of the sailors and teams.
Monday, October 13, 2014
Video: Finn Olympic Sailor Oli Tweddell
I loved this video seen on Sailing Anarchy. Passing it on....
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Gear: Wind Transducer Woes (Update.2).
Blah.
After dragging a hose up the mast and spraying down the wind transducer a couple of times it hung on until the Beneteau cup. Prior to the first race it stopped, but then gamefully worked during most of the racing bar a couple of slow downwind sections but on the way home reaching at 7+ knots it just gave up the ghost.
So this time I took it off and cleaned it "properly".
Getting it off took two trips up the mast as the screws holding it on were pretty stuck. A second attempt with lube and an impact screwdriver did the trick.
Once off I took it home and stuck it in the kitchen sink and flushed lots of simple green through it. Starting off with it fairly hard to turn (friction by hand and nothing if you blew on it) things loosened up and now I'm happy say it needs just a whisper to get going.
You can see how dirty it had got in the pictures below. Much cleaner after a good wipe down!
The smoke in the middle of the panorama was due to a helicopter crash on Camp Pendleton.
Edit: Since cleaning the transducer has stirred in the slightest breeze and starts moving before any of the others I see in the harbor around Kraken. I'll write a post up about how I approach climbing the mast once I get some good pictures of the equipment.
After dragging a hose up the mast and spraying down the wind transducer a couple of times it hung on until the Beneteau cup. Prior to the first race it stopped, but then gamefully worked during most of the racing bar a couple of slow downwind sections but on the way home reaching at 7+ knots it just gave up the ghost.
So this time I took it off and cleaned it "properly".
Getting it off took two trips up the mast as the screws holding it on were pretty stuck. A second attempt with lube and an impact screwdriver did the trick.
Once off I took it home and stuck it in the kitchen sink and flushed lots of simple green through it. Starting off with it fairly hard to turn (friction by hand and nothing if you blew on it) things loosened up and now I'm happy say it needs just a whisper to get going.
You can see how dirty it had got in the pictures below. Much cleaner after a good wipe down!
The smoke in the middle of the panorama was due to a helicopter crash on Camp Pendleton.
Edit: Since cleaning the transducer has stirred in the slightest breeze and starts moving before any of the others I see in the harbor around Kraken. I'll write a post up about how I approach climbing the mast once I get some good pictures of the equipment.
Technique: Tuning
Sailing today in super light winds (2-6 knots) it seemed like there was some power and the boat kept moving but honestly it's difficult to know exactly until tried out against other boats.
Before the Vs were at 47, I brought them down to 37 then while we were sailing down to 35 on the loos gauge. Post sail I dropped even further to 31, the NS guide for 4-8knots of wind.
Something that seemed interesting to me was that looking at the sail with the eye and then with a photo the depth seems different.
We'll see if the folks at sailnet can come up with some interesting comparisons.
Edit: Adding an image of mast bend with the shrouds set to 34. You can see a slight bend that seems fairly high up in the mast.
Before the Vs were at 47, I brought them down to 37 then while we were sailing down to 35 on the loos gauge. Post sail I dropped even further to 31, the NS guide for 4-8knots of wind.
Something that seemed interesting to me was that looking at the sail with the eye and then with a photo the depth seems different.
Looking at this is seems the draft was further aft than I wanted, though I did want it aft in the light winds and gentle seas.
Chick from Kea recommends running a little looser (2-3 on the gauge) than the tuning guide, given his local dominance that might be some good advice...
A reference picture from North Sail's guide for light-medium wind mainsail tuning is below. Draft is further forwards and the leech is more closed.
Edit: Adding an image of mast bend with the shrouds set to 34. You can see a slight bend that seems fairly high up in the mast.
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Technique: Tuning
Lol.
Finally had a proper look at the tuning on the boat. Assuming my LOOS gauge is roughly accurate we were setup for about 20knots of breeze, not the usual <10 we get. Not only that but the tension on the D1s was unbalanced and far too low so in the stronger winds we were probably still getting a load of side bend, just without the curve of the mast. I think.... this tuning thing is still a bit of a mystery.
I loosened up the Vs and D1s (outer masthead and lower diagonals). It took a while to get used to the way adjusting one side directly effects the other, so to reach a desired tension with a balanced finished result you need to progressively work on each side.
At the same time I did push the V's a little to the starboard side as the mast wasn't quite centered. It's closer now but I think I can push it some more.
Hopefully it's still straight....
Will be very interesting to see what difference this change makes this weekend.
Finally had a proper look at the tuning on the boat. Assuming my LOOS gauge is roughly accurate we were setup for about 20knots of breeze, not the usual <10 we get. Not only that but the tension on the D1s was unbalanced and far too low so in the stronger winds we were probably still getting a load of side bend, just without the curve of the mast. I think.... this tuning thing is still a bit of a mystery.
I loosened up the Vs and D1s (outer masthead and lower diagonals). It took a while to get used to the way adjusting one side directly effects the other, so to reach a desired tension with a balanced finished result you need to progressively work on each side.
At the same time I did push the V's a little to the starboard side as the mast wasn't quite centered. It's closer now but I think I can push it some more.
Hopefully it's still straight....
Will be very interesting to see what difference this change makes this weekend.
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Technique: Tuning
North sails new tuning guide for the 36.7 features a picture of Kraken and a nice complement. We were going well upwind that race, our problems were all downwind, hopefully improved since then!
Reason I'm looking at it is that this is one of the next parts to racing Kraken that I'm going to start pushing. Racing at the weekend I felt we could have got more depth into the main in the light conditions, straightening the mast could have helped. Racing in the Beneteau Cup we were a little over powered at times, but then again underpowered at other times. Re-tuning between races might have helped keep us in the groove, improving pointing in stronger winds and power in lighter conditions.
Monday, October 6, 2014
Technique/Gear: Two spin sheets or one
When we started sailing Kraken she was equipped with sheets and tweakers, one sheet per clew and tweakers to bring the pole side down.
Our initial gybe approach followed the dip pole setup that I was most used to, so we added lazy sheets and guys.
A year into racing and while our gybes have improved significantly we're still not as smooth as we could be. While the fordeck seems pretty comfortable with end for end (we switched back) gybing using the lazy sheets there are often mistakes made in the cockpit, lines loosed leaving clews un constrained, wrong lines being pulled post gybe.
So we're going back to lines and tweakers. Initial tests have been positive though the wind too light too really tell.
The main concern is going to be how it affects the spinnaker when the foredeck crew are attaching to the new line, which will be active.
If I don't change things up every month or two... everyone would get complacent.
One other change I've made is that the downhaul can now be easily converted to a fore-guy in a few seconds. We've found that in gusty conditions, like those found under Point Loma where we race fairly frequently, the pole tends to dance around a bit, something that the foreguy tensioned against the afterguy alleviates. On the other hand the fore-guy setup makes setting and dousing harder and is an extra complication with frequent maneuvers. Now it's easy for us to prioritize tip control over the ease of use if desired, for instance in gusty conditions or on long spinnaker runs and reaches.
Our initial gybe approach followed the dip pole setup that I was most used to, so we added lazy sheets and guys.
A year into racing and while our gybes have improved significantly we're still not as smooth as we could be. While the fordeck seems pretty comfortable with end for end (we switched back) gybing using the lazy sheets there are often mistakes made in the cockpit, lines loosed leaving clews un constrained, wrong lines being pulled post gybe.
So we're going back to lines and tweakers. Initial tests have been positive though the wind too light too really tell.
The main concern is going to be how it affects the spinnaker when the foredeck crew are attaching to the new line, which will be active.
If I don't change things up every month or two... everyone would get complacent.
One other change I've made is that the downhaul can now be easily converted to a fore-guy in a few seconds. We've found that in gusty conditions, like those found under Point Loma where we race fairly frequently, the pole tends to dance around a bit, something that the foreguy tensioned against the afterguy alleviates. On the other hand the fore-guy setup makes setting and dousing harder and is an extra complication with frequent maneuvers. Now it's easy for us to prioritize tip control over the ease of use if desired, for instance in gusty conditions or on long spinnaker runs and reaches.
Gear: The importance of Cloth Weight
We were in a hot and sticky and suprisingly long race at the weekend - 6 hours to complete a 15 mile course.
There were only five boats in the race and we were the second fastest boat. With the wind shifting from offshore to weak onshore and a pursuit start my guess was we'd lose our lead over Gringo right at the beginning, quickly overtake the slower boats and end up in second place. We did end up in second place but didn't get there in the manner I thought.
The first leg was 2.5 miles slightly above close hauled. We made some good wind choices in 4-6 knots of breeze and some experiments with twist kept us moving nicely, rebuilding our lead over Gringo.
The second leg started deep downwind, and as the wind shifted south ended tacking upwind in 2-4 knots of breeze. During the downwind phase Gringo closed right down on us but once upwind again we held our own and even stretched out a couple of times until losing our advantage by tacking one too many times at the end (we tacked to miss a hole that gringo ploughed through - ploughing was the better choice as it saved two slow tacks).
Round the leeward (now windward!) mark we gybe set, lost all our speed and watch Gringo get their spinnaker pulling faster and pull away. During the rest of this leg breeze was generally below 4 knots and we watch Gringo continue to build that lead while our spinnaker hung like a limp rag.
Lesson 1 - in light air don't gybe set under another boat - losing all boat speed. For a moment there with the current against us we were completely stopped (I was watching a lobster bouy right next to us, and wondering if we were going to drift back into Mainbrace who was anchored for a mark).
Eventually we got bored and dropped the spinnaker, finding us sailing higher but faster with the Genoa. Then we pulled up the lighter spinnker that I generally only practice with on the basis it's pretty blown out and....
... went from 2 knots of boat speed to 4.
The spinnaker just held up better in the wind. Had shape. Got the boat moving and generating more breeze.
Lesson 2 - cloth weight is critical in light air, even if the fabric itself is in slightly worse condition.
We're ordering a new light air spinnaker form North at the moment. Until we get it though our current .5oz will be the goto sail below 6 knots (perhaps 8?).
I think we'd have won the race with the right sail. Pretty excited by the difference this new sail is going to make, it's slightly deeper section and light cloth should really help in our light air races.
There were only five boats in the race and we were the second fastest boat. With the wind shifting from offshore to weak onshore and a pursuit start my guess was we'd lose our lead over Gringo right at the beginning, quickly overtake the slower boats and end up in second place. We did end up in second place but didn't get there in the manner I thought.
The first leg was 2.5 miles slightly above close hauled. We made some good wind choices in 4-6 knots of breeze and some experiments with twist kept us moving nicely, rebuilding our lead over Gringo.
The second leg started deep downwind, and as the wind shifted south ended tacking upwind in 2-4 knots of breeze. During the downwind phase Gringo closed right down on us but once upwind again we held our own and even stretched out a couple of times until losing our advantage by tacking one too many times at the end (we tacked to miss a hole that gringo ploughed through - ploughing was the better choice as it saved two slow tacks).
Round the leeward (now windward!) mark we gybe set, lost all our speed and watch Gringo get their spinnaker pulling faster and pull away. During the rest of this leg breeze was generally below 4 knots and we watch Gringo continue to build that lead while our spinnaker hung like a limp rag.
Lesson 1 - in light air don't gybe set under another boat - losing all boat speed. For a moment there with the current against us we were completely stopped (I was watching a lobster bouy right next to us, and wondering if we were going to drift back into Mainbrace who was anchored for a mark).
Eventually we got bored and dropped the spinnaker, finding us sailing higher but faster with the Genoa. Then we pulled up the lighter spinnker that I generally only practice with on the basis it's pretty blown out and....
... went from 2 knots of boat speed to 4.
The spinnaker just held up better in the wind. Had shape. Got the boat moving and generating more breeze.
Lesson 2 - cloth weight is critical in light air, even if the fabric itself is in slightly worse condition.
We're ordering a new light air spinnaker form North at the moment. Until we get it though our current .5oz will be the goto sail below 6 knots (perhaps 8?).
I think we'd have won the race with the right sail. Pretty excited by the difference this new sail is going to make, it's slightly deeper section and light cloth should really help in our light air races.
Sunday, September 28, 2014
Technique: Twist
Generally we set Kraken up symmetrical on both tacks but this is something we'll now be changing. This has got us to the middle of the fleet but to get further up we're going to have to work our brains a bit harder.
Coming back from SD after the Beneteau Cup we had some wind in the middle of the day and were trucking along at 6-8 knots somewhere between close hauled and a close reach depending on the moment. As the wind dropped and veered we ended up close hauled and in the swell, slow.
Looking at the sails for a bit it seemed that the top third of the Jib might be pretty close to the back of the main. Though each sail had it's telltales flying well we were down to four knots in six knots of wind.
We opened up the top of the jib to the extent it was luffing a bit in the waves (keeping it strapped on the shroud at the bottom), and pulled the main in a bit tighter so that it was stalling a little at the top and this opened up the slot a lot better.
Without the wind changing we sped up to 5 - 5.5 knots, though I will admit that we cracked of 2-3 degrees as well.
During the Beneteau Cup offshore races this might have really helped. There was a sharp swell on the nose on starboard and the beam on port. On port we were trucking and on starboard we were losing a lot of momentum in the waves. Losing a couple of degrees to gain a lot of speed probably would have been a great bargin.
To get this right we probably want to open up the twist as we see bigger waves coming.
Coming back from SD after the Beneteau Cup we had some wind in the middle of the day and were trucking along at 6-8 knots somewhere between close hauled and a close reach depending on the moment. As the wind dropped and veered we ended up close hauled and in the swell, slow.
Looking at the sails for a bit it seemed that the top third of the Jib might be pretty close to the back of the main. Though each sail had it's telltales flying well we were down to four knots in six knots of wind.
We opened up the top of the jib to the extent it was luffing a bit in the waves (keeping it strapped on the shroud at the bottom), and pulled the main in a bit tighter so that it was stalling a little at the top and this opened up the slot a lot better.
Without the wind changing we sped up to 5 - 5.5 knots, though I will admit that we cracked of 2-3 degrees as well.
During the Beneteau Cup offshore races this might have really helped. There was a sharp swell on the nose on starboard and the beam on port. On port we were trucking and on starboard we were losing a lot of momentum in the waves. Losing a couple of degrees to gain a lot of speed probably would have been a great bargin.
To get this right we probably want to open up the twist as we see bigger waves coming.
Video: Single handing at it's best - Francois Gabart
Picked this Video up on SailingAnarchy. Really shows what it takes to single hand a real ocean going racer. When I single hand Kraken as a race boat (practicing, still haven't raced this way) I feel like I'm working hard the whole time but Francois Gabart takes this to a whole new level.
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Race: 2014 Beneteau Cup
The Beneteau Cup was a fun event. Our final result was 5/8 and we're properly mixing it with the fleet, losing some battles but finally winning others. Fourth wasn't too far off and that would have us top side of the table. Looking at the distance to lead boat Kea there's a lot of work over next couple of years if we want to challenge but hey, that's why we're racing - if it were easy what would the point be!
Day 1
On our first race we were pretty solid up the first couple of beats and run. It was gratifying to see our downwind now as a competitive tool rather than a scare.... until the final leg when we got the biggest knot in a spinnaker to date. Five minutes spent sorting this out on deck without a head-sail up of any description saw us lose three boats, dropping from fourth with boats ahead in reach to seventh without. Lesson learnt - if its bad enough to drop a spinnaker too the deck and you have a spare packed throw the spare up and deal with the mess later.
On the second race we were again mid race and in a building watched the other boats have spinnaker issues, headsail issues etc. Then sat on our laurels and saw boats we'd passed round the top mark ahead of us. Lesson remembered. Play the shifts. Always play the shifts.
Now we're mixing it on the downwind legs we're learning new things there. We pushed above Adventure and Sorceror to get an inside overlap but went too far to windward and couldn't hold speed to the mark. On day 2 we took this lesson and during the first race drove up over Adeline and ate their wind.
Another lesson, at a bottom mark we rounded just behind Sorcerer with Fandango right behind us. Sorcerer was slow and we tried to drive under them only to become pinned. Bad idea.... eventually we tacked to clear our air but by then Fandango was long gone and ahead.
Final lesson, the current was strong and the safest course to the mark was a port tack. We didn't hit the mark but dropped the pole two times out of six roundings to emergency tack to clear. Other's weren't as lucky.
Beyond basic sail management and tactics I also wonder if we needed more twist on starboard as we were pounding into waves. Experimentation to be done....
Day 2
Day two were two WL races outside harbor island. This was an interesting variation but I certainly had some trepidation about local knowledge and suspect this might have been well founded.....
First race we went right when everyone on the fleet went left. We did this from a pretty good position and had to stall out a bit to make the tack. Ended up in third around the mark. Had a slow hoist again and were a couple of places from last at the bottom mark. Made a place back on the next upwind leg and caught up with the bulk of the fleet at the leeward mark but with everyone and their dog having an inside overlap on us. Went in low, picked up speed to the mark with a leeward drop and managed to squeeze up back into fourth. Were comfortably in fourth when we had a horrible shift on our tack for the line, having to throw another in to make the end we hadn't been intending on hitting but doing so seconds ahead of the approaching pack. FUN!!!
Second race we were slow.
I still don't understand this... but I guess the left was paying off better than the right. Looking at the data Kraken was sailing better than we've ever sailed. Tight (for us) tacks, high on polar speeds, speed over ground agreeing but somehow running last place until the final few hundred meters where we clawed a place back. We had one major mistake with a spinnaker drop but it only cost five to ten boat lengths and shouldn't have placed us in last place.
I'm missing something about wind or current in the bay.
Day 1
On our first race we were pretty solid up the first couple of beats and run. It was gratifying to see our downwind now as a competitive tool rather than a scare.... until the final leg when we got the biggest knot in a spinnaker to date. Five minutes spent sorting this out on deck without a head-sail up of any description saw us lose three boats, dropping from fourth with boats ahead in reach to seventh without. Lesson learnt - if its bad enough to drop a spinnaker too the deck and you have a spare packed throw the spare up and deal with the mess later.
On the second race we were again mid race and in a building watched the other boats have spinnaker issues, headsail issues etc. Then sat on our laurels and saw boats we'd passed round the top mark ahead of us. Lesson remembered. Play the shifts. Always play the shifts.
Now we're mixing it on the downwind legs we're learning new things there. We pushed above Adventure and Sorceror to get an inside overlap but went too far to windward and couldn't hold speed to the mark. On day 2 we took this lesson and during the first race drove up over Adeline and ate their wind.
Another lesson, at a bottom mark we rounded just behind Sorcerer with Fandango right behind us. Sorcerer was slow and we tried to drive under them only to become pinned. Bad idea.... eventually we tacked to clear our air but by then Fandango was long gone and ahead.
Final lesson, the current was strong and the safest course to the mark was a port tack. We didn't hit the mark but dropped the pole two times out of six roundings to emergency tack to clear. Other's weren't as lucky.
Beyond basic sail management and tactics I also wonder if we needed more twist on starboard as we were pounding into waves. Experimentation to be done....
Day 2
Day two were two WL races outside harbor island. This was an interesting variation but I certainly had some trepidation about local knowledge and suspect this might have been well founded.....
First race we went right when everyone on the fleet went left. We did this from a pretty good position and had to stall out a bit to make the tack. Ended up in third around the mark. Had a slow hoist again and were a couple of places from last at the bottom mark. Made a place back on the next upwind leg and caught up with the bulk of the fleet at the leeward mark but with everyone and their dog having an inside overlap on us. Went in low, picked up speed to the mark with a leeward drop and managed to squeeze up back into fourth. Were comfortably in fourth when we had a horrible shift on our tack for the line, having to throw another in to make the end we hadn't been intending on hitting but doing so seconds ahead of the approaching pack. FUN!!!
Second race we were slow.
I still don't understand this... but I guess the left was paying off better than the right. Looking at the data Kraken was sailing better than we've ever sailed. Tight (for us) tacks, high on polar speeds, speed over ground agreeing but somehow running last place until the final few hundred meters where we clawed a place back. We had one major mistake with a spinnaker drop but it only cost five to ten boat lengths and shouldn't have placed us in last place.
I'm missing something about wind or current in the bay.
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Race: Oceanside to Mission Bay and Back
This was our first coastal race since the windless 2014 border Run. On the way down we checked out the high frequency radar overlay and saw the chance to jump on a decent current eddy swirling through La Jolla and wrapping around to Mission Bay.
There were nine boats in the fleet, several of them slower cruisers and three other of our normal Oceanside "A class" competitors. We hoped to do well as Kraken has typicially proven fast in a straight line, our maneuvers letting us down as we learn.
In this case we set off on a reach and it seemed the other fast boats were doing better than us so we followed plan A and dropped deep into the bay under spinnaker. Early on we bit some kelp but a little work with the flosser saw a decent lump come off and boat speeds seemed to come back up to reasonable. As we came back out from our deep course and rejoined the fleet it became apparent that we hadn't gained much, in fact we were significantly behind the fast boats, in fact.... we were being passed by the slower boats... dang.
Gopro on boat pole an under boat. Big strand of kelp. We tried to floss some more, nothing came off (as you can see in the video below the kelp was halfway up the keel). We tried to pull the kelp down by attaching a weight (part of the anchor) to a line and pulling it down but water resistance on the line kept it up at the top of the kelp. The slow boats were still passing us. Eventually we dropped the spinnaker and backed down.
Damn.
Once clean we managed to pass the slow boats but in a dropping breeze and now back on the same track as the other fast boats we didn't make much ground on them. No idea if the course we took worked!
On the route back everyone took a pretty conservative line out of Mission Bay to avoid the nearshore kelp beds. This also took us high into that same eddy and gave a better current profile, though in practice the current had changed, the eddy gone and it was on the nose the whole way back.
Prima quickly stretched away and Shaman quickly overtook us. Disappointing. We shifted the jib lead outboard and started to maintain position against Prima and Shaman. Once we got Spinnakers up Shamen stretched away, Pole Dancer went high and Prima maintained their lead. We overtook everyone else and rolled in fourth.
LESSONS!
1) Move jib lead outboard faster! I made a little line and shackle designed for this that should make it easier.
2) Check for kelp with gopro if in ANY doubt.
There were nine boats in the fleet, several of them slower cruisers and three other of our normal Oceanside "A class" competitors. We hoped to do well as Kraken has typicially proven fast in a straight line, our maneuvers letting us down as we learn.
In this case we set off on a reach and it seemed the other fast boats were doing better than us so we followed plan A and dropped deep into the bay under spinnaker. Early on we bit some kelp but a little work with the flosser saw a decent lump come off and boat speeds seemed to come back up to reasonable. As we came back out from our deep course and rejoined the fleet it became apparent that we hadn't gained much, in fact we were significantly behind the fast boats, in fact.... we were being passed by the slower boats... dang.
Gopro on boat pole an under boat. Big strand of kelp. We tried to floss some more, nothing came off (as you can see in the video below the kelp was halfway up the keel). We tried to pull the kelp down by attaching a weight (part of the anchor) to a line and pulling it down but water resistance on the line kept it up at the top of the kelp. The slow boats were still passing us. Eventually we dropped the spinnaker and backed down.
Damn.
Once clean we managed to pass the slow boats but in a dropping breeze and now back on the same track as the other fast boats we didn't make much ground on them. No idea if the course we took worked!
On the route back everyone took a pretty conservative line out of Mission Bay to avoid the nearshore kelp beds. This also took us high into that same eddy and gave a better current profile, though in practice the current had changed, the eddy gone and it was on the nose the whole way back.
Prima quickly stretched away and Shaman quickly overtook us. Disappointing. We shifted the jib lead outboard and started to maintain position against Prima and Shaman. Once we got Spinnakers up Shamen stretched away, Pole Dancer went high and Prima maintained their lead. We overtook everyone else and rolled in fourth.
LESSONS!
1) Move jib lead outboard faster! I made a little line and shackle designed for this that should make it easier.
2) Check for kelp with gopro if in ANY doubt.
Gear: 3DI sails
Kraken's main race sails are 3DI. The main was one of the earlier 3DIs that came with the boat and the #1 Genoa a more recent sail I purchased in late 2013.
The shape maintained by the sails is impressive. Here's a video on the construction method:
The shape maintained by the sails is impressive. Here's a video on the construction method:
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Race: Hospice regatta
This was a two day event in Oceanside with five other boats in our class. Day one was three WL races and day two a random leg race.
I went in with some expectation to be mid fleet but the first day we were missing a person in pit and a new person on board and the other boats ahead of us were all on form. Our results were 5/6, 5/6, 3/6.
The next day we went in with an extra person so had pit properly covered. Our sailing was a lot better but it was difficult to tell how we were were doing as one of the slowest boats in our class. When we got the results we were once again 5/6. Damn... especially when the silver lining though is we were 49 seconds off first place on corrected time after an hour and a half on the water.
Looking at the track we lost this race on two decisions. Firstly at the leeward mark where we wiggled deep to drop the chute and lost position to a boat in a different class, taking a slow wide rounding. Secondly I didn't commit properly to the wind going left, and sailed up the right of the course not the left. The wind then shifted left. We should have been on the left of the course.
Our starts were solid, winning two and being close on the others. Our tacks great and boat-speed felt pretty good. We're in the fight now.
Technique: This week we practiced a "stretch and blow". This involves setting your upwind sails, sheeting them in, pulling the spinnaker across the leeward side of the boat and blowing the halyard. Advantage is that you can smoothly transition to the upwind leg from a reach.
I was bow for our practice and while it wasn't quite windy enough (the wind is meant to cushion the sail above the water) and the spinnaker did get soaking it also came into the boat super easily.
That would get us halfway up the board on the RLC, then playing the shift correctly probably would have placed us near the top..... next time! Err, next time there will be something else.
Edit: Video of dolphins during the practice sail!
I went in with some expectation to be mid fleet but the first day we were missing a person in pit and a new person on board and the other boats ahead of us were all on form. Our results were 5/6, 5/6, 3/6.
The next day we went in with an extra person so had pit properly covered. Our sailing was a lot better but it was difficult to tell how we were were doing as one of the slowest boats in our class. When we got the results we were once again 5/6. Damn... especially when the silver lining though is we were 49 seconds off first place on corrected time after an hour and a half on the water.
Looking at the track we lost this race on two decisions. Firstly at the leeward mark where we wiggled deep to drop the chute and lost position to a boat in a different class, taking a slow wide rounding. Secondly I didn't commit properly to the wind going left, and sailed up the right of the course not the left. The wind then shifted left. We should have been on the left of the course.
Our starts were solid, winning two and being close on the others. Our tacks great and boat-speed felt pretty good. We're in the fight now.
Technique: This week we practiced a "stretch and blow". This involves setting your upwind sails, sheeting them in, pulling the spinnaker across the leeward side of the boat and blowing the halyard. Advantage is that you can smoothly transition to the upwind leg from a reach.
I was bow for our practice and while it wasn't quite windy enough (the wind is meant to cushion the sail above the water) and the spinnaker did get soaking it also came into the boat super easily.
That would get us halfway up the board on the RLC, then playing the shift correctly probably would have placed us near the top..... next time! Err, next time there will be something else.
Edit: Video of dolphins during the practice sail!
Gear: Wind Transducer Woes (Update)
Couple of days later I was back at the boat during the morning calm and saddened to see other boats wind paddlewheels all start spinning before Kraken's, though it did eventually spin.
So I took another trip up the mast, this time with a soapy water sprayer. Lot's of soapy water spraying and hosing off later and the instruments were reading 20 - 40% more wind.
And now it starts spinning at roughly the same time as the other boats...
As I practice climbing the mast now things are getting faster and the time for this operation was about 30 minutes of time climbing or working at the top. However coming down takes as long as going up, and it seems like gravity should lend a hand, so I'm going to start practicing self belaying, from a nice low level to begin with!
So I took another trip up the mast, this time with a soapy water sprayer. Lot's of soapy water spraying and hosing off later and the instruments were reading 20 - 40% more wind.
And now it starts spinning at roughly the same time as the other boats...
As I practice climbing the mast now things are getting faster and the time for this operation was about 30 minutes of time climbing or working at the top. However coming down takes as long as going up, and it seems like gravity should lend a hand, so I'm going to start practicing self belaying, from a nice low level to begin with!
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Software: NRace polar data issue (resolved)
This might trip others up so I thought I'd post it....
I haven't had much luck getting the farr design polar data into the Nexus race software.
Eventually I realised that the farr data for some of the downwind legs has different angles in the same column and this prevents the Nexus software from being able to deal with it.
I tried the minimal massage to keep some of the data (manual interpolating to fill in a bit, and deleting one of the columns) and it can now quantify TBS correctly. Still haven't had much luck driving the steer pilot though, that's next on my list of things to try and conquer.
I haven't had much luck getting the farr design polar data into the Nexus race software.
Eventually I realised that the farr data for some of the downwind legs has different angles in the same column and this prevents the Nexus software from being able to deal with it.
I tried the minimal massage to keep some of the data (manual interpolating to fill in a bit, and deleting one of the columns) and it can now quantify TBS correctly. Still haven't had much luck driving the steer pilot though, that's next on my list of things to try and conquer.
Software: NMEAConnection v0.9
While away I got a chance to work on NMEAConnection. New features include:
- Finds tack and gybe points
- Generates data on these points - angle tacked, leeway, loss in boat lengths
- Has a spreadsheet
- Can draw histograms of data over sections of track
- Has a snazzy map courtesy or gmap.net
- Has a dialog box to connect to the boat
- Has a text log to help operate it outside the debugger
- Remembers core settings
On the horizon is the ability to enter meta data and a transition away from the original clunky window to something a bit sleeker. I've discovered its pretty easy to integrate C++ and managed C# so I can use winforms for the windows and integrate off the shelf applications like gmap.net, a big step forwards.
- Finds tack and gybe points
- Generates data on these points - angle tacked, leeway, loss in boat lengths
- Has a spreadsheet
- Can draw histograms of data over sections of track
- Has a snazzy map courtesy or gmap.net
- Has a dialog box to connect to the boat
- Has a text log to help operate it outside the debugger
- Remembers core settings
On the horizon is the ability to enter meta data and a transition away from the original clunky window to something a bit sleeker. I've discovered its pretty easy to integrate C++ and managed C# so I can use winforms for the windows and integrate off the shelf applications like gmap.net, a big step forwards.
Gear: Wind Transducer Woes
Heading out on Monday to finally calibrate the wind transducer and log I was presented with a still propeller and system that told me there was no wind transducer.
Sinking feeling. Even more so when I started reading into the system and found I have the more expensive Nexus nRace model that would set me back a thousand dollars to replace.
Oh well, we calibrated the log then had a nice sail double handed. Upwind and down with a sprinkling of dolphins riding the bow and cavorting in deep blue waters. At no point did the prop consider moving.
On my return I started looking into it. Part of me wondered if an electrical fault could stop the prop like that, or if an electrical strike might have damaged it.
Looking at the server two LED lights were on under the wind connections and voltages were all pretty much zero, according to the manual this indicates a connection issue.
Climbing the mast I pushed the propeller around with a boat pole (it's a bit too high for me to safely get to with my climbing setup) but it didn't want too turn. I then pulled up the hose and sprayed it with water. Just as I was about to give up and look into removing the unit from the mast top for further maintenance it started turning and a minute of spray later was running freely.
Returning to a more sensible level I turned on the instruments with some trepidation and to my relief once again have readings!
Would probably be good for garmin / Nexus to update their manual to say the LED's and a stuck propeller could just mean go clean stuff.
Sinking feeling. Even more so when I started reading into the system and found I have the more expensive Nexus nRace model that would set me back a thousand dollars to replace.
Oh well, we calibrated the log then had a nice sail double handed. Upwind and down with a sprinkling of dolphins riding the bow and cavorting in deep blue waters. At no point did the prop consider moving.
On my return I started looking into it. Part of me wondered if an electrical fault could stop the prop like that, or if an electrical strike might have damaged it.
Looking at the server two LED lights were on under the wind connections and voltages were all pretty much zero, according to the manual this indicates a connection issue.
Climbing the mast I pushed the propeller around with a boat pole (it's a bit too high for me to safely get to with my climbing setup) but it didn't want too turn. I then pulled up the hose and sprayed it with water. Just as I was about to give up and look into removing the unit from the mast top for further maintenance it started turning and a minute of spray later was running freely.
Returning to a more sensible level I turned on the instruments with some trepidation and to my relief once again have readings!
Would probably be good for garmin / Nexus to update their manual to say the LED's and a stuck propeller could just mean go clean stuff.
The two lower lights were stuck on.
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