In a rare mid-year update, US Sailing (Darline) have updated the Portsmouth Yardstick index. The noticeable change is the lowering of the overall number of the F16 to 63.0. While its Beaufort 0-1 number remains pretty unfair in my opinion (66), this indicates that finally the speed of these boats is being recognized. If I sound bitter, I might be. These boats entered the US market with a very cushy rating whereas around the world, they were basically rated at the same speed as F18′s. In the light stuff the blades really shine since they weight close to nothing while carrying a lot of sail area.
While we on the Nacra 20′s still have to finish quite a bit in front of the F16′s to correct over them, at least it won’t have to be impossible to do so.
The winds didn’t show up, but that didn’t stop Team Velocity’s Sailing Conglomerate from taking first place in two multihull classes this weekend. In the Open A fleet, Alan Stewart with his girlfriend Taylor crewing took first place on a Hobie 18 in the Open A fleet. Meanwhile, in the Nacra 20 Class, Tad Pecorak and Bailey White took first.
The wind never broke 5 knots the entire weekend, and the sailing was very furstrating for all involved. However the party and Outback Steaks quickly made that frustration disappear once we hit the beach. Outback Cup is a great example of how to get fantastic turnout for a regatta regardless of what the prevailing wind conditions are.
I know we’ll be back next year looking for more wind and more steak!
So anyone with an older-ish Nacra 20 (back when they were called Inter 20′s) the trampoline slid into the insides of each hull along a sail track with a bolt rope. This seemed to work fine for a while, but invariably, the tramp would come out of the slot if enough fatness was put on it.
The newer boats come from the factory like the F18′s – with little screw heads coming out of the decks to which the trampoline is laced. Good system. Good to get your stuff hung up on – but undoubtedly more secure than the method that my tramp is attached.
The “updated” system was to get a standard side-lacing tramp, and use a thicker bolt rope with little webbing straps to which the laces attached. This worked much better than the previous system but would still pull out of the slot around the daggerboards because the webbing straps didn’t spread the load evenly over the bolt rope. Also, the webbing straps were being “sawn off” by the inside sharp edge of the sail track.
So when it came time for me to order a new tramp, I talked at length with Skip Eliot at EP (the class approved supplier) about how to make it so this doesn’t happen anymore. He suggested that he create a thick bolt rope with webbing along the entire length with a fiberglass rod to spread the load along the entire length of the bolt rope. Hopefully this should prevent the bolt rope from pulling out of the slot. Here’s a pic of how it looks before it gets put on the boat.
