Day 171
Day remaining 62

I'm ALIVE!!!!!

(Tail fin envy? Just you wait!!!)

Well the new job is just great - Everything I do all day is focussed on making the Youth and Junior programmes of the British Sailing Team work better and maximise the training we can give the youngsters coming up through those programmes - but man is it a busy job!!!!? and well, the transition and move back to Hamble has meant not only finding somewhere to live, but finding somewhere to finish the boat and then moving it and all of my tools and kit to that spot, so it's only really in the last 2 weeks I've got my act back together. It's 50 days since my last entry on here, and those 50 days have all been about work and not about building a new bus. Dust has settled, it's time to crack on.

My first sailing club as a kid had nothing to do with the RYA and I feel like I missed out on some opportunities as a result, so to be given the chance to be in it up to my eyeballs and ultimately deliver better prepared athletes for the road to Olympic glory is a real honour for me. Ultimately of course, I got to march in the opening ceremony (Sydney) and be a part of Team GB in my own way, but I will always wonder 'what if' I had been coached from 12 to 20 (by which time I was about 9 and a half stone and perfect 470 helm size by the way!) instead of having to learn quite literally my own way for everything... But hey, I'm really not even slightly bitter and I have a huge number of racing miles under me to help me understand the process of developing good young sailors into truly great sailors of the future....

OK, the boat... I'm getting towards the last few jobs - I have everything built or a long way into build apart from the spreader unit and the gantry while the fittings, wand/flap linkage, rudder screw etc and suchlike are all in boxes and ready for assembly. The trampolines are made and will be with me next week - They look fabulous and hopefully will fit just as well - Thanks to Tom at Sail Medic.  Thanks also to Luke for bringing the boom to work so I could just put it in the car and get on with my day. Cheers mate.

Sure, I am disappointed that the boat will now be a bit late from even my revised plans - but I will have a solid 6 weeks or so sailing in it before I arrive in HISC on the 12th for a week of venue sailing before Race 1... and if in January, you had offered me:
 "A brilliant job with the RYA + a new moth a month before the Worlds + 2 weeks leave to sail at the venue and enjoy the event"
verses
"A new moth in March, but you have to stay in Suffolk and carry on doing the same job indefinitely and you might only just have the week at the event in the end because of work"
I'd have taken the former to the bank in a blink of an eye. Have in fact.

I have realistic goals for my training and my racing (more on that next time - but I reckon I'll have my gybe back after a few days and then a month to work on tacking!) and there are some outstanding features on the new boat which I are sure will make a difference but I might need a month to get some numbers for comparing them, but generally I am happy.  Plus as any home builder will tell you, it's actually a fun thing to do, and rushing it isn't as much fun.

Finally in this catch up, a couple of weeks back,  Mr May came over for a visit from SF so I got a chance to 'show the workings' of my maths and ideas and go over some V1.2 ideas and just feel really comfortable about how I've got to where I am with the Blackbird, particularly on controls, aero and foil shapes (not a lot else to it really!).  So many brilliant ideas came out of the few hours we poured over the boat... But then he's a walking sketchbook of brilliant ideas and we talk the same language  - Thanks mate :-)
Adam sometimes sends me some cool stuff that he finds on the 'net and here's my favourite... It's a bit like when you're in the sailing club and you overhear someone saying that they got double figures out of their cruiser, then someone kind of bragging with 'is that all!? I got 15knots this afternoon in my ..............." (fill in dinghy class you don't like that much) ......and then you casually drop your max speed of the day into the conversation.

http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/favorite-sr-71-story-1079127041/+TylerRogoway

Blackbirds and Moths are very similar you see ;-)

Won't be long now.

D

Day 120
Days remaining. 114

Worth the weight?

Final panel, the working deck (not sure you can really call it a cockpit floor!) just being glued on.  You need lots of squashing down onto the glue power - and just about anything will do!
Heaps of work in the control area forward of this is already done - including fitting the large ringbolts that a lot of the controls will need as an anchor point (you can see them in the pic, shining away!). It all takes time, but it's done now and the primer is going on... I've decided not to send it away to paint. I really like the uber flat paint finish on Rob's boat so I'm using Durepox and a roller and am happy to spend some time flatting and cutting back over the next few weeks as time permits.

In other news, my life is about to change radically as I have decided to leave carbonology, where I have been for over nearly 11yrs and leave Suffolk, where I've lived since coming back from the Sydney Olympics.  I'm moving back to Hamble full time and taking a job in the RYA as Youth Racing Operations Manager - where effectively I'll be running the logistics and devising/implementing the programme for the British Youth Sailing Team.  I start pretty soon actually because they want me in post before he season kicks off properly. Carbonology will carry on and will be in excellent hands so please continue to support the firm.  Exciting times. Expect to see another RYA Volvo with a moth on the roof... If it's a white and black one with tail fins, it's the Blackbird!!

97 days to go... Crikey!! - Anyone got a rudder I can borrow?! (yes seriously!)

D

Day 114
Days remaining. 120

Measure twice, measure again. Make some tea. Ring a mate for a chat, ask him how he measured it, measure again.... Cut once...

Sometimes you have to quit measuring and let

your eye be the guide... 

Slightly chastised by an old mate who reads these ramblings, here's a post for anyone who is contemplating or currently home building a moth, to maybe give some good ideas, or maybe to make you feel comfortable that your way is miles better than mine.

Before I start however I need to be plain about a rumour I have heard on the grapevine.  This boat has NOT been made out of a redundant A Class catamaran mould.  Where that rumour began I am not sure, but anyway - just to make sure we are all clear.  When you see it you will see that it could never have been an A... It has some rocker for a start off!! 

Anyway... back to the plot... In no logical order:

1. Dry fit the thing 'til you are blue in the face, but at some point you are going to have to stick it together, so get on with it. 

2. Plan ahead.  Have a really good think about systems on the way through the build. Drilling the hole in the kicker tang and sticking it on the mast post or whatever you're using to take the mast loads is SO much easier on a pillar drill than putting it off and drilling the hole in situ using a 90* drill ;-).

3. Consider getting the thing professionally painted. It will come back looking like a million dollars and in the week it's gone you can get a straight go at making wings, gantry's, foils even.

4. The old adage is the best ever.. But if you are not sure: Measure twice, measure again. Make some tea. Ring a mate for a chat, ask him how he measured it, measure again.... Cut once...  You'll still be out maybe, but at least you'll be in the right ballpark.

5. Sometimes you measure the thing over and over and then dry fit it and it looks wrong.. Well guess what... It's probably wrong.  The human eye can see an error in simple measurement (sadly not International 14 Measurers, but the least said about that the better!) and in particular in measuring angles. If the deck is square to the centreline of the c/b case for example, then a straight carbon or metal rod down through the case, snug up against the leading or trailing edge, will be in line with the mast post and with a similar rod through the rudder pin... Now try and find a way to measure it you'd be happy with!

6. Start early and take your time and enjoy it. It's as much fun building a new boat as it is sailing one in many ways. I got snowed under with real work with this build, but it'll still be built 3 months before the Worlds start.

7. Don't scrimp on trampolines or toe straps or ropes or fittings.  Moths are ferocious on fittings and sailing a boat with poor quality trampolines or toe straps is a total fun-sponge.

8. Register it with the IMCA early so that a sail number on a nice official ISAF sticker turns up when you least expect it. It gives the boat an identity and is a really great boost to morale.

9. Be radical! Break some boundaries (not rules!) And so what if your ideas don't work. Anyone can build a carbon copy (see what I did there!) of a Mach 2 or whatever.... Be different. Try stuff that no-one else has tried out.. You might not make it work first time, but the class is about innovation and right now we're only 10 years into foiling. Milliseconds in history... You might be onto something that when you are old and grey (older and greyer in my world) you can say, I did that first and now it's on all of the America's Cup boats.... 

10. You are awesome!!! You are building one of the fastest sailing dinghies EVER. Your home built creation might even one day be the Fastest Sailing Dinghy ever clocked... Try and remember that when you come down in the night for a glass of water and smack yourself on the wing bars you left in position to work out the height of the mast stump!

D

Day 113
Days remaining. 121

Float Test.
(flōt tĕst)
v
(1) A mechanical test to confirm the buoyancy of an assembly or construction.
(2) Naval Slang. To discard an unwanted item overboard. 'Ill give it a float test after sunset'

The municipal Model Yacht Pond at Woodbridge

The perfect spot for the Blackbird to first touch the water.

It might be an odd thing to do a static floatation test on a moth - I mean it's bound to float right?! But It's the sort of thing that keeps you awake at night.  The Blackbird has very low volume and hardly any of that is at the bow.  So finding a static waterline and giving yourself the assurance that before an expensive paint job and screwing on a load of fittings, and doing a load of splicing, that the thing is going to have enough freeboard to actually be able to sail has got to be a good idea... After all, we all start with them on the surface in pre take off and at times need to sail them in LR mode.

I had done heaps of maths to prove the total volume, integrating the section over and over and in the end I came up with almost exactly 222 litres, but an actual confirmation of that would be nice too!

The total sailing weight of the boat will be around 30kg and wetsuited up I'll be around 77.  So that makes a total of 107kg - using just about half of the available volume (and staying well inside the class rule on buoyancy of course)

So today's test was an important one as although it gave me a fairly meaningless waterline at 9kg, once I stepped aboard - ably assisted by Si Cox from Synergy Marine holding the wing bars to steady the beast, it gave me a very useful waterline at 84kg (9 + 75).  From here I can do some very simple extraction and get a waterline at 107  (current waterline x 127%). Which I am happy to say looks about half of the freeboard, which means everything is just about according to plan and maybe now I can get some sleep.

In other news, I am sort of sorry to say that I missed marking the exact halfway point in this project - which would have been 4 days ago. Ah well. What did I do 4 days ago? Errm well on Saturday I was in the kitchen building a moth!!

Gotta go - Tickets for Franz Ferdinand in So'ton tonight.. All work and no play, and it's not every day you put a new boat in the water - even if it was in the local model yacht pond!

D

Day 100
134 Days Remaining

ONE HUNDRED NOT OUT! The 100th day of this blog and the Blackbird Project.

I am so close to finishing the boat and sending it away to get painted I can taste it!!
To get there I need to:

• Fit the decks.
• Fit the gantry take off points and the transom moulding.
• Make the gantry elements and assemble them ready for laminating
• Fit the bonnet with a proper closure system and fair in the mast stump fairing
• Fit the foredeck fairing/control system cover with a proper closure and get a final fit
• Do a trial fit of all of my lovely new Harken hardware.
• Fair the centreline of the hull after fitting the c/b case.
• Make the cups for the trolley (OK I have relented. I need a trolley as I need something to strap it to when it's on the roof of the car)
• Spend a day just fettling and tidying up on the detail as once it's painted I won't be able to touch it!

With my current workload, there's 2 weeks there.

So... Should be ready to go for paint by the 20th - that's 2 weeks from today, and it should be back by the 28th - a week or so later.  I might be able to get it over to Paul before then, but I'm just thinking worst case. In fact, looking at the pile of stuff on the dining room table at the moment, yeah, 2 weeks.

As for colour scheme you'll have to wait, but one thing is for certain, it won't be black! Besides the obvious cliche, as Cookie always says, black boats suck* and this one being nomex is going to be even worse if it does...

OK, in that week it is away, my plan is to:

• Make the rudder and tiller assembly....
• Finish of the gantry 
• Finish the first centreboard including the pit-head gear
• Make the outer wing bar tubes and do all the secondary laminating on the wings.
• Assemble the wand mech and push rods
• Build the bloody trolley!!
• ...and start making the mould for V2 of the c/b if possible

This lot will extend to the end of the month I think, but man by then I'll be REALLY close to going sailing!! Better start digging out my sailing kit!

D


*Black boats suck.... They get hot in the sun while rigging. The last check you do is a water check and put the bung in. The boat then gets launched and cools down and cools the air inside it, causing it to reduce the pressure inside the hull. Which causes it to suck.... It sucks water through every possible way the water can get in, including in thin laminate boats, right through the laminate. Bad idea.

Day 96
138 Days Remaining

Sunday 2nd March 2014

Missing!...... FEBRUARY!!.....   Where on Earth did it go!!
Send out a reconnaissance plane to see if we can find it!

Before I start, many thanks for the emails and FB messages of encouragement, and some awesome Blackbird pictures from Adam in San Fran, like the one above...
Thanks mate - appreciated as always :-)

OK Boat build SitRep:

Weighed with all but the working deck and transom resting or taped in place 8.8kg. Nicely on track. I predict 9.8kg ready to sand for paint.

Control deck made from 9mm marine ply, shaped for the cleats to go on so all the controls live under the deck line, made, laminated in carbon and trimmed to fit. I toyed with the idea of making it half in foam core and half in MP, but it only saved me about 200g and I want to be able to just screw fittings into it wherever I want to... The main control layout is figured out, but hey - when did that ever stop a change of plan, and for a 200g penalty when I'm under my weight budget this close to the end of the build - No brainer...

Centreline join complete on inside of hull. This thing is stiff and very very fair - I think it will look awesome when it's painted - I love boats with a true reflection - not ones that look like the side of a 1973 VW combi!

Tramp tracks along outer edge of sheer glued on with 9323, filled faired and laminated over with M46J Twill at 45/45 - They are not going anywhere and the track isn't going to open up any time soon.  If you've ever had a trampoline pull away from the boat you'll know that it is quite distressing - not DE stressing.... the other one!

Wing bars fitted, front wing bar dog-legged at 800 mm from the centreline - radius smoothed and about to have the chainplate detail added. I wanted to have a bit more sweep back to the wings from outside of the chainplate - I think it looks neat and minimises the length of the outer wing bar.

C/B foil vertical made and being used as I type to make the CB case. Nothing too fancy about this.. The laminate of the leg is massive - 10 layers of M46J UD and 45/45 woven, then the core just UD.

>>>Big jobs this week that I'm on track for and should be ok to get done even though I'm all over the place :-)

Control deck and C/B case in and secondary bonded *as you can get right around it before putting the main floor down which starts immediately aft of the CB case trailing edge.

Main cockpit floor section of deck made

Transom made and fitted

Wing bar assembly completed to first stage (framework) and a start made on the detail (hard points for blocks and tabs for toe straps) and a strategy for fitting the trampoline figured out.

Detail glimpse... Spoiler Alert!!

I hate trolleys... cumbersome, time consuming to make, generally a pain, always the cause of boat damage.... So, seeings its a Blackbird and even they had ground wheels, I'm thinking I'll put a carbon tube through the hull at about a metre from the arse end, just up from the bottom of the hull -  then simply slide a carbon axle with wheels on through it when needed?!  Then a simple moulded cup/handle for the bow which will protect the wand and the knuckle from damage while still allowing the bonnet to be removed for access?  I guess a need pair of blanking plates for the axle tube for sailing and that's it.... Might even be able to sail it as a land yacht (how many times have we all thought that!!!)


OK.. Back on it... Tide and time and all that.... Thanks for popping in.

D

Day 77
157 Days Remaining

Crikey it's going fast!! Time that is!!!

Looking more like a steam boiler than a sailboat, 

the Blackbird is starting to take shape

Having been chastised publicly by my old pal Tom, I have sat back in front of the computer to write where I am up to...  I don't want to let the project slip - every second on the water between launching and Race 1 will be valuable, but it has been a really busy couple of weeks with the firm, teaching, out seeing clients and driving all over the country leaves little time for carbon fettling. I am thankful that it is busy because Christmas is very quiet, but work has to come in front of my own projects... That's life in a blue suit as they say in the Navy.

Well, where am I up to... I have stabilised at 73Kg and slimmer than I've been for ages.  I'm out running again after tweaking a calf muscle, and I'm about to hit the bike for half an hour....
As for the boat... well after a week or so of delays cos of work, things are happening pretty quick... Rig collected from Rob's place last week, vang take off and fwd wing bar sockets in and secondary bonded, and as you can see from the picture, the tubes for the control lines and elastics for the bow are all in...  In a day or two's time I'll put up the picture of the way this looks when it has been fettled and tidied up.  The control tubes are from port to starboard, Manual Override & Bias Control, Push Rod, Wand Length Control.

Gotta run.. Or cycle in fact!

More on Thursday.

D