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Here is a brief race synopsis, I will be doing a full write-up of the race soon and hopefully get it published on the Sailing Anarchy home page.
We had a great race onboard the Corsair 28R trimaran Flight Simulator. Conditions were light at the start and our course to the first mark was dead downwind. This forced us to carefully play our VMG angles downwind and gybe on every major puff and wind shift. As night fell, the wind increased and our course to Key West brought the wind angle forward. While the monohulls struggled to carry their spinnakers and were eventually forced to drop them for a Code 0 or Jib-Top, we kept on flying with our Screecher. We finished at 05:39:37 Thursday morning, the second multihull across the line. When all the boats in the multihull division finished, we corrected out to first place in Multihull A division, first place Multihull Overall, and our navigator Richard was awarded the Navigator's Trophy for the Multihull division. It was a great race (but cold), we hit 18 knots, and everyone on the boat had a lot of fun. Here are a few photos from before and after the race; I brought a waterproof film camera for the race. Unfortunately, I couldn't get my film to rewind and was only able to shoot one roll of black and white.
The Screecher (a large jib/Code 0 sail) on its roller furler and tacked to the bow sprint. We raise it only when needed to reduce windage and weight aloft.
Ron packs the spinnaker.
The Head of the Department of the Interior, Richard makes sure everything is stowed low and aft in the main hull.
Getting one of our only instruments, the Tack-Tic compass, mounted.
I got flicked from my Melges 24 ride for Key West Race Week because of weight issues (I would need to weight 105 lbs for the crew to make the maximum class weight). This is a bummer because KWRW is fun event and I would have been sailing with some very good people in a competitive fleet. On the upside, I will have more time to work on Furthur, which is necesary as spring is fast approaching. I plan on towing her back to California during spring break so my Dad can do a professional job of wiring up the electronics.
However, I will still have plenty of opportunities to sail during winter term. On January 2, I did the 50-something mile Egmont Key distance race out of DIYC on the J/109 Mariah, along with Brian and Sheehan. We had some issues during the race and ultimately finished poorly, but it was a nice day on the water and Brian remarked that it was the first time he had finished that race before sunset. It was a good thing too, as the temperature dropped quickly with the sun. I wish I had raced my boat, as the wind and course had plenty of running and reaching with only one upwind beat.
I am also doing the Ft. Lauderdale to Key West Race on the Corsair 28R trimaran Flight Simulator, owned by Tom Reese. I did this race last year on Richard Stephen's Trevelyn, finishing first in our division and winning the multihull division overall. Richard will be navigating Flight Simulator this year, and I hope we can repeat our performance last year. Sailing lead-free is also so much fun, we rate faster than a Melges 32, but are 4 feet shorter. The Dark Side has good Kool-Aid.
Since mid-November, we have had almost nothing to do at Speed Merchant Serviced, until mid-December. Brian hurt his back and I was leaving to go home for the holidays, so of course the orders started flooding in. The most pressing was a re-rig on a J/29, which had been bought locally by a man from Jamaica and he wanted it fixed up before sailing to Kingston. Unfortunately, Brian and I were both leaving for the holidays, so with the help of Jed, we measured the boat for the new shrouds and made a list off all the parts that would need to be replaced.
While working for Speed Merchant Services has cut into my time to work on and sail my own boat, I am earning money, gaining valuable experience, and have ordered a bunch of new deck hardware to make sailing Furthur easier.
Here are photos of the completed worked with a description of what we did:
The old traveler was the original from the boat's construction and wasn't running smoothly. We replaced it with a new section of Harken track and captive ball-bearing traveler car.
We upgraded the outhaul with new internal blocks and high-tech lines for a purchase of 8:1 over the old 3:1 system. Also, there was no reefing system, so we ran a reef line and installed a cam cleat on the boom.
The vang was only 3:1 and used old blocks, so it was upgraded to 8:1 Harken Mid-Range Bullet and high strength blocks. A boom kicker was added to support the boom without the mainsail up or while reefing.
The old turnbuckles were pitted, which could lead to cracking and failure, so the standing rigging and forestay were replaced. We did this without removing the mast, so I was hoisted to each shroud attachment point and replaced the old shrouds with new ones, section by section. It was a little nerve-wracking at first, but the mast is pretty stout and the load of my weight nothing compared to sailing.
The foreguy was moved forward, its purchase increased to 2:1, and lead to each side of the cockpit.
The checkstay blocks were missing, so new Harken blocks with cams were ordered and installed on 1 1/4" cars to fit the toe rails. The lines used are Dyneema, a high-tech line with very little stretch. Brian tapered the cover to reduce weight, windage and friction on the blocks, while keeping the cover on the handled part of the line to reduce chafe.
The finished project, ready to go to Jamaica with her new owner.
Measuring the line
Pulling the splice through with a wand.
Make an overhand knot to lock the splice and give the eye an anchor point
Using the high-tech "nail in a board and eye ball it" method all my hanks came out the same size.
Cutting off the excess dyneena and fusing the end.
The finished project.
In action!
The Screecher (a large jib/Code 0 sail) on its roller furler and tacked to the bow sprint. We raise it only when needed to reduce windage and weight aloft.
The Head of the Department of the Interior, Richard makes sure everything is stowed low and aft in the main hull.
At the dock in Key West after we got a few hours of sleep at Tom's condo.
Flight Simulator (left)on the trailer next to another 28R at the Trumman Annex in Key West.
The after-awards party at The Green Parrot. It appears here that Richard is taunting the guys on highly modified Corsair 31R Cheekee Monkee. These multihullers sure know how to have a good time!
The jib inventory laid on top of each other in the loft. From largest to smallest (left to right): #1 (150%), #2 (125%) #3 (95%), #4 (80%) and storm jib. 
After laying out the jibs, I measured each luff and marked it every 2 feet to hole punch and grommet.
Lining up the hole punch.
Grommets installed in all the jibs.
Cody came to the loft after his class, bringing sun chips and Arizona Green Tea. We used a hot knife to cleanly remove some of the now unnecessary luff tape. The next project is to make about 70 soft hanks out of 3/16" spectra.
The finished project, ready to go to Jamaica with her new owner.
