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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.
The Effigy of Saltshaker...
...set ablaze...
...and free to sail to the next world.
I just realized I haven't posted a photo of Furthur in the water, so here is a shot after one of our doublehanded night practices.
Sailors have a lot of superstitions about naming boats, and some consider it very bad luck to rename a boat. However, when a boat changes owners, her name may be changed if the proper precautions are taken. I have been referring to the SC27 as Furthur, but until recently she still had Saltshaker on the side. Cody removed the old name, and now we are really flirting with disaster.
To remedy the issue and get rid of bad Juju from the name change, you have two choices. First, you can create an effigy of the boat with the old name on it, then set the spirit of the old name free in a viking funeral. Or have a virgin pee in the bilge. Because virgins are hard to find at Eckerd College, and because I don't feel like sponging their piss out of the bilge, I am opting for the first option. Hopefully, once this is done our bad luck will gone for good.
Recently Furthur has been sailed singlehanded, doublehanded and fully crewed. After Thanksgiving I sailed in the DIYC "New Shoe" singlehanded race against Kuli on a Melges 24, Brian Malone on his J/24 and Tom Barry on a Wavelength 24.
My start and self steering system left a lot to be desired, but the first leg was a hot reach and I was quickly closing the gap on the fleet with the spinnaker up. Unfortunately, I don't know the DIYC marks yet and lost a lot of the ground during a hurried spinnaker douse. A close reach was next and there were no gains or loses.
Upwind, Kuli was very overpowered in the Melges, but was able to depower enough to keep his lead. Tom was suffering with a 150-155% genoa and Brian chugging along with a blade jib. I was using a #3 jib and once I got the jib cars in the right place Furthur was fast and balanced upwind. I was able to play some shifts to catch the Wavelength, though the SC27 should also be faster upwind. Brian missed rounding A mark to starboard before the finish and had to double back to the mark. He rounded in front of Tom and I and lead us to the finish. Tom and I finished overlapped with a two second difference; too bad I owed him time.
After the race, Cody and I doublehanded Furthur from DIYC to Eckerd at night for practice. The breeze was light, but the SC27 moves well in light wind thanks to overlapping jibs, masthead spinnakers and an efficient hull form. The kite was up for most of the practice sail, but we eventually had to douse and jib-reach to stay in deep water. We kept Furhtur at Eckerd for a few days, then I sailed her back to DIYC with Sheehan and our friends Ashley and Martha. It was another night sail, which can be nerve-racking due to shallow water and tons of unlit marks. We made it unscathed, with Ashley keeping a vigilant watch, but we had a few close calls with unmarked buoys.
During the sail back we tried the Larsen 125% #2 jib that was given to us by Sumo after Nationals. Even though it was made of mylar in 1988, the jib is almost unused, probably because the 125% has a narrow wind range. This is good news for our Pacific Cup campaign, as I plan on dropping the 150% as our largest headsail for the 125% to get a better rating. Furthermore, we would be easily overpowered with the 150% sailing doublehanded, but the smaller 125% will allow us to hold it in more wind. Hopefully, we will get to ease the sheets soon after leaving the Golden Gate and get the kite up.
Last Thursday, Cody, Arthur, Tweek and I sailed Furthur in the 2nd of 4 DIYC Full Moon series night race. We had a great start, pacing a J35 all the way down wind and round 5th behind some bigger boats. A clean weather douse allowed us to set the kite at the next mark without having to re-run and spinnaker gear.
Upwind we played a few shifts badly and had the genoa cars too far forward, causing us to lose a few boats. The next downwind was very deep and we had a hard time finding the leeward mark. This made for a hurried douse and we got a spinnaker sheet under the boat. Luckily that was our last downwind and we were able to untie the sheet from the kite and pull it out from under the boat. On the last upwind we played some good shifts and came back to finish mid fleet on corrected time.
Through all this sailing I am learning a lot about how to make a Santa Cruz 27 go. The main seems to like a lot of leech tension in the main and headstay tension/mast bend (controlled by the backstay) has a huge influence on power and point. With everything trimmed right, the boat feels great and hauls. Adding the spinnaker makes everything better and I can't wait for 2000+ miles of surfing to Hawaii.
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.
