August 27, 2010

Engine update

We have opted for a new Yanmar 3GM20 to replace the old very broken 2GM20. The work is well underway and we are told that we will be back in the water by the 10th of September.

We have gone for a multi vee alternator belt system as the old single vee system ate belts with the high output alternator.

The old engine..

The new engine...

Posted by ninjod at 02:12 PM | Comments (0)

August 23, 2010

Body Broken

In recent weeks the more observant of you may have noticed a running link on the top left of this page. In 48 days time Jan and I are scheduled to take part in the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon.

I have been on a major keep fit and get slim campaign and know how much the improved fitness will help with next years AZAB race. Yesterday we ran our first 10 mile training run and today I am very broken; there isn't much that doesn't hurt.

Why post this here??? Well If I can do it anyone can...[motivational rant over]

Posted by ninjod at 08:42 AM | Comments (0)

August 20, 2010

Engine Broken

On route back from Solo Channel while crossing the Thames Ninjod's Yanmar 2GM20 started to splutter, make some horrid noises, push out black smoke and eventually stop. Having had the local engineer look at it and not improve the situation a decision has been made to replace the engine. Aside from the hull it was one of the final original components aboard Ninjod...

Just currently deciding what to put in but assuming a decision is made next week I am assured I can still have another go at a solo buckley goblets.

Posted by ninjod at 02:57 PM | Comments (0)

August 11, 2010

SORC Solo Channel Week Round up

This was a great week of racing amongst a fleet of 22 boats. While my overall IRC result wasn’t as good as I would have liked I did have a super time. The sailing was great and included the insane leg 5 from Brixham to Weymouth that has to be my best solo sail to date. The socials were great fun and everybody got on really well.

I would like to thank the SORC team for all their hard work and for ensuring everyone had a good time.

Here are my tracks and stats for each leg.

Leg 1 - Lymington to Alderney
The fleet split into 2 shortly after the start with the aft end stuck in a wind hole for a while. Frustratingly those no more than half a mile in front passed through it without stopping while the rest of us parked up.

Top Boat Speed – 7.59 knots
Top Wind Speed – 20.1 knots
IRC Place - 13th

Leg 2 - Alderney to St Peter Port
The only leg where I managed to be the 1st JOD35 home over the water.

Top Boat Speed – 7.23 knots
Top Wind Speed – 15.7 knots
IRC Place - 15th

Leg 3 - St Peter Port to St Quay
I really needed a much bigger (symmetric )spinnaker on this leg

My thanks to Herve for taking this picture....

Top Boat Speed – 7.7 knots
Top Wind Speed – 16.9 knots
IRC Place - 21st ( Oh dear !!)

Leg 4 - St Quay to Brixham
The overnight windy race and my worst leg. I had a few issues and fell across the cockpit. Ended up going to bed for 30 minutes to make myself feel better.

Top Boat Speed – 8.26 knots
Top Wind Speed – 33.1 knots
IRC Place - 14th

Leg 5 - Brixham to Weymouth
My favourite solo sail to date. Started with my small asymmetric kite and by broach 10 had dropped it. It took 4 hours to cover the 40nm across Lyme bay and the speeds were just awesome. Check out the video...

NINJOD sailing from Brixham to Weymouth

Top Boat Speed – 14.2 knots
Top Wind Speed – 31.4 knots
IRC Place - 12th

Leg 6 - Weymouth to Lyminton
This became a delivery trip in the end and I ultimately when the wind died I retired and motored on to ensure I was back in time to meet Jan.

Top Boat Speed – 8.96 knots
Top Wind Speed – 22.5 knots
IRC Place - Did not finish.

Posted by ninjod at 06:49 AM | Comments (0)

August 03, 2010

Solo Channel Week Update

First off although there were supposed to be 3 JOD's John and TickTock had to withdraw at the last hour due to John's work commitments. So Barry and I are left match racing our boats and its been fun (mostly).

We are halfway through the week and the score is currently 2:1 to Barry. Dinah was ahead on the 1st and 3rd legs and NINJOD managed to inch ahead during leg 2. I suspect this was more luck than skill on my part.

As I write this I am sitting aboard Ninjod in St Quay. Tomorrow we race to Brixham. I have prepared my lunch, done the jobs that need doing and looked ( and re-looked ) at the weather. It's currently forecast to blow hard and the forecasted wind direction is not as good as we all would have hoped.

Posted by ninjod at 04:41 PM | Comments (1)

July 29, 2010

Unscheduled Stop Number 2

I am sitting in Brighton marina rafted outside of another 3 yachts. The place is packed out with Dutch and German yachts all of whom have bailed in here to get out of the weather.

The windspeed inside the marina is between 18 and 20 knots true. Outside it is lumpy and I was getting in excess of 30 knots over the deck, and yes, it is on the nose again.

I decided to sack it off today when, with 2 reefs in my mainsail, my number 3 up and a full tank of water ballast, my leeward water ballast vent was almost constantly under water.

I have tomorrow to finish the delivery trip and am hoping for an easy final leg.

Posted by ninjod at 05:42 PM | Comments (0)

July 28, 2010

Unscheduled Stop

It all got a little bonkers after Ramsgate. a constant 25 knots true with prolonged gusts in excess of 30 knots and all on the nose. Following a quick call to my weather router (Jan) and the discovery that the weather would worsen overnight I decided to stop at Dover.

Posted by ninjod at 06:14 PM | Comments (0)

Solo Channel Week Delivery

Jan dropped me off at the marina this morning and at 0545 I was on my way. I have just crossed the Thames estuary and am now on my way towards Dover. The wind strength is 5 knots true and my boat speed is currently 4.24 knots.

Posted by ninjod at 12:00 PM | Comments (0)

July 12, 2010

Up next..

On Friday the 23rd of July Jan and I take part in the Haven Series Stroombank race from Harwich to Ostend, Belgium. We are racing in the 2 handed class.

Then on the 28th of July I head south again towards Lymmington for the start of SORC's solo channel week. It basically starts and finishes in the same place, has 6 legs and bounces back and forth between the channel islands and French and English ports.

Posted by ninjod at 04:34 PM | Comments (0)

July 01, 2010

Post Race Analysis

I finally got around to looking at the log data for each leg of the Triangle. Oh how I wish they sold hindsight in shops. It is clear to see the windy leg 1 and the wind holes in legs 2 and 3. Anyway, here is what Jan, Ninjod and I actually sailed.

Leg 1

Leg 2

Leg 3

Posted by ninjod at 10:39 AM | Comments (0)

June 26, 2010

Homeward bound

We are 8nm from St Catherines point and have just spotted our first round Britain and Ireland competitor, one of the multi hulls drama queen. According to our ais they are making 5.8 knots over the ground on a course of 255

Posted by ninjod at 04:19 AM | Comments (1)

June 25, 2010

Triangle results

As I write this we are currently motoring towards Portland Bill making 7.8 knots over the the ground. Ninjod did pretty well in the Triangle and consequently we have a fair bit of glassware onboard. We managed to achieve:

Line honours into Kinsale for the Peter Byway trophy
3rd on corrected time for leg 1
3rd on corrected time for leg 3

..and my personal favourite..

1st on overall elapsed time meaning we managed to be the quickest boat in the fleet across all three legs.

We ended up with the same amount of points as Mary, Peter and Jaldi (the J105) however they had a much better leg 2 than us and consequently achieved 3rd overall.

Father and son team Neil and Sam Matson aboard Vela Fresca managed 2nd overall after a frustrating leg 3 for them.

Well done to Derek and Tim aboard Mintaka for their overall win of the 2010 edition of the Triangle Race.

Posted by ninjod at 07:38 PM | Comments (0)

Triangle leg 3

Leg 3 of the Triangle was forecast to be a slow one with no wind predicted in the middle of the English channel. We had a reasonable start and unfurled our code zero. At some point between furling the code zero away and moving to our No. 3 we picked up something (weed we suspect) and we became the slowest boat in the fleet. It became so bad that at one point everyone else had passed us. We were understandably depressed and very frustrated.

We performed a number of tacks and ultimately broke free of whatever was constraining us however at that point we felt sure that we were going to be last. We worked hard through the night and unbeknown to us managed to work our way back up the fleet.

At around 20nm from Torbay we were approached by a border patrol vessel. They launched a rib full of chaps and sped towards us. I explained what we were doing and that they could not board as we were racing. Fortunately this was all accepted and they went on their way. It was all very exciting.

As we came into the bay the wind died and we sat for an hour drifting again. We were delighted to find that we were the 4th boat across the finish line just behind the higher rated Firefly.

We have no idea what the official final result is yet however at 1300 today we head off to the prize giving.

Posted by ninjod at 11:26 AM | Comments (0)

Triangle fleet in Treguier

The welcome given to the fleet in Treguier can only be described as outstanding. A large number of people went out of their way to ensure everyone was looked after.

The walk led by Breton pipers to the cloisters for the formal reception was even better than I had remembered and the hog roast in the public park was great fun.

Posted by ninjod at 11:04 AM | Comments (0)

June 21, 2010

Triangle Leg 2 -Results

At the start there was little breeze and the asymmetric was used. With the rhumb line dead down wind we spent all night gybing across the Irish sea and we were the 2nd yacht to round bishops rock. We hardened up and peeled to the code zero and eventually caught the lead boat.

By the morning however the wind had switched off and the yachts who had taken the more southerly route along the French coast were catching us fast.

The finish was very tight with the first 5 boats finishing just minutes apart.

At 01:52 this morning we finished leg 2 of the Triangle race. On corrected time we were 8th (5th on the water) and overall we are currently 4th.

We have just eaten and had a few beers and will now chill out for a bit before pulling out all the stops to do well in the final leg.

Posted by ninjod at 04:17 PM | Comments (0)

June 20, 2010

Triangle Leg 2

Posted by ninjod at 09:22 PM | Comments (0)

June 18, 2010

Leg 2 prep

All the crews are busy preparing their yachts for the start of leg 2 at 1200 today. The hospitality at Kinsale has been fantastic and last nights meal at Kinsale Yacht Club was very good indeed.

The forecast for leg 2 promises light winds from the north.

Posted by ninjod at 09:46 AM | Comments (0)

June 16, 2010

Triangle race leg 1 - Line Honours

Leg 1 started at 11:00bst last sunday. Our start aboard Ninjod was pretty good and with a tank full of water ballast we were able to point high and hold our own against the bigger faster boats in the fleet.

By 2000 on Sunday evening we were putting our first reef in and by 0500 on Monday morning we were still hard on the breeze with 2 reefs and our number 4 headsail. The wind speed over the deck rarely dropped below 32 knots and we saw it peak at just over 40 knots. The sea state was rough, the waves were pretty big and there was an awful lot of slamming and crashing as we dropped off the steep walls of water.

By Monday evening (although unknown to us) we were in a battle for line honours with Anthony and James aboard Big Doris and the weather had improved. Our eta to the finish was 0100 on Tuesday morning and at this point Jan made a call to sail higher than Doris and then hopefully we would be able to set our code zero. It all went to plan and eventually we passed them.

Unfortunately the weather gods had wanted to set us one more challenge before we were done. With 5nm to go to the finish the wind died. We sat for over 2 hours teasing 1 knot of boat speed out of Ninjod.

At 0353 on Tuesday morning we finished leg 1. We knew we had done well but were not expecting line honours. On corrected time we were in 3rd place.

We are now in the middle of recovery.

Location:Scilly Walk,Kinsale,Ireland

Posted by ninjod at 08:53 AM | Comments (1)

June 12, 2010

Torquay day 3 - clean and tidy

At 10:00 this morning a chap from RTYC came to take a look over Ninjod. Jan had spent the hour before the chap arrived tidying up.

While Jan spruced up the inside I made myself busy checking equipment. Here you can see me carefully checking the bean bag.



Our neighbour, a chap by the name of Chris who owns a rather lovely looking 38ft catamaran, dropped by to wish us the very best of luck for tomorrow. He gave Jan a rather yummy looking bar of hand made ginger dark chocolate.

My parents arrived this afternoon. The four of us had lunch then we used the car to get food and fuel.

In 30 minutes we head off for the race briefing.

Location:Torquay,United Kingdom

Posted by ninjod at 06:04 PM | Comments (1)

June 11, 2010

Torquay - Day 2

Jan and I signed on at the race office a little after 10:00 this morning. It looks like we will have a fleet of 13 yachts for the start of the race.

Some of the Triangle 2010 fleet began to arrive in Torquay today.

We are just back from the yacht club where we had a splendid evening meal with many of the other competitors.

Location:Torquay,United Kingdom

Posted by ninjod at 11:40 PM | Comments (0)

June 10, 2010

In Torquay

We arrived in Torquay Wednesday night after a fairly simple train journey from Paddington.

Today we set about the jobs list however before I get into that I must thank John Parker and his team at Quantum Sails for coming down to Torquay, replacing the broken car and checking the sails over. So far as Jan and I are concerned this is a fantastic demonstration of customer service.

Having stowed all our gear we fitted the new gps plotter mount and resolved our water ballast control leaver issue. We popped into town and shopped for the essentials, I am sure we will have to go back for more stuff.

Another Triangle competitor is also here, Anthony on Big Doris. This morning he very kindly made us tea.

This afternoon we did a 3 mile run and Jan cooked a tip top (healthy) tea on board. We are doing our best at trying to avoid the many delights of the Torquay fish and chip shops.

As I write this we are sitting in the bar at the Royal Torquay Yacht club making the most of their beer, wifi and power.

More tomorrow.

Location:Torquay,United Kingdom

Posted by ninjod at 09:38 PM | Comments (1)

June 04, 2010

Triangle Delivery Trip

Last Friday afternoon Jan and I put some provisions on board Ninjod and set off for Torquay for the start of this years edition of the Triangle race.

The southerly breeze meant long tacks across the mouth of the Thames and as we made our way down Gull Stream towards Dover and beyond we had very little to worry about aside from a few ferries. Saturday arrived and we sped past Dungeness and Beachy Head without incident. At around 1300 while heading towards St Catherine Point I took the helm from Jan, almost instantly the sky became grey and overcast and the wind strength increased. 20 knots quickly became 25 knots and we put our first reef in. By the time 25 knots had become 35 knots of breeze 2 reefs were in the mainsail and a headsail change was on the cards.

We quickly came to the sensible decision that stopping off on route was not a bad idea. Jan looked at the chart and we decided on Gosport. We bore away a little for Owers while bare headed with the double reefed main and sped along. It was a windy bumpy ride all the way there and at no stage did the wind drop or the seas calm. Shortly after we suffered our first breakage. One of the Selden cars used on our new fully battened mainsail tore itself apart.

That evening we went to the pub pleased with our stopover decision and bumped into Marco and Paul who had been busy prepping their boat for the RBI.

The next morning the weather was still pretty poor. The forecast suggested that it would improve slowly throughout the day so we set about making repairs. Our only option was to swap batten cars with a lower intermediary car and sail reefed for the rest of our trip.

When did finally leave on Sunday we had 25 knots at the needles and there were plenty of holes for Ninjod to fall into. As our trip continued the wind decreased as forecast and by 0700 on Monday we cleared our passage with Brixham coast guard and had pulled into Torquay marina. Our total sailing time was 47 hours, we were both pleased with that.

Posted by ninjod at 05:55 AM | Comments (0)