Graham,

Since I could not open your link, I just made a new one to your album. I see now that my link contains “Public Profile” while your link only contains “Profile”. I guess you forgot to navigate to your album via “Member’s area – Directories – Membership list”. That is necessary to make the link to a photo useful.

It happens from time to time that someone’s text goes over the side. That is when the link text is too long or if a photo is wider than the text area. My trick to get to read all the text, is to copy and paste it into a blank page in Words. That was what I did to your text before uploading it to the posting below, and that is why I prefer showing thumbnail photos here.

As for weather; the Brits tend to re-export their lows to Scandinavia after use. Luckily this last one appears to pass well south of our coasts this time, so we in Stavanger only get a light (and dry) easterly, while those on the south-east coast are having heaps of snow.

Even though the temps are about to get in the blue now, I am still in boat mode, but more in cutting-and-trying mode than sailing mode.

I wish you happy sailing!

Arne

PS: You mentioned that you spent four times as long time upwind on a distance as on running back. Generally it seems that my boats are only about twice as fast downwind as upwind (VMG), as long as the head sea doesn’t slow us too much down.

On my laptop, the text of my original post doesn't go over the side (it is in the box).  Interesting to hear if any other members have difficulty reading my original post. This is the first time I have heard of this problem.  Just posted as usual.  I wonder how this post reads? Your link was not quite right Arne, but good enough.  Mine took you to a particular photo but your link takes you to the album in which that photo is displayed.  I'm painting my decks now, before the monsoon rains start, but can't wait to get out for another sail in a week or so.  Unlikely to go off on another long cruise until April next year but I'm already impatient to get going.  Arion is in the groove now and I can't get enough sailing time.

Arion is currently in the Breakwater Marina, Townsville, and I have been doing something I don't usually, going for daysails.  I sail out of the marina into the SE trades and beat to windward for several hours, then turn around and run back in.  It might take me 4 hours to beat out into moderate seas, but the run home is swift, only taking an hour or so.  Arion was designed for fast and easy running, no rounding up or heavy rolling, but it is the windward work that has surprised me.  Arion's new, so called flat-cut sail goes to windward like a freight train, sailing at 3 knots in 12 knots of breeze (ok, all things are relative, but we are talking about a 24ft, 5 ton boat with 10 ft beam), with the windvane set at 35 degrees and tacking through 90 degrees.  When the wind and sea start getting up, 15 plus knots, I crack the windvane off to 45 degrees and tack through 100 degrees.

So what's the secret?  The short yard, giving an almost horizontal leach for the top panel lets the upper, unsheeted batten twist off, like a flat-topped racing bermudian main, plus I put about 20mm of round in the seams along the battens of the top three, fanned panels.  But, and here is something that perplexes me, I appear to have a slight amount of camber in the lower four, so-called flat-cut panels.  How did this happen?  It seems that the deep hollows we cut into the leach really flatten out the back of each panel, while the straight-cut luff allows the front of each panel to scallop slightly, and voila - just the teeniest bit of camber.  I don't know how much, just a teeny bit.  It is just dumb luck. You can see it in this photo:  http://www.junkrigassociation.org/Sys/Profile/PhotoGallery/58385873/0/58385874?memberId=3295421&dh=0&cppr=3.