Just like riding a very unstable bike …

I took the boat out this afternoon after the St. George AGM, for the first sail in 10 years. The breeze was a North East sea breeze, averaging 15 knots with gusts of up to 20.



Overall I am pretty happy with how way things went. The sail modifications worked, a treat with no inducers on the top two battens, a Gaastra inducer on the third then the North Sails inducers on the rest. The sail flattens quite nicely, although nowhere as much as a KA sail.



I had some minor problems, such as mainsheet dragging out the back, and my tacks leave a lot to be desired.



I was pretty happy with my gybes. It has always been a mental weak point as I was not that confident in stronger breezes. I have thought a lot about technique in the last few weeks, and I am determined to get things right.



The boat is well and truly “ahead of me” at the moment, if that makes any sense. It will take a few races before I know what it will do before it actually does something, instead of reacting to everything like I am at the moment.



So, overall I am pretty happy, a bit sore, and a little concerned how quick things are going to happen on foils.



Bureau of Meteorology Data from Sydney Airport during the sail

Date/ Time Temp Dew Point Rel Hum Delta-T Wind Press Rain since 9 am
Dir Speed Gust Speed Gust
EST

Hydrofoil Sections

When I was investigating the construction of the hydrofoils I had a very hard time finding the numerical data for the NACA 63412 section. I was asked for the numbers today so I thought that I should probably post them here as well. Again, big thanks to John Illet for not keeping his sections a big secret and making us all have to guess what they are using.

  • Naca 63412 section data.
  • Naca 66014 section data.

I have included the NACA 66014 section which I am using for my centre board and rudder for completeness.