Tchoupitoulas
New member
Bummer about TISC Alan. But a slip on the Estuary does sound nice for the Piper. Will you need a cockpit cover?
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Piper Blog
- Thread starter AlanH
- Start date
Got one already. I'll add a couple of front panels to it before winter.
I'm just back from 20 days in Scotland, where in addition to visiting places I daydream about moving to, Joan and I hiked in Glen Etive, Glen Coe, Loch Rannoch, The Quiraing on the Isle of Skye and visited both an Oronsay (a tidal island...connected at low tide, islolated at high tide) and a bronze age "dun" house/fortification off the coast of Skye. We took a boat trip out of the Isle of Mull and stood in Fingals Cave. AND...
I raced in the Piper National Championships at the Royal Gourock Yacht Club this past weekend. We did pretty badly, I had a hell of a time adjusting to how my boats topping lift worked, but day two was better than day one, at my end of the cockpit. It was a pretty light air weekend, but bright sun, welcoming people, and pretty boats make for a good mix.
This is the fleet, under spinnaker passing back through the line in front of the RC....
Jim and I are the baby-blue hull which you can barely see in the middle of the cluster. I was probably cursing a blue streak as I untangled sheets and guys from this insane setup that some of the boats use for a topping lift. And yes...that's blue sky in Scotland! This shot was taken by the RC from the RC Deck. The Royal Gourock YC uses both Pipers and Etchells as "club boats", so there are Etchells scattered through the anchorage, as well as a few cruising boats.
I raced in the Piper National Championships at the Royal Gourock Yacht Club this past weekend. We did pretty badly, I had a hell of a time adjusting to how my boats topping lift worked, but day two was better than day one, at my end of the cockpit. It was a pretty light air weekend, but bright sun, welcoming people, and pretty boats make for a good mix.
This is the fleet, under spinnaker passing back through the line in front of the RC....
Jim and I are the baby-blue hull which you can barely see in the middle of the cluster. I was probably cursing a blue streak as I untangled sheets and guys from this insane setup that some of the boats use for a topping lift. And yes...that's blue sky in Scotland! This shot was taken by the RC from the RC Deck. The Royal Gourock YC uses both Pipers and Etchells as "club boats", so there are Etchells scattered through the anchorage, as well as a few cruising boats.
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Alpha is signed up for the IYC's midwinters on the Estuary. I had to miss the first one....symphony tickets...but will be out for the rest of them. I ran into an interesting problem. The spinnaker pole car on the mast...
Is 1.) So old that I don't think anybody makes track/cars like that any more. Ronstan makes a lightweight C-track for dinghy stuff which is similar, but likely not up to this load...
2.) the ring was too small to fit the pole ends into! And the ring itself was too thick for my lightweight DIY whisker pole. That's why the shackle is there, so that I could at least use the whisker pole.
So I wound up taking it to John the Welder, who cut that ring off and replaced it with one that has a slightly larger ID and is made of slightly smaller sized rod. With that, and after I shorten the pole to equal Alpha's "J", she'll be legal to race with spinnaker. ...AND my cheapo whisker pole should work, for when I'm out by myself.
I realized a while ago that I needed a way to adjust the jib lead. The Scottish boats all have about 12-18 inches of aluminum or s.s. track on deck, but it's always just a fore-and-aft adjustment. Following the principle of "keep this inexpensive" I opted to use some leftover marine plywood, epoxy, two $15 Ronstan through-deck fittings and leftover aluminum cleats to make a through-deck barber-hauler system.....works a treat.
Her sails are old, but honestly they set OK, and when I put that car back on the mast and shorten the spinny pole, Alpha is ready to go play in the midwinters.
Is 1.) So old that I don't think anybody makes track/cars like that any more. Ronstan makes a lightweight C-track for dinghy stuff which is similar, but likely not up to this load...
2.) the ring was too small to fit the pole ends into! And the ring itself was too thick for my lightweight DIY whisker pole. That's why the shackle is there, so that I could at least use the whisker pole.
So I wound up taking it to John the Welder, who cut that ring off and replaced it with one that has a slightly larger ID and is made of slightly smaller sized rod. With that, and after I shorten the pole to equal Alpha's "J", she'll be legal to race with spinnaker. ...AND my cheapo whisker pole should work, for when I'm out by myself.
I realized a while ago that I needed a way to adjust the jib lead. The Scottish boats all have about 12-18 inches of aluminum or s.s. track on deck, but it's always just a fore-and-aft adjustment. Following the principle of "keep this inexpensive" I opted to use some leftover marine plywood, epoxy, two $15 Ronstan through-deck fittings and leftover aluminum cleats to make a through-deck barber-hauler system.....works a treat.
Her sails are old, but honestly they set OK, and when I put that car back on the mast and shorten the spinny pole, Alpha is ready to go play in the midwinters.
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Critter
Desert Ratfox
Alan, how about a photo or two of your barber hauler setup? Sounds good!
Views of the barber hauler system. The structure under the deck is probably way overkill, but I had all the materials so the whole thing cost me $30 for the two Ronstan - through-deck fittings. I mean, I can adjust the barberhauler with my bare hands in any wind I'v e come across so far.
The RED line above is the spinnaker twing. I might replace that fairlead with a little block at some point.
The RED line above is the spinnaker twing. I might replace that fairlead with a little block at some point.
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Black Jack
Pretty Penny, Mull 30
Lovely to see you and her out there. Made a nice sail even better.
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Black Jack
Pretty Penny, Mull 30
Daydreamer
SAILOR
Looking good Alan!!
HEY!....first pics/video of Alpha on the water! Thanks!