No Wind! No Wind!

Another frustrating day! Very little wind! On the one hand it is good, as we can practice moves without the pressure of high wind speeds. The problem is, are we going to be ready when the strong winds do come, and they surely will.

Tried our 'new' set of sails, not looking to bad, but will look terrible, when compared with the competition's brand spanking new sets. We are just going to have to go for it!

Tomorrow is forecast for yet another very low wind day. We have agreed to meet and go through our movements over the boat again. Next Friday, we are taking her to Mosselbay and will have at least 3 good days of practice.

Above is a picture of her, taken this morning, just before taking her out.

Sails, sails and more sails

We are progressing well with the preparation of the boat. Unfortunately the weather has not been great, either no wind, or storms and rain! Practice has been minimal, but when we are out there, we seem to 'click' as a crew. Lets hope for some more wind this week-end, although the forecast looks dismal.

Our main issue at the moment, is getting any kind of sponsorship. Times are tough everywhere! We might get our accommodation sponsored, which will certainly help. We also need a new set of sails! The spinnakers are looking OK, but the main and jib is shot. Some of us are going to have to make 'anonymous' contributions!

The plan is to paint the deck next week, and then to take her over to Mosselbay and go and practice the whole week-end. Lets hope we have wind!!!

More Progress

Our L26 is now back in the water, after having been on the hard for a few days. These were busy days indeed, with a lot of work done on the hull of the boat, rudder freed up and lots of cosmetics done, e.g. pressure cleaning the deck. It is looking like a new boat now. We are also planning to paint the deck, to increase grip and reduce glare - planned for next week.

All the safety equipment is now back on board, and she is now ready for some serious sailing.

Major issues, are still sponsorship for a new set of sails!!!!

KYC Challenger Progress made

We have now entered the event - the 100th edition of the Lipton Cup.

Work on the boat has been progressing well, with a number of tasks on the work list being ticked off daily. To be honest, there are no real big outstanding issues. The work put in by Geoff Goddard, as usual has been immense. With a friend and co-worker like him, we can win anything!

We have had our first week-ends practice and we are planning to sail every week-end day until the event. It is starting on the 19th of August, so the next few weeks is going to be hectic.

The crew seems to be gelling quite well. There are obviously a few different options as to how we are going about things, especially on the financial front, but that is to be expected, when 5 people of different backgrounds and expectations are thrown in at the deep end.

The boat should be back in the water by Friday and we are planning 2 full days of sailing, although the forecast for Sunday looks rotten!

Start of a new adventure

This is the first entry of me, Anton Heymann (I am the bloke on the right), in a blog related to my participation in this years Lipton Cup Regatta. It will be held in Mosselbay, as Knysna Yacht Club is the current holders of the trophy.

As usual everything has been left to the last minute and now it is a rush to get the boat and crew ready for the event in a months time!

We went for a sail yesterday afternoon and it was chaos! Hopefully we will get those tacks much faster!