chris
2009 AGM & Social Evening
Held on Thursday 23rd April 2009, Queen Inn, Dummer (Near Basingstoke, just off J7 on M3)
Headlines from a very successful evening!
1. Excellent & enjoyable evening, 10 boats and 17 people (29 proxies – thanks!)
2. 2008 Rallies well attended in spite of weather!
3. New Committee members elected :-
Andy & Sara Horwood = Membership
Peter Sands = Secretary
Helena Douglas = Newsletter Editor
Existing Committee Members re-elected for further year
4. Membership Up – 134 Boats mean healthy finances & subs unchanged
5. Rallies – Peter Sands building on successful 2008 with 6 (or more) Rallies in Solent
6. Newsletter – Change of format likely & Rod hopes will be used for the one in current preparation
7. Website – Chris hopes to migrate to Joomla! (=Web 2.0) for extra features and member interactivity during next winter, whilst maintaining the current archive of valuable technical information
8. Possible Meeting at London Boat Show next winter
5 May 2009
Choosing the ideal sails for the ideal cruiser/racer
HOW JOHN CHOSE HIS NEW SAILS FOR MAGEWIND, HIS MAXI 1050
With their combination of comfort, build quality, seaworthiness and performance, the Maxi range seem to me to offer a perfect compromise between the needs of a cruising family and my desire to get the very best performance from a boat, whether racing or passage-making.
The original standard sails were made by Elvstrom, are cross cut and made of Dacron. A performance range were also available at an additional cost and are made from a Dacron and film laminate. Later Maxi’s are supplied with North Sails.
The original sails are a 105% Genoa and a 4 batten fully battened main sail. The Genoa has vertical battens to help support the leach. An optional spinnaker or cruising-shute is also available.
Apart from upgrading these sails with tri-radial cut sails made from laminates there is the option of adding a Code Zero, Flat Asymetric Spinnaker, a large roached 105-110%, 140% or 150% Genoa.
Some of the more recent boats, hull/sail number 43 onwards, have aft sheeting tracks or the facility for these built into the deck to allow for a 140% or a 150% Genoa. Boats prior to this do not have the deck-strengthening plates and retrofitting is much more difficult due to the need of removing interior woodwork and strengthening the deck from inside the saloon / heads. The initial boats fitted with the aft tracks had the tracks positioned for a 150% Genoa, later boats had the track moved forwards 18″ (450mm) for a 140% Genoa. Currently it seems that the tracks will only sheet the Genoa they were intended for.
The 140% and 150% Genoas would probable only be needed for racing or when large crew ballast is available. The 140% and 150% Genoas will increase your racing rating to somewhere in the region of 1018, this may well mean that the boat is un-competitive in stronger winds when using the 105% Genoa.
The code zero is an additional headsail mounted on a separate furler attached forward of the main head-sail furler. An additional bracket needs to be fabricated to attach this to the stem-head fitting. The sail furls on a rope-luff and is hoisted using the spinnaker halyard. This furling system increases the cost of the sail considerably but the performance benefit for a Maxi 1100 in the right conditions can be quite considerable!
Work in Progress – comments and help please!
The original sails are a Self Tacker and an unbattened main sail. Optional 130% Genoa, Cruising Shute and Spinnaker were available.