Technical
Read about technical aspects discovered by our members. Note some articles may appear under more than one category.
Boat PC on our Maxi 1000 – Navigation, AIS, Weather, emails and TV
I like to keep things simple on the boat as everybody can operate simple things and they tend not to fail in the wrong moment but over the years the laptop started to become a constant companion on longer trips. Initially just to be able to get a weather forcast from the Internet but later I added a NASA AIS receiver for safer Channel crossings and soon things started to get complicated. Not because of the technical solution but there was no safe place for the laptop to be kept while sailing, hence it was not much use with the AIS in more than very light winds.
The dilema I got into was that I was not prepared to spend all the money on a chart plotter and electronics charts if I would still use paper for everyday navigation and that I liked the additonal benefits a laptop/PC has over a plotter, like Internet, iTunes, DVDs for the kids etc. The solution seemed to find a home for the laptop that would be safe, the screen being viewable while the keyboard is protected – who want’s to go down in his oilies and flood the laptop.
Soon I found myself scanning the internet on Car PC options and TFT screens as I couldn’t come up with a good solution for the laptop that would not involve a separate screen and I learned that laptops are quite power hungry. I did also look at those boat PC packages that are on offer but found these too expensive and not surprisingly the components used look exactly like those on the Car PC websites.
Espar Ltd., Eastern Hangar,Shaw Way,Mount Batten,Plymouth,Devon.PL9 9XH.
Tel:- 01752 491900 Fax:- 01752 491910
Espar Ltd.,Harleyford Marina,Harleyford,Marlow,Bucks.SL7 2DX.
Tel:- 01628 471368 Fax:- 01628 474819
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!