Three Bridge Fiasco recap

We came. we saw, we sailed.....we didn't finish (along w/ 2/3's of the fleet).

The boat sails great..the outboard let me down. Even though we were over an hour late to the start we caught up w/ the fleet and sailed through...until the wind died all together.

Here is a short video from the delivery back to Sausalito

Here is a pic of me and the boys in our hotel in SF this weekend.....what a way to spend one's Anniversary Weekend (YES, our 11th Anniversary.....and Molly says, "Sure, go sail boat racing!"....God, I love my wife!!)

And here is the boat back at home this evenning.

6 bricks and away we go....

Loading everything up tomorrow for the trip down to SF. Still some minor things to do (like CF #'s and some safety gear) but otherwise the boat is ready to go. Waiting to hear from the PHRF folks who met this evening...fingers crossed!!! Race is Saturday.

Here is a shot of the 240 lbs of ballast in 6 lead bricks, plus the box they fit into and the rods to tie them down. It all fits together nice and snug in the bilge and ties together tight. The box and tie downs feel like overkill....and I am still nervous about it!!

Bad news, good news ...

Bad news: While working on the boat in the driveway this evening, it got away from me. I have a slanted drive and usually just park the boat across the driveway so it stays put. Trying to get the boat back in the garage it got away from me and rolled, at an ever increasing speed, down the driveway and SMACK right into the minivan....SHEEE-OOOTTT! It did a fair bit of damage to the right rear panel of the van and totally blew out the right rear light fixture.

Good news: The boat sustained nothing more than a minor scratch....this thing is built like a brick outhouse!! I couldn't believe it when I pried the 2 apart! Any fear I had about how stout glass and ply can be have been aswaged.

I also am nearly done w/ the stern addition:

I also have 4 of six bricks that come in right on weight!! I'll do the last 2 tomorrow morning.

Getting excited (read nervous) about this weekend....here we go!!!!

Adanasstomy........

The i550 falls short of PHRF NorCal's minimums of 400 lbs ballast and 19' length. So to get a certificate to race against the "big boys" I need at least another 240 lbs internal ballast and a foot of length.

Therefore, I have developed the Adanasstomy: the latest in surgical procedures for the i550...adding length and heft. Thought about Viagra, looked at PBX 90. Settled on Meranti ply, West Systems and good old fashioned lead.

First, here is the bilge bay where I will put the extra lead. 11.5" x 2.5" x 3.5" equals 100 cubic inches of lead. 6 of those should equal 600 cubic inches. Multiply 600 cu in of lead by .4 lb per cubic inch and you get 240 pounds. Just what the PHRF doctor ordered. (Photos of moulds are in yesterdays post below). Bottom of the boat is already 1/4" x 2 here and the lead will fit into a special box of 1/2" ply...all in hopes that the extra internal ballast doesn't blow through the bottom of the boat!

The boat tends to sit a bit bow up (stern a draggin') so I decided to place the extra ballast just forward of the keel.

And here is the extra 18" of boat. Obviously still waiting on fairing and paint...but looking pretty good so far.

Unfortunately the i580 doesn't fit in the garage....so it sleeps at night as it's alter ego, the i550.....kinda like Bruce Wayne at home in his jammies.

Application for the PHRF cert goes in this week.....pray for us!!

More to do

It's been awhile. But it's not like I haven't been busy.

I do want to race PHRF and that requires a certificate, which in this neck of the woods, requires a minimum of 19' and 400 lbs of ballast.....so I have been expanding the boat.

First, I have created the molds for the additional lead. 6 bricks at 40 lbs apiece should get me to the weight I need. I just hope the extra lead doesn't blow through the bottom of the boat!!

Second, I am working on a bolt on stern/suger scoop. I am building off a plan Chad of Knot Racing created. It is coming out pretty well.

Here it is w/ the first layer of glass.

Finally, I got out sailing again with the new sails. They still require some minor tweaks, but work brilliantly....sorry all, I don't have one picture....BIG mistake, but I will rectify that soon!!!

Happy Holidays!!!

The numbers...

So here is a summary of the numbers:



1 garage



12 months

9 gallons of epoxy

$8500

and the number we have all been waiting for.....it takes 528 beers to build an i550.

Actually, the beer-ah-meter was my time clock of sorts. It took somewhere around 500 hours to build the boat. I pretty much spent 40-50 hours a month working on it.

I spent $1500 on used Melges 20 sails. $1000 on hardware. $1500 on epoxy and resin if not a bit more. $300 on the trailer. $1000 between ply and the other building materials. Somehow, the West Marine wallet vacuum sucked the rest in $50 and $100 increments.

Lets hope we get that much fun out of the boat!!

Ben

LAUNCH DAY!

The boat got wet today! I have named it Carbon Offset....because it is SOO green!!

Rigging up

Me and Molly on our maiden voyage

My favorite pic of the day, BOYS ROCK BOAT

A virgin touches the water

Another view

I grabbed some dacron sails while I get the Melges 20 sails altered. I am looking forward to a little more breeze next time out.

Huge thanks to John P who helped throughout this project. It was really nice to have him along for the first trip out today.

I am EXHAUSTED!! I will summarize the numbers in the next blog entry (dollars spent, hours spent etc.)

Finally, I can't thank Molly and the boys enough for putting up w/ my crazy project over the last year...you are SOOOO awesome!! Thanks

Good night!

Ben