One of the joys of sailing radio yachts is there is always something to do. This week I looked at buying a sail bag so I could safely store the rigs in the bottom of the boat box. The trouble was I was going to spend over £100 for something that will only be used for a couple of weeks so I decided to build my own with heavy duty polythene and some heavy duty velcro. The job was easy. Cut out the polythene to the shape of each rig, and stick the loose ends together with thin velco strips and hey presto, rig bags for £20 plus some time to put them together. I could stitch them but it would take too long to learn to use the sowing machine. Finally make one large bag to take the seperat rig bags, add a handle using an old piece of electrical conduit which you can see and job done. It all fits in the box perfectly. 2 A rigs, 1 B rig and one C rig with spare B rig jib.
The other job was to find some padding for the inside of the rig box as I want to fill all the empty spaces with foam. After a disappointing hunt through Amazon and Ebay where a small amount of foam was expensive. As an alternative I phoned a local upholster and he or rather his wife was on the verge of taking a load of sponge offcuts to the tip. 15 minutes later, I had more than enough sponge to fill the inside of the box and all for free. I use a foam cutter so I can make seats for the transmitters and tool boxes so everything will be secure inside the box with no room for anything to move.
Today, I had a great days tuning with a Venti and V11 at Datchet in mid A rig conditions. It was interesting to see how the boats outperformed each other as the conditions changed and how critical it was to set the rig up precisely. We learnt a lot and had some great 3 boat racing. More of that to come.
My better half found a useful backpack from Mountain warehouse which is completely waterproof with a 30l capacity. Perfect for the roadtrip to Aus where we could get some heavy showers.
So there is not too much preparation for the big trip left in terms of construction other than the spare A and B rig and test out the new sails and finish the boat box internals.
I hear today that the Worlds is going to have a professional live streaming service so if you have nothing to do between midnight and 8 am you can watch the racing. Well we are on the other side of the world. It will mean we have some great racing to review and learn from.
Lastly we already have some problems with next years diary. Both the IOM Europeans and the M and 10R worlds are to be held in April next year. Considering we have postioned the IOM Nationals in Easter as well, April is going to be a busy month.
May the wind Gods be with you.
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