I have settled on the Alioth IOM, F6 Marblehead and two DF boats. Everything else is sold so there is no going back for better or worse.
On a positive note the Alioth design will I am sure will continue to develop. We have already seen three versions along with a five, three and two section print option, and I am sure Juan will be thinking how to optimise further this impressive design. It is great to see he has printers of the design scattered across the globe and this is getting boats on the water. The Alioth development is unblocking the supply chain for the IOM class and not before time
From a personal point of view I am optimising the rigs as my current ones have uneven bend and spent a happy morning prebending two A rigs and two B rigs yesterday with Paul Barton. He has a great set up for the prebend and is carefull to progress the bend gradually. The end result was a subperbly smooth bend which when assembled meant I could achieve a perfectly staight mast or one with 10mm of overall bend. We were looking for 15mm and 10mm prebend.
I sailed at Emsworth yesterday in a very shifty wind. It took me 4 races to get my act together as I arrived late ploughing through some traffic jams. I seemed to find every hole in the wind but after the break, normal service resumed and I won the remaining four races. Steve Cockerill beat me by a point and is bringing his dinghy skills into the radio sailing world. A future force to be reckoned with.
Its off to Datchet tomorrow to try the new A rig and next week I will set up the B rig and then prepare a duplicate set to test the sails for the worlds. In addition there is a boat box to build and a second rig box to construct with large sheets of Corex found in our local church. Just as well I am retired.
Happy sailing if you are weed free.
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