S.O.I.A. Anglia Group newsletter - January 2004

Swashbucklers

Here’s wishing you all a good New Year where at least one thing happens that you hoped would happen last year and didn’t, and hopefully more than one! Add to that lots of sunshine and F2-3 occ 4, fair, good, smooth to slight, and a rise in all pay and pensions. Does that cover it?

Needless to say there hasn’t been much sailing activity in our neck of the woods although our neighbour’s dinghy was afloat on a puddle in the garden over Christmas and the children had lots of fun getting afloat! We too have puddles (its not called Low Common for nothing) but not yet quite enough to float the Eventide.

On reflection we have had some vicarious sailing thrills by going to the cinema to see ‘Master and Commander’ (recommended) and watching a video of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ at a friend’s house!

FESTIVE FOOD – Our next meeting is an eating-meeting, and to do this activity we are meeting at The Butt and Oyster pub at Pin Mill, on 10^th January, at 7pm.

We can then choose from the menu, eat when the food is ready, and each pay for our own food. It would be helpful to have at least approximate numbers because this will decide whether have a smaller room to ourselves, or eat in the larger dining room. 
 
THE LAST MEETING was another animated affair, where the boaty conversation was diluted by car talk; Hilary and Howard Orrom made the trip to the Ipswich meeting for the first time, and they belong to a car enthusiast club, owning something fast, classic and mid-engined named something like UFO99 or V2 – can’t remember exactly, but obviously the roadster equivalent of a Silhouette. There was more discussion about good places to rally in 2004. Mike Atkins is contemplating the idea of a bigger boat, more tempting for his better half. Before the meeting Brian and I did some research at Pin Mill, and walked down the river’s edge in the moonlight, past the live-aboards, to suss a good beaching ground for a fleet of Silhouettes at some future occasion. Then, with Mike Atkins, we checked out the grub at the Butt and Oyster to make sure it was worthy of you lot! 
 

Sailing Dates

East Coast cruise: May 1 – 3^rd. No decision yet on location.

Falmouth cruise: End May/ beginning June. Organiser: Colin Campbell. Details later!

Holland Cruise – Early June or July – Contact Alf Baldwin on 01159 372458.

Incidentally Alf has been contacted by a Dutchman who wants to join us on an East Coast meet!

From Bob Dyer: Gaff-rigged Mirror Offshore

Only a few of the brethren (still fewer perhaps on the distaff side) will know much about the Mirror Offshore. Roger Titshall will because he had one –now mine.

It’s a very comfortable vessel, with sitting, almost standing headroom; quite an achievement in a nineteen foot hull. Another quality is that it virtually never needs reefing which is an indirect way of acknowledging that its sail area is sized a trifle on the cautious side. Be that as it may, the sturdy Volvo diesel will more than cope with no or inconvenient winds. However I did want to put off starting the engine a bit longer when the winds fall lighter even when they are in a favourable direction.

One of the assets which a previous owner put in the documentation was an old PBO article about converting the rig from Bermudan to gaff. This attracted me. It seemed a fairly painless way of increasing the sail area without the expense of new mast and standing rigging. Going to those extremes would in my view create a design that would be so non-standard that it could scarcely be offered under the Mirror Offshore moniker.

The author of the PBO article was looking for a massive increase in sail area with so much larger a main, (plus topsail) that a jib on a bowsprit was needed as well as the existing foresail to balance it . Again this was a more extreme change than I wanted. I reckoned by using the existing boom I could get a useful increase in sail area simply raising the centre of effort without having it move aft. With the aid of an old Holt-Allen dinghy boom as a gaff, I have increased the area of the mainsail by nearly 20%. The topsail makes the increase 27%. The vertical luff of the topsail is bent on a bamboo yard (superb natural engineering) that extends the mast/leading edge by nearly four feet.

In wind speeds below F4 the benefit is marked. And that went for much of my sailing this last season. One day however I had to make the passage south from the Ipswich river to the Blackwater when NE F5, gusting F6 was forecast. I may have been more cautious than I needed to have been. I changed back to Bermudan (only takes 15 minutes) and was then convinced I needn’t have troubled. But actually it didn’t really make F5+ …so that remains really to be tested.

So far I am well pleased with the change and one likes to think one is bringing a little old world style to an otherwise uniform world. Maybe I’ll get to Brightlingsea by water this next year and collect second opinions.

Included – Mike Dacey’s description of his eventful day out on the Blackwater!

LAST GASP. . . I nearly forgot again - SUBSCRIPTIONS!!! No inflation, still £7.00, cheques payable to me please. At the next meeting will be fine.

Best Wishes

Elizabeth Letzer, Jan 2004