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Tuning Fork

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 20:02:08 +0100

Cat Totty / Andrew Humphrey / Harry Blanchard / Chris Agar / Christian Jeffrey / Tim Cross

As with last year we decided to join in the Haven Series Tuning Fork event. The race committee managed to get in three short but intense races in brilliant sunshine and a steady southerly breeze of 10-15kts.

Unlike last year we didn’t come home champions but a scoreline of 5th, 3rd and 2nd gave us 3rd overall.

Spring So Far

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 15:50:26 +0100

Spring 1 13th, Spring 2 8th and Spring 3 today, 11th and 4th in class.
Tim Cross/ Andrew Humphrey/ Cat Totty/ Harry Blanchard/ Chris Agar/ Chris Whatley

A thick fog start in F3 ENE saw us pop the asy at No. 2, enjoying a little argy bargy with Cosmic Dancer on the way to Trinity and pulling off the hoist of the century at Harwich Shelf. We were comfortably amongst the first in the fleet Pye End to Outer Ridge, launching Moby Dick for a deep run to Pennyhole. We had good boat speed on the beat Pennyhole to Cork Ledge, with the whole crew on the rail, but the north side of the bay seemed to pay off better as proven by the J80 and Cosmic. We crossed ahead of Panther twice and Hysterix. A twist in the kite slowed the launch at Cork Ledge and we waved farewell to another winch handle, Dumpy’s Spare leaping overboard in the melee. We went to white sails at Languard, and even now fighting a strengthening foul tide kept good boat speed, popping the asy unnecessarily at Harwich Shelf, but to good effect again at No. 2. We did 9 knots coming up to the line, finishing in good company and bright sunshine. A really enjoyable race and decent result. Bring on Tuning Fork next Saturday!

Nearly Ready

Fri, 4 Apr 2008 23:56:26 +0100

On the friday before the first race we finally got some pretty serious outstanding jobs done. The new sails, ready since Easter, finally got blown in in a steady 5 - 7 knots of breeze. On current evidence, Quantum have done a superb job.

We also managed to get the new winches fitted (working well after first test) so hopefully, some gentle bimbling aside, we’re in good shape for sunday.

Done

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 15:50:44 +0000

After four weekends of slaving in the boat park we’re finished. The final coat of anti-foul went on this weekend and got rubbed down to a smooth finish.

With the loan of some scaffolding and an orbital polisher we managed to polish the topsides up to a decent shine.

The boat goes in just before Easter and the final jobs will get done then.

Getting There

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 14:31:49 +0000

Definitely the most satisfying weekend so far saw a forklift getting stuck in to the Upstart action. Rather than mess about jacking the front up with acrow props, Des hoicked her up using the yard forklift and a webbing strap. We soon got the under cradle bit stripped and ready to prime before the boat fell off!

The back was harder to get to but found some decent props to use and soon had the cradle down and the hull stripped. The primer rolled on nicely and Pencil managed to demonstrate his skills as a plasterer in an earlier life as he filled the odd chip in the rudder and keel.

On sunday we had the tasks of sanding down the epoxy filler, getting a coat of interspeed ultra on and, most importantly, adding the new name stickers!

Strippers

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 20:54:50 +0000

Three Upstart lunatics (Tom, Dick Tim & Harry) braved the rain for the second, and most productive, weekend. In the end, the water coursing down the hull helped with the wet and dry sanding - every cloud and all that.

The upshot is that the hull is fully stripped with a glass like finish (witness Lammy in the pic above). Next work in a fortnight - cross everything for a warm dry day or two as the primer is going on.

Boat Work

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 18:45:51 +0000

Upstart was plucked from the water on friday, the strong winds letting up just in time to get her out for a weekend’s work.

As ever, leaving the boat in to compete in the winter races combined with the need to have a warm-up or two before the first race next season leaves a relatively short window to get all the necessary work done. Despite all the work done the year before fixing numerous things there was still plenty to be done....

The first weekend of work is now done and the hull is starting to look pretty decent. Another weekend’s worth and she’ll hopefully be sufficiently stripped for re-priming.

Ice Bucket

Tue, 1 Jan 2008 15:08:14 +0000

Despite optimistic forecasts of 10kts plus for New Years Day, all that greeted people’s hangovers for the Ice Bucket race was mist with the Orwell looking like a Mill Pond.

The start was postponed until the Race Committee spotted Upstart managing to sail. A quick chat on the VHF later (to confirm we weren’t motoring) and the 10 minute signal was cracked off.

The course was No 2 (s), Collimer (p) and No 3 (p) three times. We got away well and led the fleet up the first beat, rounding the windward mark in 1st place. We gybe-set the kite at No 2 and dodged the tide coming back towards SYH, trying desperately to keep some air in the kite.

The Race Committee sensibly shortened the course as we approached the line. We crossed in first place having led since the start. Best of all, as the lowest rated boat in the fleet, crossing first meant we won on handicap. Couldn’t have asked for a better start to 2008.

Petes Pot

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 11:47:30 +0000

The last race of 2007 was HPYC’s Boxing Day race, Pete’s Pot. Raced in under 10 knots of breeze, the RO kept the 6 boat fleet in the river - two laps between Shotley Spit and Orwell No 4.

We sailed a pretty decent race, still in contention rounding Shotley Spit before heading to the finish. On the final leg down Sea Reach, Brave and the Cork 1720 pulled away and we came home 3rd overall.

A photo gallery of the race here.

The Frostbite Series

Sun, 2 Dec 2007 15:33:33 +0000

Keen to use the boat at every opportunity in its first season, we thought we’d follow the Autumn Series up with the Frosty. Races 1 through 3 were a little unspectacular, scoring two 5th places and a 6th. Congratulations to our old sparring partners Panther, nailing a perfect series with three wins and staying at home for their discard.

Race 4 however was a good one for Upstart. Guest superstar Des twisted his knee and was unable to take part so with only four on board we set out in a forecast of up to force 9.

We managed to stick with the larger vessels to the furthest mark (Stour Number 1) and then attempted to make our time on the downwind legs home. Several asymmetric reaches saw speeds in the 12+ region and we set a new record of 15.5kts.

When the results came in we’d scored our first HPYC victory, taking first place from Red Macaw by a single second.

Video on YouTube here