Artforms completes preparations for Transat |
| Tuesday, 18 May 2004 |
Owen Clarke’s designer Tim Sadler has taken onboard where Alan Nebauer left off and has been undertaking the role of preparateur for the final preparations of Kip Stone’s Transat entry Artforms.
On arrival in Plymouth the yacht was quickly hauled from the water at Plymouth Yacht Haven’s Mountbatten Marina to have her bottom finish spruced up and the regulation fluorescent finish applied to her rudders and keel. At the same time Ian Holley from Carbontech and local rigger Anthony Boalch have had the mast on the ground stripped from top to bottom with rods die tested and suggested modifications completed.
Now all the components are back together and Kip and Tim have spent the last few days sailing with the new race headsails, code 0 and spinnaker from Rodney Keenan and his new Quantum NZ loft. At he same time, Kip has been working on his MaxSea weather routing and meteo strategy with Miranda Merron and this will conclude with a session with meteorologist and Playstation navigator Chris Tibbs the week of the race.
Merfyn Owen arrives down in Plymouth on Wednesday and the plan is to go for a good 24 hour passage where we’ll look again with Kip at sail cross-overs, ballast and dagger-board usage. The extended outing is also essential make sure all is well with the boats systems after her ‘month off’ and then bed her down in preparation for the race. The plan is to ostensibly have the mainsail cover on for seven days before the start, with the skipper well rested and confident in his steed.
For more information check out:
www.ksopen50.com
www.thetransat.com
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