First Owen Clarke Design Class 40 to measure |
| Monday, 28 August 2006 |
On Thursday 17th of August Boland’s Mill and Ixsea were the latest class 40’s to go through the Class measurement process. First to step up to the plate was the Jumbo 40 Ixsea (Skipper, Olivier Rabine).
First these boats are stripped of all extraneous equipment with only the bare essentials including the bent on sails and control lines, electronic hardware and internal fixtures and fitting are left. The boats then have all the water ballast tanks filled and with the calibrated load cell on the crane jib the boat is gently pulled from the water and readings from a pair of Binoculars noted. The boat is then lowered back in the water and the water ballast emptied and the process repeated.
A further measurement test is the righting ability of the boat, In the case of the class 40 rules the boats must resist a weight of 220 kg placed at the mast in line with the top of the mainsail. This is most nerve wracking time for the architect skipper and builder. The boat has the righting test carried out in the worst case water ballast configuration and then water ballast removed. This is great time for the yachts skipper to dive on board and wander around his stead in a position that he hopes to never find himself in. In a 12.2m stripped out race boat of potentially 4.5m beam this can be a long way to fall inside, after the test the skippers footprints can still be seen on the inside of the coach roof side.
Both boats pass the measurement tests and the relief is palpable all round. Camaraderie is important at times like these and competing teams not only get the opportunity to inspect the competition at close quarters but also can help each other out, sharing the costs of the crane, measurer, support boat and manoeuvring the yachts during the measurement process.
To follow Ian Munslows campaign to win his class in the Route de Rhum go to:BolandsMill.Com
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