Perhaps next year is the year to get to one or two regattas.  It takes a big effort to attend sailing events and to help make it more enjoyable, why not plan a side trip or plan to visit some people you know along the way.  Try to book accommodations in the same campground or hotel with other competitors and plan to get together after the racing is done for some socializing.

Break up a long trip with some stops of interest and to change drivers.  Work on your boat trailers to double the boats up so that two competitors can travel with one vehicle and one trailer — this can save expense, alleviate driving fatigue and boredom.

If you attend a non SeaSpray regatta and sail in X-class don’t forget to brag up your boat.  SeaSprays still have a lot of appeal and are a low cost competitive boat compared to many other classes.  Thinking about a new laser anyone?  $10,000 to buy one now.

Fall Project Anyone?  

No it’s not a foiling project yet…..

A few pictures may help better than words.  Fairly rustic work but gets the job done.  Removing the foam, putting rudder blade downhaul tubes for line, and converting to boom end sheeting are three very good improvements.

Removing all the foam could be done in stages starting with the area behind the rear doghouse to the transom.

Tip-after removing the foam, cutting through the bottom of the reinforcing fiberglass tubes can be done easily with a 1″ spade bit on a cordless drill using the bottom of the hull to help guide the drill bit through the fiberglass tube.  These holes will allow water to drain easily.  CLICK ON FIRST PHOTO TO  SEE SLIDESHOW.

Items needed besides those pictured include fiberglass cloth, polyester resin or to keep the fumes down if working inside, use epoxy resin,carbon fiber (if you have it) to reinforce any joints or deck undersides, bondo with short strand glass fiber (if using polyester resin, if using epoxy get some microballoons or some easily sanding filler to make epoxy thick for finishing work), sand paper, clothespins or other suitable clamps, gloves (latex or plastic and work gloves, throw away paint brushes to apply the resin, acetone, scissors to cut cloth, dust mask etc. probably forgot some stuff too.  Wear your dust mask when digging out the foam as there will be a lot of glass fibers floating in the air and wear long sleeved clothing as the fiberglass is very irritating.Don’t forget to reinforce with fiberglass the aluminum plate and carriage bolt heads that you spent time to square the holes with a small file to fit properly through the plate and the gudgeon on the outside of the transom.  The plate should also be fitted in place with a layer of bondo between the plate and the transom.  Use layers of glass to reinforce the transom and run the glass along the hull sides to the corners and over to the plate as well.