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Testing the new lightweight centerboard

To: swiftsolo@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Testing the new lightweight centerboard
From: BDally6107@xxxxxxx
Date: Fri, 24 Jun 2005 12:45:46 EDT
Finally got a chance to test the foam cored centerboard against the usual  
group of 505's that I race with. Ron's Musto was not out.  The wind was  
generally 10 to 15 and very gusty but would sometimes die down to 8 knots  for 
four 
or five minutes at a time.
 
 Early conclusions: In  these conditions it's really fast to weather and 
smokin' fast downwind  (spinnaker reaching).  If I had to choose only one blade 
from my quiver, I  would choose this one, even at this early stage of testing.  
Greg may well  have nailed the design of the foam cores both in plan form and 
in  section (for the thickness of skin I'm using). 
 
I wouldn't typically try a radical new blade for the first  time in gusty 10 
to 15 knot breezes but you take what you get  (radical because I would 
speculate that it's among the lightest CB's  in the US).  The first thing I 
noticed 
is that the blade  wants to float in the trunk about 2/3 rds of the way up 
(this thing could  double as a floatation device).  Because of the spartite 
gaskets, I  had no trouble keeping it down once it was pushed down.  I did 
attach  a 
safety tether to the cassette block just in case but it never got  tight.  If 
it did pop up during a tack without a tether all hell  would break loose 
since it would float clear up to the  boom.  
A note of caution:
I had a little trouble fitting it in the boat with the Spartite gaskets in  
the cassette inserts.  You learn quickly that spartite makes a perfect  gasket 
that allows for very little tolerance.  If your blade is more than a  1/8 mm 
larger in any dimemsion than the top of the blade / the top  cassette insert 
casting, it will not go through the top insert--you simply can't  push it down. 
 
After using some calipers, I was able to find the problem  and sand it out 
with my fairing board--fortunately without going through the  epoxy finish 
coats.  Do keep this in mind before casting your cassette  block with spartite.
 
One of the immediately noticeable benefits of ultra light blades is that  
when you mishandle them, they have so little inertia that you don't chip the  
trailing edge or ding the blade.  This will come in very handy  when sailing 
from 
the beach where rough handling of  blades is just part of the game.
 
I will be doing some Swift to Swift testing next week with some top notch  
sailors in the other Swift and will let you know if the results are any more or 
 
less conclusive.  Right now, I'm as high as a kite from a great night of  
racing in boat that has been incredibly fast and is getting faster every  week. 
Between the I-14 R&D that is going on and the Swift, the  energy and enthusiasm 
in Seattles' high performance sailing  has never been higher.  The place is 
abuzz and it's amazing to be in the  middle of it. 
 
Best regards,
 
Bram
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