Coming back to Antigua is always something special for me. Despite the fact that I have come here countless times for work I still walk off the plane and am transported back to being 4 years old. For me it isn't the warmth, it isn't the drastic contrast of the lush green hills to the grey bare oak trees that I have left in New England. Funny enough its a smell; something between the cactus and palms mixed with the sea and the slight essence of jet fuel. It's funny because it grabs me every time and it always makes me laugh because all of the tourists are filing out of the plane remarking on the heat and there are always a few oohs and ahhs but for me its just the smell.
As is often the case for me this trip has two parts the first part being that I am here to compete in the Antigua Superyacht Challenge. It will run from Friday the 29th of January to Monday February 1st. I will be sailing with Kawil(ex Gitana)which is a 34 Meter(112ft)Sloop designed by Sparkman and Stephens and built at Derecktor's. This will be my first time sailing on the boat but having previously met the permanent crew and knowing most of the race crew it should be a great week of sailing. There isn't too much on the web about the event but most of which can be found here: http://superyachtchallengeantigua.blogspot.com
As is often the case the second part of my trip will focus on kiting. Which will provide significantly less in financial means but significantly more in both the foil development I have been working on with Delta Hydrofoils and in my own development on the water. The last few days since I have arrived I have been able to do a bit of work on shore and then get out and test. For this trip I am working on testing two things: 1. Test the VeeBoard. 2. Test a reduction in angle on the aft stabilizer.
1. Testing the VeeBoard: George Hradil at Delta Hydrofoil is always tinkering trying to come up with any way possible to make his foils the stiffest, fastest and outright best foils available. He literally stops at nothing to try and achieve this goal. His latest concept was to build what he calls the VeeBoard. It's name comes front the fact that is shaped like a V which you can see from the photo.
As is often the case for me this trip has two parts the first part being that I am here to compete in the Antigua Superyacht Challenge. It will run from Friday the 29th of January to Monday February 1st. I will be sailing with Kawil(ex Gitana)which is a 34 Meter(112ft)Sloop designed by Sparkman and Stephens and built at Derecktor's. This will be my first time sailing on the boat but having previously met the permanent crew and knowing most of the race crew it should be a great week of sailing. There isn't too much on the web about the event but most of which can be found here: http://superyachtchallengeantigua.blogspot.com
As is often the case the second part of my trip will focus on kiting. Which will provide significantly less in financial means but significantly more in both the foil development I have been working on with Delta Hydrofoils and in my own development on the water. The last few days since I have arrived I have been able to do a bit of work on shore and then get out and test. For this trip I am working on testing two things: 1. Test the VeeBoard. 2. Test a reduction in angle on the aft stabilizer.
1. Testing the VeeBoard: George Hradil at Delta Hydrofoil is always tinkering trying to come up with any way possible to make his foils the stiffest, fastest and outright best foils available. He literally stops at nothing to try and achieve this goal. His latest concept was to build what he calls the VeeBoard. It's name comes front the fact that is shaped like a V which you can see from the photo.
The idea behind this design concept is that you can effectively shorten the strut length by 5" which in effect stiffens the strut immensely but not compromise the ride height of the board when heeled over upwind. It was definitely a little tricky to get started as the board has significantly more volume and with the large chine it tends to drive itself in the water but once you are on foil it really comes into its own. The large flat chine creates a very predictable upwind platform compared to other boards such as the MHL Custom and the Alex Aguerra. The flat surface allows you to very easily glance off the top of the wave without redirecting you and thus keep your speed up and wobbles to a minimum.
So far I have been able to test against my NorthBound KiteMission buddy Jeff Brock who is riding a Tarroa Sword Foil which is well known as a very competitive foil. Jeff has been putting in a lot of time on the foil in the last month and has been working hard at tuning his gear and has been riding very well on his Ozone Edge 9m. In the past the Delta has always been a click or two higher in pointing going upwind but lacks a touch of speed upwind and two touches of speed downwind. After going to see George and doing some new tests on the angle of the stabilizer and reducing the angle from 3 degrees down to almost 1 degree we found that the board still did 3-4 degrees higher upwind while maintaing the same speed as the Sword as long as I was fully powered on my 9m TS. Then downwind where Jeff had previously sailed lower and faster I now had a very slight speed advantage but the reduction in the stabilizer angle allowed me a much faster ride height adjustment and the ability to bear down on the puffs and overall sail lower and faster than any of the other Deltas previously.
Off for some more testing today and will try to post some videos from the testing if we get some good internet before we start on the water sailing tomorrow.
So far I have been able to test against my NorthBound KiteMission buddy Jeff Brock who is riding a Tarroa Sword Foil which is well known as a very competitive foil. Jeff has been putting in a lot of time on the foil in the last month and has been working hard at tuning his gear and has been riding very well on his Ozone Edge 9m. In the past the Delta has always been a click or two higher in pointing going upwind but lacks a touch of speed upwind and two touches of speed downwind. After going to see George and doing some new tests on the angle of the stabilizer and reducing the angle from 3 degrees down to almost 1 degree we found that the board still did 3-4 degrees higher upwind while maintaing the same speed as the Sword as long as I was fully powered on my 9m TS. Then downwind where Jeff had previously sailed lower and faster I now had a very slight speed advantage but the reduction in the stabilizer angle allowed me a much faster ride height adjustment and the ability to bear down on the puffs and overall sail lower and faster than any of the other Deltas previously.
Off for some more testing today and will try to post some videos from the testing if we get some good internet before we start on the water sailing tomorrow.
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