Xmas sailing

Yesterday IdeesfixVIII had a great sail, winds were 320/15, 22C, under A2.5, speeds of over 15Kts were reached, Merry Xmas

Ian Gordon of Farr Yacht Sales for sure gave very good advice on the choice of this fantastic boat.

Volvo Leg 2 Arrival

IdeesfixVIII sailed out today to intercept the arriving first three VOR 65, first came Brunel, then Dong Feng followed by ADOR.  The arrival was in light wind but in beautifull weather, an other great day on the water.

ADCA Race 05, 06 December 2014

ADCA Race 05 had the following course: EPM-FD2-UAD4-FD2-EPN.  It was a beat up to FD2 then two long tight reaches to UAD4 back to FD2, then spinnaker down to EPM.  IdefixV did very well, maintening a speed above 7Kts at all times.   Here are the results:

Race 05    Yachts at start: 5
001  02:00:00  007200 * 1.078 =  007761    IdefixV
002  02:27:26  008846 * 0.958 =  008474    Mistress
003  02:28:02  008882 * 0.968 =  008597    FLOOSIE
004  02:26:36  008796 * 1.021 =  008980    Unwind
005  02:47:10  010030 * 0.967 =  009699    Escapade
006  00:00:00  000000 * 0.967 =  000000    Ines
006  00:00:00  000000 * 0.967 =  000000    ElMahrousa
006  00:00:00  000000 * 0.967 =  000000    Saeeda
006  00:00:00  000000 * 0.967 =  000000    Camelot

TP52 in 16Kts TWS

Sailing in 16Kts gusting 20Kts is quite an other story on a TP52.  We just went for a long tack north bound, then tacked back south without hoisting a spinnaker.  With J3 alone boat speed went over 14Kts, IdeesfixVIII under J3 alone was not easy to control.  A bit of work needs to be done on the Main M-5.

IdeesfixVIII training

James Hemingway explaining us how to jibe a TP52.

Idefix V gets antifouled

How to anti foul a Farr 30 using a steel pole and a chain block.

Idefix V second at national day Regatta, 14-15 November 2014

Idefix V (Farr 30) made second place at National Day Regatta, which is a good result, first was Impie a Laser SB20.

Overall Results National Day Regatta, 14-15 November 2014
numberraces = 5
007 01 01 01 01 03 IMPI
011 02 02 02 03 02 IdefixV
012 03 03 03 02 01 Mistress
020 04 04 04 04 04 FLOOSIE
025 05 05 05 05 05 Saeeda
027 05 05 05 06 06 Unwind

IdeesfixVIII training

On 01 November IdeesfixVIII sailed out for training under the coach of James Hemingway.  In very light winds we trained tacks, spinnaker hoist, jibes and drops.  She is coming along.

Abu Dhabi Yachting Cup, 24-25 October 2014

3 Races took place on Friday 24th and 2 races on the Saturday.  Winds where light to medium, Sebastien did a great job of skippering Idefix V with John at the helm.

ADCA race 02 on Farr 30

Idefix crew returning from ADCA Commodore's Cup Race 02, well done.  Here is more:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10203929939502144.1073741838.1031588429&type=1&l=c883f3ca6f

IdeesfixVIII first sail

Yesterday, Wednesday 08 October 2014 IdeesfixVIII sailed out for the first time from Emirates Palace Marina in Abu Dhabi.  Winds were 330 degrees at 12 kts, light waves and temperature of arround 35 degrees C.  It was a beautifull afternoon and sunset, James Hemingway made sure that all went smoothly.  The A2 was set up and we had a nice ride home.  Dropping the sails went well and all is good.

Here is the navigation trace, the middle one:

Mast setup

The mast needed adjusting.  Yesterday, under the outstanding supervision of James Hemingway and with the help of Dermot, Clive, Marlon, June and Raymond we got the mast setup correctly.  The picture above is of the old setup.  The expert professionalism of James go the job done in one morning and IdeesfixVIII is now ready to set sails.

Mast foot angle

The mast foot does not rest on the full surface, only the back of the mast profile rests on the shims.  We need to find out if this is correct.

X boom support

With the help of Mark we made a X boom support, this will keep it nice and stable...

Mishap in Manila

16 August in Manila at night and under heavy rain I snapped my left Achilles tendon stepping in a pothole crossing a street.  This put's me out for a least two month, then physio.  It's kind of a step back for everything.

Boom UP

The assembly of IdeesfixVIII is starting to be complete, we got the boom out of the cabin (not a small feat as the mast is in place) and got her set up.  There is lot of adjustment work coming up.

keel torquing

 The torque values are 1400 lubricated, 1900 not lubricated.  The torque wrench is just under 2 meters in length but fitted passing to the side of the mast.  The ratchet allowed to torque with little angle movement between the mast and the bulkhead.  Pneumatic oil was used as lubricant.

The headstay ram allows the mast rake adjustment and is controlled by the cockpit pedestal.

Mast goes up

The team who got the mast up, Saeed, Cameron, Marlon, IdeesfixVIII is more like a sailing boat now.  A 50T crane did the job lifting the mast a little higher then mid point below the staysail sheave using a system of ropes and nylon sling.  The sling was set arround the mast at mid point with a long double rope attached to the base of the mast going threw the sling up to the crane hawk.  This allowed for the mast to be lifted and then tilted up.  A wooden spreader secured the stays during the lift.  Here is the nylon sling:

The spreader bar:

Launch

The launch position was not so practical.

Launch Day

 IdeesfixVIII got launched on 10 May 2014 arround 15:00.

A bit of deck cleaning kept Marlon plenty busy.

Launch debriefing.

Keel assembly

IdeesfixVIII gets placed over keel ready for assembly.

Keel is crane lifted into mount position.

Engine service, Polishing, Graphics, Copper Coat Activation

The super team who got everything going, sandpapering, copper coat painting, copper coat activation, polishing, cleaning.  IdeesfixVIII looks very happy.  Copper coat activation was done using grid 320.

The 4JH4E Yanmar engine got a full service including the SD50 saildrive and is ready for operation.

Crane to flip keel and move hull

A 50 Ton crane was used to flip the keel in order to paint it's port side.  The hull got also moved 80 cm to the rear in order to paint the masked berth resting areas.  The keel and bulb are very stable once placed upright.  With a rope attached to the top plate three people were unable to tilt her down.  The crane had to pull her side wise to make her tilt to the other side.

The port rear side rest area during the paint phase with three layers on.

Copper Coat Day

Marc, Marlon, Leo, Mark, Raymond, Henri, Simon all helped to get 6 copper coats layers on port, 3 primer coats on the keel with 5 copper coat layers, 5 copper coat layers on starboard.  It all got done in one day, the other side of the keel and the rudder together with the berth pads need to be finished in an other phase.

IdeesfixVIII hull sandpapered

After 78 hours of work, Marlon, Leo, June and friends finished machine papering the hull using 80 grid.  3 orbital sandpapering machines were used together with two industrial vacum machines.  One orbital sandmachine, one vaccuum cleaner and what power cable got destroyed in the operation.  The hull is now ready for Copper Coat.

Machine sandpaper

Irie was previously dry kept and therefore had no antifouling.  The plan is to have her mored and kept in the water at all times, an antifouling is therefore required.  The previous paint must be removed for the new antifouling to adhere.  It's quite labor intensive and under 40C but with a nice sea breeze it's no joke.

The reefer container also gets a new split AC unit (Mitsubishi) which only requires a single phase and does not require the power cable to cross the road which makes things easy.  The shelves are now also set at the right height.

Reefer 20 ft container

Summer is approaching, expecting temperatures above 50 C, a reefer container should keep the laminated sails in reasonable temperature.  BlueFinShipping in Dubai has a few second hand ones.

Moth and TP52

Benjamin came to give a hand with IdeesfixVIII against a bit of Moth sailing time...

Quite a few weels

Thats how IdeesfixVIII (ex Irie) got into Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi.

IdeesfixVIII makes it to Emirates Palace Marina

IdeesfixVIII is now resting comfortably on a pantoon, a bit of assembly is still required....

Irie cleared threw customs at Port Zayed in Abu Dhabi

Finaly she got threw the customs after the processing of some paperwork and inspection.
The required documents are in Abu Dhabi:
- Original sales contract or closing documents
- Boat builder's certificate with year of construction
- Owner's passport
- Owner's UAE VISA in passport
- Owner's UAE ID.
The import duty is 5% of the total value of boat (including transportation).

Irie is in good shape upon arrival

Irie is looking good after the long cargo trip:

She still needs to get to Emirates Palace Marina, this picture was taken on 07 April 2014.

Arrival Port Zayed Abu Dhabi

Irie makes it to Port Zayed on April 02, 2014.

Hoegh Trooper is possibly one of the two ships, probably the one behind with the ramp out.   Irie was then stored in an hangar waiting for clearing.

Irie on her way

Ire has now set sail from Baltimore to Abu Dhabi on Hoegh Tropper, she is expected to arrive in Abu Dhabi on April 3rd.

ADCA Race 07, Ladie's at helm

A video edited by Henri Baudet can be viewed at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8ZYajpIBe0&feature=youtu.be

The GoPro was provided thanks to Michael de Leeuw.

Here is Ophelie's (Ladie at the helm) comment on Race 07:

Régate hivernale & flexboys

Après quelques manœuvres dans la brume, Idefix V retrouve ses acolytes pour la 7^ème régate de saison. Cette fois-ci, honneur aux dames : la barre est absolument féminine. L’indispensable vent du nord est de retour, rendant le ciel plus limpide encore. Concentration maximale pour le départ, jusqu’à la première bouée. Puis la tâche du navigateur se précise. La seconde bouée, virtuelle, est placée selon le handicap attribué à chaque classe. L’avantage ? Une arrivée groupée, rendant palpable l’appréhension des derniers mètres pour un classement visuellement immédiat. Le passage au-dessus de la marque – et non pas sur les coordonnées elles-mêmes – atteste de la justesse de la trajectoire, et se vérifie après l’arrivée sur le GPS lui-même. Parti en bonne place, le Farr 30 a su garder son avance tout au long de la régate. Idefix V et son équipage devancent Mistress de 3’38’’ sur la ligne d’arrivée.  Idefix V termine premier en temps compense.

Road Transport Annapolis - Baltimore USA

Irie was transported on the week leading to the 20th of February 2014 by road from Annapolis to Baltimore where she will be loaded on to M/V Hoegh Trooper.

Baltimore, Irie on MAFI trailor

Irie gets loaded on MAFI trailor in Baltimore, she is allready to go.