2016-End Commodore's Cup Race 02

Prestart we tore our main and had to sail under trysail, here we are passing Mistress to leeward. We rounded FN2 first ahead of Pindar but got overtaken reaching to Z15. Hoisting the A3.1 did not allow us to catch up with Pindar. We could not hold our heading to FN2 and had to hoist the J2-C again. The final run was under A4Q from FN2 to the finish line. Our M1.1Q is really getting tired and needs replacement.

Sir Ab Nur Offshore Series Race 01, 15 September 2016

Together with the Volvo 60 Pindar we started the Sir Ab Nur Offshore Race 01 on Thursday 15 September 2016 at 19:00. Winds were NW at 12 Kts but dying out. Pindar retired during the night, IdeesfixVIII lasted until 15:30 the next day and retired 20Nm from the finish line. The mid day sun hit quite hard and no cool place on board could be found. Water also run out making it a bit difficult.

ADCA 2016-End, Race 01, 10 September 2016

Last Saturday, September 10th 2016 took place the first race of the Commodore's Cup, 2016 End. The races will form a small series as the last race takes place in December. Here is the course of IdeesfixVIII:

IdeesfixVIII sailed very fast, finishing first in front of Mistress and Laurentina. The crew did an outstanding job of boat handling, all went very well.

Sail Repair and steering damage

 Its been a real busy week, thanks to North Sails Sydney the cuben fiber patch is a great fix for the tear on the head of our J1.1Q. The skate board is a good and cheap laminating tool.

 The ultrafeed from Sailrite (USA) is a great sewing machine. Out of the box she did a real good job of securing the Cuben patch with a zigzag stich.
Our 1.1 got torn again on it's first sail due to 15Kts of wind. It's too much for a light jib. She did not tear at the repair thats the good AND bad news !

As if the jib issues where not enough on last Monday we ripped out the steering sheaves. West System epoxy is a great bonding glue.
The steering had jammed but the reason is not clear. The steering line are attached using loops and the crossing loops may have tangled. It's the second time this happens but only recently. The main traveller lines could also have been responsible but on the last jam they were tight so they cannot be the problem.

Sir Ab Nur Version 2

On Thursday 17 March 2016 at 18:30 started the Sir Ab Nur Race V2 with two participants, IdeesfixVIII and Etihad Towers a VOR60.  Winds were NW varying between 12 and 20 Kts.  A long Port tack brought us to Esan (east of Sir Ab Nur island) then a few tacks to Wsan followed by a Starboard bear away.  A2.1Q was hoist when clear of Sir Ab Nur.

An hour before Sir Ab Nur the upper part of our J3.1Q started delaminating itself. We dropped it and tried to tape it back together.  At night it was difficult.  We then had to hoist storm jib due to lack of other options.  We still managed more then 8Kts beating up to Sir Ab Nur.
After rounding and clearing Sir Ab Nur A2.1Q was hoisted giving a great ride back to Abu Dhabi.  We reached a speed of more then 19Kts with great surfs and one broach.
Arrival was at 05:39 after a sail time of 11:09, Etihad Towers at 06:33, with a sail time off  12:03.
We did not get much sleep but had a great sail.

Typhoon in Abu Dhabi

On 09 March 2016 strong winds and rain hit Abu Dhabi.  Winds of more then 100Km/h were measured.  At Emirates Palace Marina we had to take refuge at the office to get protection from the intense wind and rain.  The boat covers did not last long but no damage was recorded.

This is the view from IdeesfixVIII's cabin.

IdeesfixVIII past 20 Kts during ADCA Race 06

Race 06 brought us to FN2, then to UAD4 to the SW, back to FN2 then EPM1 the finish.  Winds WNW at 18Kts made for some great sailing.  We came on starboard downwind to the start line then hardened up to follow the line on starboard.  We were then force to tack on port but crossed the start line exactly on time.  We made it to FN2 on one tack, then overshot FN2 on purpose but that was a bit far then tacked on starboard for UAD4 which we reached on a tack.  We did a butterfly jybe and came up on port to HDG 060, but were to pointy for spinnaker.  We jibed round FN2 on a surf and hoisted A4 which gave a great run down to the finish reaching more then 20Kts boat speed.  Great Day !

Sir Ab Nur Moon Race 21 January 2016

This Thursday night was held the first Sir Ab Nur Moon Race, IdeesfixVIII and Pindar participated.  Here are a few pictures:

 The Quantum main has a very nice shape, it gave us a good speed.  The moon was very bright but does not appear on the pictures.

 Helming at night arround Sir Ab Nur.

 A few lights from Sir Ab Nur taken from the NE.

The track of IdeesfixVIII was downloaded from Quatix. The battery died out, leaving the track unfinished.  We started Thurday night 21 January 2016 at 18:30:00 and arrived Friday at 10:42:05, giving us an elapsed time of 16:12:05.
At the start the wind 330/08 led to a Starboard start followed by a port tack to clear Marina Mall.  We stayed on Port for a long time until abeam Sir Ab Nur.  We kept being lifted but then tacked to Starboard needing an extra tack to clear Esan and Wsan.  Rounding Wsan at 02:45, the A3.1Q went up, giving us a great spinnaker run, reaching 14Kts.  There is an island to keep clear of, watching out was important.  Early morning the wind died so we had breakfast consisting of potato salad with onions and garlic. At about 08:00 a SW breeze came up, after hoisting the J1.1Q we beated up to Emirates Palace Marina, crossing the finish at 10:42:05.  It was a great sail having moon light during the whole night.  The weather was perfect with a much better breeze form NW then forecast.  Beside a few fishing boats there was very little traffic and nothing special to note.  The course was just above a 100Nm sailed in 16:12:05 giving an average speed of about 6.2Kts in direct line.  The course is excellent and offers no difficulties.

Nastassia on a Moth

 Nastassia fixing up the TP52, then having a go at Moth Sailing, great balance !

Main M-1 Q repaired using Dr.Sails

The M-1 Q started delaminating at the leach below the first batten after two sails.  DrSails was used to relaminate the carbon fibers back into place.  The question is how long will it last, sailing will tell.

J3.1 Quantum repaired in Mussafah

Ross organised the repair of the torn J3.1 to be done in Mussafah, they have a great sewing machine but no zigzag, Typical GC6-7-D.  Many thanks to Gaby and his company SAS Fabric Industries (LLC), www.sas.ae.

The machine sewed the leach line threw the head with no trouble.