In the Gulf approaching Marco and CP2.

Long story short- Had a good start and was running around 3-4 th place when I hit something in Lemon Bay running 9 kts and just a few miles short of CP1 and less than 20 hours into the challenge covering 110 miles- due to tacking into the strong headwind. It tore up bottom and needed repairs. Could not find a place so took boat home back to SC and replaced 16 foot of hull bottom. Back in the race on day 3 at CP 1 and sailed for 6 hours before losing blowing out the rudder. Learned to sail the ketch rig all over but made it to CP 2 after midnight day 4 and 12 hours after the deadline but was allowed to stay in the race….but my repairs to the bottow did not hold and at daylight the boat was 1/3 full of water. Suspect not enough time for epoxy to dry on trip back to Fl. Also weather was severe and very rough seas. Dropped out of race at CP2 after aprox. 140 miles and  170 miles sailed to get there.

I am posting videos taken today on my youtube channel. rogermannorg. I will try and post a link to the first one. I am down loading 7 or 8 so it will take a while.

This is my first sailing in light winds.

http://www.youtube.com/user/rogermannorg?blend=16&ob=0

JollyRoger

The Islander Catamaran is a long term project being worked on during the other much quicker boat projects.  It is very nice to have something to work over a longer term since most others can be completed in just a couple of months.

It is a 20+ foot Cruiser, 8.5 wide in order to be road legal. It will have everything needed for a couple to go on short trips including a head/shower, galley and bunk. It will have stand up headroom in the hulls and sitting headroom in the bridgedeck. It will be a standard sloop rig with screecher for improved pointing. Top speed is not a concern but I do want it to be reasonability fast so that trips to the Bahamas’ will be possible. I will put a biplane rig on it using Hobie TI mast and sails when entered into EC. Also with this setup it will be easy to cook and eat while underway and to keep the boat moving at night, not to mention not having to stop to go potty. Yes  it will be a cruiser with comfort but it is designed from the ground up for watertribe challenges.

It is being built to go into the Class 6 which allows electric motors. I have been working on the Electric motor package for aprox the last two years and after much testing and expense have a good system to go on it. It is a 50 lb thrust salt water motor, twin battery packs and twin 60 watt solar chargers. Weight is 110 lbs total for all.  I have been able to get 14 miles at 3 mph out of one pack and then start the recharging which takes aprox. 8 hours for one pack. This should be plenty to get up passes and into checkpoints.

The main reason that I have been building this boat is so that my wife will want to join me on some adventure sailing and watertribe events. She is very spirited and loves adventure but likes to be comfortable as well.  We also hope to use it to visit the Bahamas while using a small 4 stroke outboard kicker to make the 50 plus mile crossing safer.

Roger

Model name – TriPlaner, Boat name Tribal Trimaran. Description- The TriPlaner is a Planning Trimaran built for speed. It uses the same concept of the Triad Trimaran from the 60’s which was a incredibly fast boat but built in very few numbers with the main reason being unknown but the consensus being that the plans were very complex and not for beginners. The concept is to build hull and floats that will drive forward  and over the water and waves instead of being driven down into the water. The ama’s are wave piercing in the forward section to reduce hobby horsing  when hitting waves but very wide and flat bottomed to help them stay on top of the water when planning. They have a tremendous amount of buoyancy, 800 lbs loaded on one ama will sink it into the water only 6 inches. This boat has been in the testing phase since Sept. 2011. Longest sail to date was a practice and scouting  run on the North Carolina Challenge course aprox. 50 miles. It is currently being upgraded with a newer, larger rig from a Tornado.

Wyvern,

 Here are a couple of photos of the cockpit that you asked about. There is storage in the seats front and back. If there is access panels there is storage. Currently I only have the large round panels, I need to add some seat panels so that larger items will fit. More storage in the back and also a view of the plug in pedal paddle drive that I used in the Harlow canal. And Shot of the ama. 60 lbs. Bulkheads go all the way to the bottom.