Back In The Saddle - In 30 Knots!

[bcopper]

bummer about XS. our day didnt go too hot either, but not quite as bad. Had a MOB, had to stuff it up to get him back onboard as he held onto the life lines. Had hourglasses galore, a torn chute... and then, at the last leeward mark, our roller furler jammed up. Excellent. Went a 1/4 the leg with no jib till we realized we could partially unroll it by unrapping it... Major kudos to the Harken guys for spending the last 4hours getting the old system off and getting a new one on. It was an obvious maintenance foulup on our part.
Had much better starts today, but couldnt seem to hold it. Either an 'unlucky' shift or a gear failure somewhere. Tomorrow should be fun.

Here's to Harken!

Three years ago serving as Tactician on Temptress, our beloved SR-33 I was quite suprised to have my Port Runner Winch blow up in my face. Quite unpleasant, really. Bummed the shoulder ( ) but that's about the only Tac related injury possible other than bruised ego.... Anyway, had my ol bud from VC look at it and as he will remember- he told me to go to the Harken trailer with my tail between my legs. No mention of being a sailmaker or professional rigger- just go with whats left in the box and see what they can do. I WAS BLOWN AWAY. We (I guess I) had managed to dicentegrate the lower gears (into dust) and could not reckognize several other parts. THESE FREAKIN GUYS SPENT ALL NIGHT MACHINING NEW PARTS for a ten (at least) year old winch. And when they were done, I was at the dumb end of a flashlight while Peter Harken himself crawled into Satan's cave to re-seat the winch. I have never seen anything like it in customer service- ever. The winch held for the event and they replaced it with a bigger-badder one for half price- and did the install- at Miami. The same regatta (06') we had a bunch of shit blow up. Like lower shrouds (rod), 5/16 pins, 1/4" Vectran, (north sails) "strong stuff". But for every single piece of Harken gear that blew- no matter how undersized I had rigged it- they gave or heavily discounted replacements of "right stuff" on the spot. I bet the VOR guys wish they could get the customer service treatment ocean middle! Seriously though, from a guy that practically blows up gear for a living I was FLAT OUT BLOWN AWAY. Some of the other guys may have great kit, but when the guy named HARKEN is fixing your stuff so you can go racing the next day- thats amazing! Thanks Harken- all ya'll rock Hman

I've had similar experiences with Harken - equipment either breaks or is not functinoal under heavy air loads and their down on my boat helping me solve problems.

Had issues with Lewmar and after two months I still don't know where I stand. Those guys are toast.

 

[mustang__1]

bummer about XS. our day didnt go too hot either, but not quite as bad. Had a MOB, had to stuff it up to get him back onboard as he held onto the life lines. Had hourglasses galore, a torn chute... and then, at the last leeward mark, our roller furler jammed up. Excellent. Went a 1/4 the leg with no jib till we realized we could partially unroll it by unrapping it... Major kudos to the Harken guys for spending the last 4hours getting the old system off and getting a new one on. It was an obvious maintenance foulup on our part.
Had much better starts today, but couldnt seem to hold it. Either an 'unlucky' shift or a gear failure somewhere. Tomorrow should be fun.

Hey Mustang,

Thanks for the report.. bummer...

what are you racing a M24? which one?

Doug, Brian & all team XS: Wishing you the best of luck tomorrow!!!

Thanks. racing a 109.

Atleast, when things werent going wrong, we have the speed potential to do ok. Clock is ticking though.

Given that your a FLA sailor, I'll guess Too Sweet. I'm a regular J/109 trimmer/tactician (depending on the 109 that I'm sailing.) Hopefuly, we'll get a KWRW OD start again soon.

Good Luck for the rest of the week!

btw: Was your MOB due to a lifeline failure?? We've had issues with that in the past.

Oh, BTW... we've had RF issues twice up at 2 different NYYC Rolex Regatta's.

Was that a set pin issue?

mob was from someone tripping and grabing a LL on the way out.

rollerfurling was due to improper adjustment and poor maintenance, my fault.

 

[MR.CLEAN]

Hi-Res Day 2 roundup: