SteveSails
New member
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Looking again at the full foil length - 48" probably does touch bottom so you'd want an area with probably 50" everywhere to use the full foils. But obviously with the mid-height mast hole you'll have some clearance.
Steve and Dave Clarks Unidentified Foiling Object
- Thread starter Doug Lord
- Start date
Looking again at the full foil length - 48" probably does touch bottom so you'd want an area with probably 50" everywhere to use the full foils. But obviously with the mid-height mast hole you'll have some clearance.
Don't forget, body weight will reduce that clearance by some amount. A 200 pounder on a UFO will displace more than a 125# person....
Grith
Member
Yes I did the deed and purchased a UFO here in South Australia. Frustratingly the government has closed all access to The Murray River at present due to the flooding which is finally now subsiding but reached an over 50 year peak.
Currently the UFO is forlornly sitting untried under a cover on our waterside property along with my trailerable cruising yacht, hobie adventure islands, kayaks and paddle boards!
It has however already achieved one of my purchase goals as my daughter is coming from Sydney to visit ( to sail it) during her April college holidays!
We are fortunately located on a side lake out of the main river flood flow and whilst the water is much higher than usual our little marina development was specifically built above the historic flood peak of 1956 so we are relatively unaffected here.
As can be seen in the photo some of the fixed jetty’s are underwater but the houses are not at risk.
Another case in my view of governments making sweeping rules on a lowest common denominator basis ignoring specific circumstances.
Out of interest the young fit sailer/father of two who sold me the UFO tragically had recently developed a neurological disease limiting the use of one arm to the extent he could no longer sail it. (Too many strange medical episodes occurring to too many people post Covid and the vaccinations I personally feel)
martin 'hoff
Super Anarchist
Met @Ledge over the weekend in Clearwater. He has a very recent build UFO - sexy! New wand sprit, new style mast, and all that jazz.
We couldn't quite make it all line up to go out foiling, but we will next time. It was blowing 25-35kt, I had to tear down a full size cat, and we didn't have a support boat. The bay is there is great, the water was temptingly flat, but exit and return cross over some shallows – making it through the shallows in 25kt gusting 35kt with foils half up was a bit on the dicey side.
We couldn't quite make it all line up to go out foiling, but we will next time. It was blowing 25-35kt, I had to tear down a full size cat, and we didn't have a support boat. The bay is there is great, the water was temptingly flat, but exit and return cross over some shallows – making it through the shallows in 25kt gusting 35kt with foils half up was a bit on the dicey side.
Kelly Federal
Member
WEBSITE:
Many people came together to collaborate on the design and function of a website that captures the knowledge dispelled in this forum as well as other sources to help all UFOers. It is a work in progress, but I hope that it will be useful to UFO foilers young and old. We will continue to refine what/how information is presented. Y'all's input is welcome: https://ufosailing.com/.
Many people came together to collaborate on the design and function of a website that captures the knowledge dispelled in this forum as well as other sources to help all UFOers. It is a work in progress, but I hope that it will be useful to UFO foilers young and old. We will continue to refine what/how information is presented. Y'all's input is welcome: https://ufosailing.com/.
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Kelly Federal
Member
Sailboat&Ships
New member
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Just finalized my plans for Savannah, looking forward to breaking in my new to me boat and meeting some of the UFO community! See you all in a few weeks.
-Julian Fraize
-Julian Fraize
P Flados
Anarchist
Kelly,
I like the layout of: https://ufosailing.com/.
I noted that you have the guidance from Dave on tacking. I did a lot of low mode tacking up a narrow channel early on and found I had a low success rate at promptly getting the boat moving coming out of a tack. My success rate was even worse than normal with the main foil up and the rudder partially down while navigating up a channel at low tide.
I stumbled across a method that could be titled "Sure fire tacking". It is similar to Dave's guidance, but a key element is to intentionally keep the sail popped the "wrong way" until after the boat is moving again. This puts the sail center of effort way forward and keeps the boat from rounding up instead of taking off. The other item is to re-enforce pushing the sail as needed to get the boat pointed the direction you want instead of trying to "back" the boat. The above works with as little as 2' of rudder in the water. I will include links to some posts on the topic. There is some additional discussion between these.
https://forums.sailinganarchy.com/t...identified-foiling-object.176284/post-7197718
https://forums.sailinganarchy.com/t...identified-foiling-object.176284/post-7199271
https://forums.sailinganarchy.com/t...identified-foiling-object.176284/post-7201367
I like the layout of: https://ufosailing.com/.
I noted that you have the guidance from Dave on tacking. I did a lot of low mode tacking up a narrow channel early on and found I had a low success rate at promptly getting the boat moving coming out of a tack. My success rate was even worse than normal with the main foil up and the rudder partially down while navigating up a channel at low tide.
I stumbled across a method that could be titled "Sure fire tacking". It is similar to Dave's guidance, but a key element is to intentionally keep the sail popped the "wrong way" until after the boat is moving again. This puts the sail center of effort way forward and keeps the boat from rounding up instead of taking off. The other item is to re-enforce pushing the sail as needed to get the boat pointed the direction you want instead of trying to "back" the boat. The above works with as little as 2' of rudder in the water. I will include links to some posts on the topic. There is some additional discussion between these.
https://forums.sailinganarchy.com/t...identified-foiling-object.176284/post-7197718
https://forums.sailinganarchy.com/t...identified-foiling-object.176284/post-7199271
https://forums.sailinganarchy.com/t...identified-foiling-object.176284/post-7201367
Jolly Roger
New member
Quick logistics question about Savannah, I don't have a trailer yet, am planning to roof rack it. Will it be possible to do a 1 time unload on Tuesday and load at the end or is a trailer required?
Jolly Roger
New member
I'm leaving from Eastern Long Island, might go down a day early to get organized, etc. Don't have a trailer hitch but could get one. Am planning to roof rack it for now.
Kelly Federal
Member
Trailer not required: just offload your boat on the grass near the dinghy ramp where it can stay for the duration of the event. Do please bring a dolly if possible; but if not possible, we absolutely can share dollies to get boats onto/off the water. If you bring a dolly, you may want to put some distinguishing marks on it.
Early arrival on Tuesday is fine. Please give me a call when you get close so I can meet you and help get the boat offloaded.
Martin,
It was a pleasure to meet you and your son. Good luck with the Nacra campaign
DerekF
Member
Hey team, I am selling my UFO after 4 great years. I have had a patellar tendon tear followed by a rotator cuff injury (none sailing related) that will keep me off the boat for quite a while. PM me if you are interested.
$6500 located in Southern California
$6500 located in Southern California
UFO Sailboat
Looking for an exciting and adrenaline-filled sailing experience? The UFO is your boat! This 2019 boat is in solid condition, ready to take you on your next adventure. With its
sailinganarchy.com
Hi folks. I know the topic of adhesives has come up a couple of times but interested in feedback.
We have noticed epoxy glue joints failing at a number of points subject to flexing or shock loads. Last weekend, we had our UFO out in 20+ knots and on return noticed that the spreader had detached (rotated) on the mast, breaking and detaching the sail track in the process.
The sail track appears to be glued on with a flexible adhesive and we intend to use Sikaflex 552AT (a high strength silane terminated polymer adhesive) for that repair given the mast bend flex loads that will be occurring there.
The spreader appears to have been epoxied on and the failure was the glue itself (rather than the glue detaching from the mast or spreader). Once the glue was removed, and cleaned up, the measured inside diameter of the spreader 'C' is about 3-4mm greater than the mast, meaning the gap for glue to span is arguably too big for epoxy. With constant mast flex and shock loads associated with those high-wind gybes, our thoughts are that the best adhesive is also probably Sikaflex 552AT which is specified for composites, is seriously tough, will span the gap, and also handle any flexing and shock loads.
Thoughts?
We have noticed epoxy glue joints failing at a number of points subject to flexing or shock loads. Last weekend, we had our UFO out in 20+ knots and on return noticed that the spreader had detached (rotated) on the mast, breaking and detaching the sail track in the process.
The sail track appears to be glued on with a flexible adhesive and we intend to use Sikaflex 552AT (a high strength silane terminated polymer adhesive) for that repair given the mast bend flex loads that will be occurring there.
The spreader appears to have been epoxied on and the failure was the glue itself (rather than the glue detaching from the mast or spreader). Once the glue was removed, and cleaned up, the measured inside diameter of the spreader 'C' is about 3-4mm greater than the mast, meaning the gap for glue to span is arguably too big for epoxy. With constant mast flex and shock loads associated with those high-wind gybes, our thoughts are that the best adhesive is also probably Sikaflex 552AT which is specified for composites, is seriously tough, will span the gap, and also handle any flexing and shock loads.
Thoughts?
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martin 'hoff
Super Anarchist
@Dave Clark will have the right recommendation – I know I've used thickened G/Flex as a substitute with success.
In windy conditions, as you ease the shrouds (to make mast more bendy) and tighten the outhaul (to flatten sail), you have to keep some shroud tension to counter the outhaul.
I had a similar incident to yours. When I analyzed it afterwards, it was bc I took the "ease shrouds" action too far. With no shroud tension, the outhaul tension is only held by the mast bracket glue (and bracket structure, and spreaders). The glue is only applied around the perimeter as a fillet so you can actually replace the bracket if it breaks.
Thanks Martin, and 100% that's what happened in our case- shrouds too loose, so a good lesson learned.
G/Flex is a good suggestion thanks.
Our spreader had glue across the whole contact area with the mast, about 2mm thick which had gone very brittle (unsure if that's degradation or was always that way). We figured that using a flexible adhesive like Sikaflex 552AT would allow us to remove the fitting by slicing the adhesive with piano wire, should we actually break the shroud, but use the whole contact area to increase adhesion.
martin 'hoff
Super Anarchist
I really think that you need something with methacrylate – IIRC Fulcrum uses Plexus – or a flexible epoxy like thickened G/Flex (which under-performs vs Plexus but is much easier to procure).
A quick google shows Plexus 300 or 310 having 3000 to 3500 psi in tensile strength, with Sika 552 having 1/10th of that. The standard GFlex claims 3500 psi, but the thickened variant will be a bit weaker (but still ok for these uses).
Jolly Roger
New member
Does anyone know what kind of glue to use to reattach the metal parts to this?
Dave Clark
Anarchist
We actually use West Sytem 105/205 with a blend of high density and colloidial silica fillers to create a mix with both high compressive and tensile strength. Too little gap and you'll never be able to be sure you got glue in there. Too much and the glue won't really do the job at all. So that mix proved to be the most effective. Variations still exist and I'd suggest simply approaching it again at the known standard is the best course of action. The track goes on with methakrylate adhesive. So best to source a local MMA for that, or we can ship you a party-favor sized tube with an adorable little gun that pumps it out.
On the gudgeon plates: G-flex. Touch grind both surfaces and make sure they're CLEAN
Side note: I went into the shop this weekend to get my new UFO ready for the Rally (SO AMPED) and finally caught one on camera hovering and singing to the other UFOs! I KNEW they'd been doing this but until yesterday never had any proof. HAH!
See yall in Savannah
DRC
On the gudgeon plates: G-flex. Touch grind both surfaces and make sure they're CLEAN
Side note: I went into the shop this weekend to get my new UFO ready for the Rally (SO AMPED) and finally caught one on camera hovering and singing to the other UFOs! I KNEW they'd been doing this but until yesterday never had any proof. HAH!
See yall in Savannah
DRC
JohanLekas
New member
When this happened to me after a crash I had no glue available.
I used a stainless washer and M10 nut. Works good enough for me not to bother with glueing.
Filed the walls parallell with a flat file until the nut had a good fit. Also filed the hole in the nut to a slot to get more adjustment. Not as much adjustment as originally but hasn't been limiting so far.
