D-One Dinghy UK

D-One Videos

2011-06-03T10:35:00.001+01:00

D-One Videos can be found HERE

Latest Mast Rake settings

2011-06-03T10:24:00.000+01:00

Mast foot, all the way forwards, makes it light on the helm
Strong Wind = 6m 73
Medium Wind = 6m 76
Light Wind = 6m 80

Speed

2011-06-03T10:22:00.001+01:00

Last weekend in a Force 4-5, Flat water I got 15.09 knots with Spinnaker hoisted and 11.2 Knots single sail reaching.

D-One Training and DEMO at Queen Mary SC

2011-03-25T16:27:00.004Z

There will be a D-One Training and DEMO at Queen Mary SC this weekend.
Demo available 10am-4pm

Training all Saturday, racing Sunday.

Details HERE

Sailjuice Winter Warmup Results

2011-02-16T15:06:00.002Z

I did this series again this year although missed out on the Rutland Tiger Trophy event as the wind forecast was 40mph.

Results here

I was placed 12th before the no show on Tiger Trophy.

International D-One Class Association Website

2011-02-16T14:55:00.002Z

The International D-One Class Association Website has now gone LIVE and can be found here....

http://d-onesailing.org

D-One Training in Valencia

2011-02-16T14:49:00.002Z

I have just come back from a training weekend in Valencia.
Nice to sail in the sunshine in Winter, although the water was a tad chilly.
Fantastic 18knots breeze slowly dropping throughout the day.

Devoti Sailing have an office out there, and accommodation is available....so I literally got off the airoplane, into a taxi, then onto the water.

Information here.....

http://www.devoti-one.com/news/d-one-clinic-valencia

Bloody Mary Pursuit Race

2011-01-07T13:20:00.001Z

Well I'm entered and it looks to be howler of a breeze so far.

Hoping to do better than last year, obviously.

"Round The Cans" Handicap Racing

2010-11-22T22:13:00.002Z

Well, make no mistake it's a challenge to say the least....

But this weekend just gone I have been experimenting with trying to make the most out of a tight reach course.

Depending on the strength of the gust it is possible to sail a tight reach with spinnaker up and chopping and changing between drawing power from the mainsail and the spinnaker, OR either the Spinnaker OR just the main with the spinnaker just curling (or if needed flogging a bit)

The trick is to let the kicker off completely, and aim in the direction of the tight reach marker / bouy, and if you can fly both then hike like crazy and fly em, if you are really over powered, then dump the mainsail so it floggs a little bit and sail with the 15sqare metre kite, BUT if the wind shifts and the kite collapses then you are going to HAVE to bear off to fill it again.

This is a fantastic feeling, because you are juggling Mainsail power, Spinnaker Power and balance of boat.
Now one might argue that its better off to just sail without the kite in those conditions, however as long as it's not really blowing you can get away with the "juggling act" which will squeeze another couple of knots out of a tight reach that really should be sailed on mainsail alone.

It's a beautiful feeling messing with the power like that, it really feels like you are in complete control of the accelerator.

You will know when it's not right because the boat will just stop, but as mentioned before sailing on the knife edge is just a brill feeling.

When you can lay the mark and you are able to bear away as usual the boat just flies away.

Great fun.

Draycote Dash Results

2010-11-22T22:01:00.003Z

Had a simply wonderful weekend of handicap racing at the Draycote Dash.

results HERE

An extremely well run weekend with 62 boats on Sat and 95 on Sunday.

My best result was a bullet in Race 4 on Saturday, I managed to squeeze a first place by 4 seconds off the overall winner, Phantom sailor (Simon Childs).

I got a 3rd, 11, 21, 27th as well so overall 16th, very respectable result considering the "round the cans" courses.

It was a very friendly event and all the competitors were really polite, I think everone was enjoying it.

I will deffo go again next year.

Dracote Dash

2010-11-18T13:32:00.000Z

http://www.sailracer.org/events/event-v2.asp?eventid=67093

Off to the Dracote Dash this weekend.

:o)

D-One International Class Association.

2010-10-14T15:51:00.002+01:00

I have recently been made International Class Association Secretary, with Philippe Rogge as President.

Class Website on the way!

Mast Foot Block

2010-10-14T15:48:00.002+01:00

I have recently moved the Mast foot Block.

The mast now sits further forward in the boat and this has a remarkable effect on the weather helm on the rudder.
It is so much lighter.
Wish I had done it a long time ago.

Be warned though....you will have to measure your mast rake again as the chock sizes change to get the correct rake.

Mail me if you need help.

Valencia

2010-10-02T12:50:00.000+01:00

Currently on day 2 of Valencia gold cup D-one racing.
This was lunch yesterday.

Currently I am 11th overall out of 30 with a 9th and 12th.
There are 5 people I can beat ahead of me and the others are Olympic sailors, including Ed Wright, who I would like to try and beat today.
We are just waiting for the sea breeze to build before launching.
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Speed puck bracket

2010-08-28T20:34:00.000+01:00

The drilled hole is for the Speed Puck rope tie so the puck will be tied on in case the semi permanent 3m tape fails (hmmm doubt that!)
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Bracket picture 2

2010-08-28T20:32:00.000+01:00

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My Speed puck / Tacktick bracket

2010-08-28T20:31:00.000+01:00

I have built a special (pimp) carbon bracket to house the Tacktick compass and the Velociteck Speed Puck
Fitted it today and it works really nicely
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Leech shape

2010-08-22T15:49:00.000+01:00

Check out the leech shape under correct mainsheet tension.
Lovely
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Outhaul block

2010-08-22T15:48:00.000+01:00

Added this block to aid outhaul adjustment under load
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Light wind foot setting

2010-08-22T15:46:00.000+01:00

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Outhaul pictures

2010-08-22T15:45:00.000+01:00

To demonstrate 2:1 purchase
I created a groove in the carbon boom for the stop knot
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2:1 purchase for the outhaul

2010-08-22T15:43:00.000+01:00

I found that a good belly in the foot for light to medium winds is good and so the outhaul is not 'set and forget' as previously thought!
This 2:1 purchase works perfectly and you can adjust foot tension under mainsheet tension as well.
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Tack fitting

2010-08-22T15:40:00.001+01:00

This really works well
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New downhaul arrangement

2010-08-22T15:40:00.000+01:00

After months of trying the all iin one downhaul tack arrangement I have found the perfect solution....this really is perfect.
Rope inner core, tie a bowline just big enough to take a bobble and presto you have a detachable Tack.
Add a double block to the mainsail and you got yourself a proper working downhaul.
Perfect
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Boom fitting cover

2010-08-22T15:36:00.001+01:00

Second picture
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Boom fitting cover

2010-08-22T15:36:00.000+01:00

Wow this really works...
An old drysuit foot seal stretched over the fitting instead of PVC tape
Perfect
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Mainsheet block

2010-08-22T15:34:00.000+01:00

Another view of the block that I replaced the rope on.
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Traveller fitting

2010-08-22T15:33:00.000+01:00

I changed the traveller fitting so it doesn't chafe.
This system works perfectly
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Speed

2010-08-13T16:26:00.001+01:00

Today I reached 15.29knots downwind to the start line according to the speed puck.
Nice

New boat pix 2

2010-08-13T11:44:00.000+01:00

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New boat pix

2010-08-13T11:43:00.000+01:00

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Federation Week results

2010-08-13T10:38:00.002+01:00

Currently I am placed 4th overall out of 44 medium asymetric boats.

I have been having trouble keeping local sailor Nick Peters in his RS100 behind me, and its really easy to throw away a 2 minute lead by going the wrong way in the tide.

The other RS100's are a long way off over the long courses but their handicap of 1005 to our 971 is giving them plenty of room for error.

I lapped one 10.2 rig and the leading 8.4 rig was 14minutes behind on the water.

Nick manages to make his boat go very well indeed and I have only beaten him once by 1 sec, every other race has been him beating me by an average of 20secs.

Excellent racing.....if Nick gained a minute on the downwind leg then I got back 30 secs on the beat.....all of this while we are both minutes ahead of the others.

There have been some tight reaches which favours the 100 where the D-One wants to go faster downwind......but all in all a fantastic event.

I need a good race today to get a 3rd place.

New Boat

2010-08-13T10:36:00.003+01:00

I have been sailing the new boat all this week at Hayling Island Federation Week event.

The boat is performing really well and looks great with the carbon inserts on the deck.

Pictures to follow.

d-one-slovenia

2010-08-01T22:23:00.001+01:00

d-one-slovenia send me your email address please

New D-One

2010-07-27T21:07:00.002+01:00

Only one week to go until new D-One turns up.

White hull with carbon insert.....Pimp!

Gonna launch it at Hayling Island SC with a week of racing in Federation Week.

I can't wait.

:o)

Single Sail reaching - different story

2010-07-22T19:34:00.002+01:00

I keep forgetting to post about the different way of sailing the D-One without the spinny, on a reach.

Whereas downwind with the kite you need to centre the traveller, this is NOT the case for reaching.

KICKER / VANG hard on and ease the traveller is the key.

Letting the traveller off more and more until you have perfect balance of power and trim, sit back and plane away.

I was out sailing with a Halo and I admired the way it was super fast on a reach, it certainly left me standing, however I was sure that the D-One should be as fast, if not faster, so I messed around with the traveller, easing it off and bringing the boat quickly up on the plane.
As soon as I did this I left the Halo standing, which I was happy about.

The Kicker has to be really tight to control the leach, but DON'T FORGET to let it off again before you go up wind, otherwise you will never get under the boom.

This is the only time when the kicker is really used under huge tension, really it is only on enough to stop the boom rising during a tack when you let the mainsheet tension off.

Torbole regatta Lake Garda

2010-06-26T19:07:00.000+01:00

Well the first race was briiliant!
25 knots winds and blazing sunshine....amazing.

20 D-ones, 2 olympic sailors, Gasper Vincec, fresh from winning Olympic Kiel week in the Finn class and Silvio Santono Olympic Star sailor.
Race 1 and it payed to sail to the right hand side to the cliffs, Santoni banged far right and was first to the windard mark by 1min closely followed by Vincec and Garvin who played the shifts up the middle right.
Ferrari (1st in Bracciano) went left and dropped to 4th.
Silvio Santoni 1st
Gasper Vincec 2nd
Tim Garvin 3rd
Alberto Ferrari 4th

2nd Race and more of the same wind although the course was shortened to one windward leeward, although it over a mile long beat.
Vincec, Ferrari and Garvin all tacked off on the start and banged right, although Garvin sailing in Ferrari's dirty wind dropped right back.
Places changed in the top 5 but it was Michael Maier who took the bullet, Ferrari 2nd, Vincec 3rd, and Garvin was pipped on the line by Paolo Rossi 4th, Garvin 5th

Overall Results after day one
1st Gasper Vincec
2nd Alberto Ferrari
3rd Tim Garvin
4th Paolo Rossi
5th Michael Maier
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Downhaul Setup Part 1

2010-06-14T16:47:00.002+01:00

I have been messing around with the downhaul. I wanted to keep the mainsail tack tight near the mast but also let it off loose when the downhaul is taken right off. I had previously removed the tack line on the boom, but I have now replaced it and the system works really well....see pictures.

New Downhaul setup Part 2

2010-06-14T16:36:00.005+01:00

D-One Training at Hayling Island

2010-06-14T16:33:00.002+01:00

3 of us turned up for a bit of training down at Hayling Island sailing club on Sat.

All was great until the wind dropped right off and with the spring tides I was swept past the Lifeboat station before I could get to shore....long walk up the beach!

There is a new D-One just delivered last week, based at HISC now.

Results so far in the Regattas

2010-06-09T20:55:00.003+01:00

Currently I am placed 1st, which I am very please with, however I am not attending the Numana event this weekend so I expect to drop with a load of work to do at the Torbole event, I hope its windy!!!!

Timg

HoneyPot Trophy Pursuit Race

2010-06-09T20:39:00.003+01:00

On the Bank Holiday we had a fantastic day for a pursuit race in memory of Jesper Garvin (my dad).

He had the trophy made and donated it to the Yeoman fleet who very kindly allowed it to be passed on to the Honeypot Pursuit event, held annually.

I am please to say that I did really well and had a real humdinger of a race with the leading RS400 who only managed to sneak a 35sec lead at the finish after 2 hours of close racing. If I hadn't have screwed up the 1st beat and waisted 30 secs I think I may have beaten them.
The 400's start 1min behind me at the moment on handicap.

Downwind the D-one is way faster than the 400 and certainly planes quicker, upwind I was really racing hard to keep up with the leading 400, however the second place 400 was approx 6mins behind!

The end results were 1st Musto skiff, 2nd RS700, 3rd RS400, 4th D-One, 5th Graduate.
It was really nice to have visitors for the event, I hope they come back next year.

Sports Channel (cable)

2010-05-26T19:59:00.001+01:00

Watch out for more footage on the Sports Channel on cable, coming soon.

Bracciano Day 2 Video Footage

2010-05-26T19:58:00.000+01:00

Volvo Regatta Overall Results

2010-05-26T19:52:00.004+01:00

Yippeeee!

Just had word that I am currently 1st overall after 2 events in the Volvo Regatta in Italy, with a 2nd and 4th overall I lead by 2 points.

Not bad, as they are pretty hot sailors.

I am pleased.

Next event I am doing is Torbole where I hope it blows "dogs off chains".

Bracciano Video Footage

2010-05-26T19:50:00.001+01:00

I am boat number 025, and they were filming me on the final downwind leg to the finish line when I was in 1st place....which I dropped to 2nd...GRRRR

Bracciano Day 2

2010-05-24T07:19:00.000+01:00

Day 2 and a stark contrast to day 1 with a very light wind blowing in patches across the lake.
We waited for the sea breeze to fill in and patience was rewarded when a 12 knot breeze came in from the coastline not far away.
1st race got underway and the first mark saw the top 10 boats so closely packed it was anyone's race.
After the downwind blast it was Andrea Magni leading followed by Alessandro Novi , and Agustin Zabalua.
Ferrari was in 5th place and Garvin in 6th with Andrea Gancia chasing hard.
In the last beat all places changed with Ferrari moving up to 2nd place Novi 3rd, Zabalua 4th and Guido Falciola 5th.
It was a fight to the finish with Garvin placed 7th overall, one boatlength behind Gancia which put him ahead in the regatta by one point.
After race 1 a huge storm cloud appeared between the valley and as the lightning cracked louder and louder it was decided that it would be safer to go ashore, so the lsat race was canned.
This made the final results.
1st Alberto Ferrari - 4 points
2nd Tim Garvin - 11 points
3rd Andrea Gancia -12 points
4th Andrea Magni - 13 points
5th Alessandro Novi - 19 points

The sailing club put on the most fantastic food, catering was all included in the entry fee. The sunny weather and the view over the lake was beautiful and made a great event for the D-Ones who will no doubt be back next year.

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Re: Results

2010-05-22T22:32:00.000+01:00

Bracciano regatta results DAY ONE

Alberto Ferrari 1st
Tim Garvin 2nd
Andrea Gancia 3rd
Andrea Magni 4th
Guido Falciola 5th

18-20 knots wind with bright sunshine saw 22 D-Ones take to the water for the first day of racing in Bracciano.
Race One saw Alberto Ferrari burn straight into the lead closely followed by Tim Garvin and Andrea Gancia.
Ferrari capsized on a gybe and allowed Garvin through however Garvin had to do penalty turns for a "room" at the leeward mark situation. In the building breeze and having done turns, Garvin was able to get to the windward mark with comfortable lead only to give the race to Ferrari ten boat lengths from the finish line. Andrea Gancia was 3rd.
Race Two and it was Garvin who was first to the windward mark by approx 10 boat lengths, but again slowed on the downwind leg to allow Ferrari and Andrea Curzi to catch him up.
Leeward mark saw Garvin round in first closely followed by Curzi then Ferrari and Gancia.
Garvin pulled away again upwind and Curzi dropped to 5th with Ferrari 2nd and Gancia 3rd, again.
Ferrari got the best shifts on the downwind leg and overtook Garvin to take the bullet, with Gancia 3rd.
After a hard couple of races it was into shore for a wonderful Italian food spread all included in the entry fee, second free meal of the day!
All to play for tomorrow with the last race "undisgardable" anyone could win.
More results tomorrow.
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Practice day at Bracciano

2010-05-21T19:59:00.001+01:00

With 21 boats entered already we had 25 knots upwards in the gusts wind today and huge waves
Approx 7 D-ones took advantage of being off work and went for a blast.
I have never been so fast in a D-One, it was utterley amazing.
Even with the sun not sure its shortie weather just yet, so will wear longer ones tomorrow.
I ended sailing for approx 4 hours, perhaps not such a good idea the day before the event starts, but at least I know the boat is ready.
I am sailing a brand new boat, unwrapped today....smart.
Ciao
Tim
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Photos from Scarlino Regatta

2010-05-13T16:40:00.001+01:00

These photos were taken by Matteo Barducci.

Thanks Matteo!

http://gallery.me.com/matbard#100306

Bracciano Regatta Italy.

2010-05-13T16:30:00.002+01:00

I am looking forward to the Bracciano regatta.
21st-23rd May.

25 knots and a change of settings

2010-05-03T21:48:00.002+01:00

Today was blowing 25 knots in the gusts....there was even hale stones at one point!

So after racing I decided to make some changes to my kicker and downhaul arrangements.

Prior to racing today I raked the mast back to 6m70 which actually made things very manageable, even in the heavy stuff.

I will take pictures of my kicker and downhaul arrrangement next Wed.

Watch this space......

Me and my girl

2010-05-02T22:20:00.000+01:00

The love of my life...

2010-05-02T22:18:00.002+01:00

Sorted?

2010-05-02T22:14:00.001+01:00

Getting the boat sorted before racing.

My mate Stefano

2010-05-02T22:13:00.002+01:00

Scarlino Video Footage

2010-05-02T22:05:00.001+01:00

Weight range of helm at Scarlino

2010-04-26T13:49:00.000+01:00

Interesting point this one...
The leading boat helm was 90kgs
Second place helm weighed 70kgs and he was faster than me in the windy stuff and I am 90kgs too.
I have seen some amazing tricks that you can do to make the d-one perform even better than I thought it could, its a very clever piece of kit.
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Sunday racing Scarlino regatta

2010-04-26T12:31:00.000+01:00

Sunday racing proved more of the same weather, sunny and light winds coming from the land
The first race as the wind started changing into a sea breeze was cut short to wait until it filled in, which it did.

The first two boats had one point between them to win the event and with the last race counting double points it was all to play for in a strengthening sea breeze and building swell.
Andrea Giammarini and Tim Garvin tacked off early to go far right on the beat and rounded 1st and 2nd comfortably with the pack following behind.
At the leeward mark Tim Garvin's spinnaker drop went horribly wrong and dropped to 3rd as Agustine Zabalua. showed his speed by holding 2nd to the finish from Andrea Giammarino.
By covering Agustine downwind Tim Garvin let Michele Tognozzi through who carried on to far right of downwind leg and pipped a 3rd position. 5th place was Stephano De Carta.

So overall regatta top 5 results
1st Andrea Giammarini ITA
2nd Agustin Zabalua ESP
3rd Michele Tognozzi ITA
4th Tim Garvin GBR
5th Stefano De Carta ITA

With 16 boats in total.

The prize giving was followed by a fantastic spread of Italian food, hams, cheeses and sparkling Italian wine, all laid on by the host Club Nautico Scarlino and Devoti.

Utterly fantastic event especially when the sea breeze filled in!
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Scarlino regatta, Italy

2010-04-24T17:30:00.000+01:00

15 d-ones from various countries, UK, Germany, Italy here for the Scarlino regatta.
Friday saw 7 d-ones go out for a 3 hour practice in a force 3, some fantastic photos by Francois Richard to follow.
There was a welcome dinner in a lovely italian restaurant and the italians who were working friday, all turned up to give me a 40th birthday cake....nice touch.
Racing got underway today in a force 2 but as the wind dropped to nothing, race 2 was cancelled until the breeze filled in from completely the opposite direction.
Unfortunately I am well off the pace in the light stuff, however when it was windy I was 5th to the first windward mark.
6m 80 seems to be the right mast rake setting, so at least I got that right!
I'm off now for another social, meal included in the entrance fee, food is great weather is great and set to get sunnier and windier for sundays race.
Some more UK people should try and charter a d-one for the next event....it is a great atmosphere.
Some smart looking new boats hot off the press, to look at.
I shall update tomorrow, maybe get photos too
Ciao
Timg
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Scarlino Regatta

2010-04-21T19:15:00.000+01:00

Well thanks to Easyjet not ever cancelling our flight....we have finally made it to sunny Italy.
Tomorrow will be setting up the boat with my bimble bits that I brought with me, and all ready for the regatta.
Just tucking into classic Italian food.....lovely.
Pictures to follow tomorrow.
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Downwind speed

2010-04-04T20:06:00.004+01:00

D-One Golden Rules of boat handling

2010-04-04T19:59:00.000+01:00

The D-One controls leech tension using mainly the mainsheet and traveller, and when they are eased, the kicker comes into play.
In the lighter winds you do not need to worry about how much power you have (obviously) however as the wind gets stronger and stronger you need to start thinking about controlling the power in the mainsail.
Not necessarily dumping power….but controlling it with kicker and traveller and downhaul..

Light Wind sailing Upwind

Keep a lot of mainsheet tension to get a nice mast bend and tight leech.
Traveller just off centreline and progressively let it off as the gusts get up.
Kicker is on enough to get yourself under the boom in a tack and to keep the boom horizontal when mainsheet is let off.

Light Wind Sailing Downwind

The less centred the mainsheet the more power you apply to the boat going downhill.
As you have a short bow you will know when you have too much mainsail presented to the wind and you can progressive move the traveller more centreline to depower.
Keep enough mainsheet tension to keep as much leech tension as you want.
Keep the kicker on to keep the boom horizontal, however you can loosen it off a bit to create a nice “slot” between the mainsail and the kite.

Light wind reaching without the kite

Keep the mainsheet traveller centreline and keep the boat flat and trimmed…if you need more power you can start easing the traveller slightly, but never too much.
Kicker needs to be put on tight to keep a nice leech tension….tighter than you can get under the boom…so don’t forget to release it before a tack.

The D-One has plenty of power options and light wind sailing is really fast!

Heavy Wind Sailing Upwind.

Keep a lot of mainsheet tension to get a nice mast bend and tight leech.
Traveller will be nearly all the way eased, however in the lulls it pays to pull on the traveller to gain pointing ability and more power….as the gust hits…..let the traveller off again…..”Power on Power Off.”
Kicker is on enough to get yourself under the boom in a tack and to keep the boom horizontal when mainsheet is let off.
Apply downhaul to flatten the main off. (The downhaul is very effective and works well with the mast and the mainsail)

Heavy Wind Sailing Downwind.

It’s very important to centre the mainsheet traveller BEFORE bearing away to hoist the spinnaker.
Leave the kicker setting on (same as upwind setting to keep the main under control)
Leave the downhaul on.
Let the mainsheet out until the boom is approx 45 degree angle from the mast, hiking on the wing and sitting back.
The D-One will shoot up onto the plane and from the wing and on a REACH (not dead downwind) you will be perfectly balanced enough to reach in and hoist the spinnaker (arm over arm with tiller in hand also)
Once Spinny is flying you will be flying off downwind (bearing away in the gusts) and you will be able to gauge how much more power to apply (should you need to)

If it’s blowing dogs off chains then you can quite happily sail downwind with those settings, however if you want more power then release the downhaul completely, and also start easing the kicker (not too much) and also you can release a bit more mainsheet, but not too much as this is keeping the leech tension tight enough to hold the mast from bending forwards.
DO NOT ease the traveller, leave it centreline.

Heavy Wind Reaching without the kite

Keep the mainsheet traveller centreline and keep the boat flat and trimmed.
You will not want too much power which will put your bow down, so keep the traveller centred.
Kicker needs to be put on really tight to keep a nice leech tension….tighter than you can get under the boom…so don’t forget to release it before a tack

"Out the way Vareo!!!"

2010-04-04T19:52:00.002+01:00

Lashing the boat to the trolley

2010-04-04T19:46:00.002+01:00

Its important to lash the boat down to the trolley as it's so light.

Easter Sailing

2010-04-04T19:36:00.002+01:00

Great winds this weekend and still a Monday Pursuit race to go!

Kicker

2010-04-04T19:26:00.003+01:00

I have realised that the kicker is more imortant than I originally thought.

I noticed that it is important to be able to set the kicker while beating to windward, however this was not possible due to the mainsheet taking all the tension out of the kicker adjuster, so I attached a piece of elastic to keep it under tension allowing me to tune the kicker upwind, ready for the offwind stuff...it works really well.

I attached it to the pulley as my boom does not have metal fitting for the outhaul take off, however if you get a new boat, I think they are supplied with metal fitting to hang the outhaul end to, this is where you could put the elastic.

Batten Tension

2010-04-04T19:24:00.003+01:00

I noticed that my battens were a tad loose so I tightened them, especially the top one.

It has got rid of the creases and also the top batten blades off when I apply the downhaul in a blow.

Kicker Control

2010-03-18T15:01:00.001Z

I have moved the pin on the kicker control to give me MAX purchase for the kicker so I can keep the boom down when I let the mainsheet tension off.

In order to tack I have the kicker taking up the tension when mainsheet is released, however on a reach without the spinnaker on you will need to play the mainsheet and so the kicker needs to be put on even more than you need to get under the boom.
In other words to get the correct about of kicker on for a reach you would probably struggle to get under the boom if you tacked, so remember to release it.

I have moved the pin right to the end of the adjustment plate to give me extra purchase, should I need it.
Attached is the recomended starting position from which I have now moved.

Racing Windsurfers

2010-03-11T22:17:00.001Z

Funnily enough the windsurfer is my RS400 crew, Jason.

I think this shows that the Kicker needs to be on a lot more on the reaches.

It's wierd because from the camera angle I need loads more kicker, but from inside the boat the rig looked great.
Optical illusions...

Sunday Blast

2010-03-11T21:56:00.000Z

I love this picture, taken by Alex Curtis (QM member)

Look at the way the D-One is skipping across the water.

Spinnaker sheet take away

2010-03-07T22:43:00.000Z

When supplied new the D-One has a piece of elastic stretching from side to side at the rear to stop the spinnaker sheets flooding out of the open transom area.....this works fine, although I have twice caught my tiller extension in it and so I have removed it completely.

Now I have attached a nylon ring to the transom knee and the sheets got through that....perfect!

5mm Mainsheet Track Car Rope (Purple Rope)

2010-03-07T22:34:00.001Z

I replaced the mainsheet rope attachment with 5mm instead of the Harken Air Block 3 strand rope as it frayed twice, not sure why, however this 5mm has worked perfectly since October 2009.

5mm spinnaker halyard

2010-03-07T22:23:00.001Z

Makes all the difference!

Top Picture is the "Head"

This is the Transom view of the spinnaker sheet.

With the 5mm rope all the cleats work really well, and I found that one or two armfulls of hoist and the kite is up!

RYA Dinghy Show 2010

2010-03-07T22:10:00.000Z

D-One downwind technique in a blow

2010-03-01T14:34:00.001Z

Well I am not too proud to admit that I think I have been making mistakes here and I have found the best way to sail this beautiful boat downwind in a serious blow.

In all other boats, especially the RS400, the first thing to do when bearing away in a blow is to let the kicker off....so I had been doing this naturally in the D-One however as the winds get stronger there is a temptation to carry on doing this and to make things worse by letting the traveller off, thinking this will help....

It does not help at all, in fact all that does is show more of the sail area to the wind and increase the likely hood of the hull wanting to bury the bow, which doesn't feel nice at all (although the hull doesn't actually go under, it just feels slow)

The D-One appears to be exactly the opposite and I have found the best way to bear away in a blow is to have a lot of kicker on and centre the mainsheet traveller before bearing off, this way you skim off onto a reach, hoist the kite from hiking position on the wings and then you will go deep when the kite is up, this way you remain on the plane, with mainsheet tension, and kicker keeping the correct mast bend and therefore mainsail shape, and completely solves the "bow down effect" on a bear off.

Easy!

:o)

Having said all that, in the ligher stuff you can afford to bare away with the mainsheet not centered if you want as the forces on the main are less.

Also my previous comments about sailing in lighter airs with less kicker to get correct slot still stand, it's just in the stronger stuff you have to change your game plan to accomodate the sail area to wind strength issue.

So you get the best controls for the both winds!

I certainly see the benefits of a traveller system....I liked it on the Tasar, but this rig is something else, a joy to work with.

Queen Mary Sunday afternoon jolly with great results!

2010-03-01T14:16:00.000Z

Instead of going to the Hoo freezer event I thought I would take advantage of some time in the boat "not racing" to actually practice a few points that have been niggling me for ages.

One of these was replacing the spinnaker halyard to a thicker diameter rope.

Supplied was 3mm (may have been 2.5mm) but this proved really difficult to work with especially hoisting from the wing, which is the best way to hoist the spinny BTW.

So I replaced it with 5mm racing pro with a view that i it was way too thick I would expose the inner core material at the top of the halyard to avoid excessive windage up the top of the mast, hence the supply of small diameter rope in the first place (good attention to detail).

Well to say the difference was magnificent would be an understatement!
The 5mm rope works a dream and I was able to hoist the kite cmfortably while in a reaching position, hiking from the wings.....amazing.

The other point was to remove the elastic at the transom whose purpose was to stop the spinny sheets from trailing out the back of the boat.

The problem with that was that is was fantasticly easy to twist my tiller extension through it half way through a tack and therefore tie myself in knots!

So that disappeared and I attached a large nylon ring a piece of elastic at the transom knee that centres the rudder and threaded the sheets through that.....fantastic job.

I will post pictures soon...I forgot my bimble cam!

Hoo Freezer

2010-03-01T14:04:00.002Z

Well, I didn't go.....

I kind of thought it maybe blown off with snow on top!
;o(

Video Footage

2010-02-25T21:27:00.005Z

This is Video Footage I found on Youtube, filmed by Shockwave40.

The first part of the film was at Steve Nicholson Trophy and then in the fog is at Rutland for the John Merricks Memorial event.

I think it is really good, and I hope they dont mind me putting it on my blog.
I have tried to get in contact, but please leave a comment if you want me to remove it.

At the Steve Nicholson event I had spent Friday night ill with food poisoning and so Saturday was a right off....I should not have bothered but I thought it was a good cause, so I drove 2.5 hours, paid my entry, sailed one race and then nearly collapsed so went home.
There was a lovely couple sailing an Enterprise that I was talking to whilst packing the boat up.....seemed quite concerned for my well being, which was nice.
:o)
Friendly lot in this sport!

Start Line Behaviour

2010-02-25T16:12:00.003Z

Picture kindly taken by Yachts and Yachting forum user "Asterix"

Apart from the fact that I was the only starter for this handicap race I really love this picture...I really think the mast bend is particularly beautiful, the only problem is that I need a little more mainsheet tension to get the top banding aft.....but it was taken just as I was sheeting in on a start line so....I guess I should cut myself some slack.

D-One in the Mist

2010-02-25T16:09:00.004Z

Picture kindly taken by Yachts and Yachting forum user "Asterix"

Again....one of my favourite pictures, even though shrouded in mist!

I still need to put just a little bit more mainsheet tension on, just to complete the mast bend shape I reckon, but not far off.

I have been told, perhaps to loosen the foot and then I can apply more mainsheet.

This is a trick of the Blaze class, and now the Halo...I notice a very loose foot, so I might try that.

I kind of get the feeling that it looks like a bullet....dunno why.

Tiger Trophy @ Rutland SC

2010-02-09T22:50:00.002Z

Just had a fantastic weekend of D-One sailing at Rutland, for the John Merricks Memorial "Tiger Trophy" event.

165 boats taking part on a very well run event.

I was disappointed to be separated from the RS100 on the start line, due to their handicap PY they were deemed "slow handicap"??? and therefore started on a different sequence, behind me.

Anyhow on Sunday we were to race a pursuit which saw me start 4 minutes behind on handicap.

I was approx 2 boat lengths ahead of one of them on the finish line, the other having got a long way ahead early on in the race to remain uncatchable.

On Saturday I was beating B14's and racing with Laser 4000 and keeping them behind me, which was great.

Again I came a cropper on the tight reaches with the kite....the D-One just will not do it, however when the angles are right or you get chance to do windward leward, then she just flies past anything, apart from cherubs and 49ers and the like!

Pictures to follow when I recieve them from Yachts and Yachting forum user "Asterix"

Next event Hoo Freezer.

Apparently I should have let the outhaul out a bit in this picture, in order to tighten the leech and aid pointing ability....I shall give it a try next.

Battle of the Classes - more photos

2010-02-05T11:59:00.004Z

More pictures from the Excel Docklands Battle of the Classes event, courtesy of

www.marineimages.co.uk

Soaking downwind

2010-02-01T14:21:00.002Z

While at the Steve Nicholson memorial event in Northampton the wind had some mental shifts, that I should have been gybing on.

However due to my exhausted body I chose to sit the race out from the comfort of the wings, and found myself slipping into old RS400 style downwind habits of soaking.

THIS DOES NOT WORK!

The D-One does not like to soak, it likes to go high, catch the gust and go with it, gybing if the shift is big enough and to stay with the gust.

You end up sailing quite high, but it is soooooo much faster.

Steve Nicholson Trophy

2010-02-01T14:18:00.003Z

Well I turned up for the event, but I should have stayed in bed!

Food poisoning on Friday does not set your body up for racing and I found myself very very exhausted, and mentally not up to the job.

Nick Peters in the RS100 tacked off early on the start line and hugged the right hand shore, I went out into the middle for clear air, which I got, but no bend!

Nick got a huge lift to the windward mark and I never caught him after that, especially after my reduced speed efforts downwind, shame.

I sailed the first race, and had to go home.

not good

:o(

Battle Of the Classes

2010-01-17T21:55:00.002Z

Wow, what a fantastic day.

I felt really fast today, finally attached a burgee to the mast (that helped).

Results tomorrow, but pleased to announce that having started 2mins behind the RS100, I finished neck and neck on the finish line.....I would have been way in front if I hadn't caught my tiller extension in the elastic at the transom at the leward mark and had to stop to unhook myself.

It was just enough to give the 100 time to catch up and hang on for the last part of the race.

Can't wait to race them on open water, it was cramped conditions today to say the least.

Loads of boats on a thin course, although we were really lucky to get the breeze blowing up and down the dock.

Great fun.....more more more.
Pictures with kind permission of Mark Jardine http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/

London Boat Show Battle of the Classes

2010-01-16T18:59:00.000Z

Well I will be there....

Packed the boat up today for the first time since putting her together from new.

Everything has its own padded bag, wings, mast, rudder, foils.

De-rigging and loading up ready for towing took exactly 35mins, excellent.

See you all at the Boat show then.

P.S.

2010-01-10T20:41:00.001Z

Happy New Year people!

Bloody Mary 2010

2010-01-10T20:40:00.002Z

......Froze my nuts off!

One piece of advice.....when the huggy bear label says to wash on a cold wash and not tumble dry....follow them instead of shrinking them and splitting your crotch when getting the air out of the drysuit.

Managed to rip a hole the size of a grapefruit in the crotch of my huggy bear underneath my drysuit, which after the second capsize was enough to drop my core body temperature down to a level where I was really struggling to concentrate on righting the boat....so I thought it maybe a tad too cold to perform well enough.

My hands were toasty, but I felt really chilly.

I should have worn my shorty inside the drysuit.

While I was sailing the spray that was coming over the wings etc was turning to sleet and snowing in my face.

All my sheets where frozen, kicker would not adjust, traveller car ropes were frozen and when I went to hoist the spinny for the second downhill run the cleat and 5mm sheet had frozen to a block of ice.

Not to mention the sheet of ice on the wings.....MENTAL.

It was really really good to race against other D-Ones and I was really glad to say I was up the front end which cheered me up.

My second capsize was in a mentally huge gust which just wiped me out with the kite up.

It was the same gust that snapped Andy Rice's mast.....a build fault on that particular mast, mine was absolutely fine, glad to say I had no gear failure whatsover, apart from my faulty huggy bear.

Had great fun, but wish it wasn't so bloody cold.

:o)

Uneven Speed

2009-12-27T20:05:00.001Z

So upwind its slower (obviously) but downwind in a blow is amazingly quick.

Because I started so late the Musto Skiffs caught me in the first beat and we all round the windward mark together.

Kites went up and as we all caught a huge gust we burned across the whole top of Queen Mary from right to left and gybed past the bund and down towards the clubhouse-ish to the leward mark.

By the time we all reached the leward mark I was approx 15-20 seconds behind the last skiff.

Now I reckon that is really good speed.....and it was really good fun keeping up with them.

Upwind of course they spanked me, but that is to be expected.

When I was near the K6 and went off on a broad 2 sail reach I left them standing.

I was really happy today.

:o)

Learning the hard way

2009-12-27T19:51:00.000Z

Well today was up and down around 18knots and a tad chilly when racing had finished.

I had a bit of a cold and was feeling a bit below par, but soon forgot about it once sailing.

It was the Pursuit Race today running roughly the same format as the Bloody Mary.

So kind of important that I got to the start in time!

Unfortuneatly I had to launch to leward of the bund and sail round which made me reall late (gutted)

So with a handicap of 950 I was supposed to start at 12.32 but actually started at 12.40 ish with a K6.

This ruined my handicap chances completely, however I carried on for the practice.

I have realised that I have been making it quite hard for myself upwind, by not letting the traveller off enough.

Today I wacked it a long way off and was planing quickly to windward. Something I should have done weeks ago.

Happy Christmas

2009-12-24T11:47:00.000Z

For all those of you who have shown an interest in my blog and future visitors.....

HAPPY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

See you all at the Bloody Mary!

Maintenance

2009-12-21T16:17:00.000Z

So far the only maintenance I have had to do is check the tightness of bolts for rudder pintels and replace the rope that Harken supply with their air blocks with a thicker mm on the block on the traveller.

Everyting else is working as new.

Christmas Handicap Race

2009-12-21T16:14:00.000Z

brrrrr......that was cold, arrived to find all sheets frozen.

Although a fantatic sail, nice and sunny Force 2-3.

I have been sailing with the kicker just taking up the strain when I release the mainsheet tension for upwind sailing, this seems to work fine.

For downwind I found in the light stuff, just releasing the kicker a bit works better than keeping it on (a heavy wind setting)

So I was very pleased with my overall performance..... just over a minute behind the winning RS400 on the water, not too far away from the B14.

Also pleased to announce that I am able to hold off if not catch up leading RS400 and B14 on a reach with neither of us flying kites.
:o)

coming ashore in 20 knots +

2009-12-06T22:29:00.000Z

As a single hander you do tend to wonder how you are going to manage coming ashore in a stonker.

The thoughts that went through my mind were to come ashore and hove to and jump out of boat but I was a tad worried about the carbon foils and the onshore Force 6 wind.

So I sailed around the bund and onto the lee shore.

Sailed up to the pontoon and stepped off having let off the kicker, mainsheet, downhaul and traveller.

The moment the traveller goes loose the D-One just sits very stable while you get the mainsail down.

Very well behaved I thought.

:o)

Sunday 6th 20+ knots

2009-12-06T22:21:00.001Z

So the last thing that was bothering me was my ability to make the D-One go a bit top heavy in 20knots and above downwind.

It had to be something I was doing wrong, as others had not experienced it.

This is a technical boat no doubt, there is a lot of thought that has gone into this rig design, and it's down to me to get the best out of it, which I have so far, but the last thing that eluded me was the heavy wind downhill sailing.

Well today I have cracked it, I am very proud to say.

Where I have been used to the RS400 and letting kicker and downhaul off downwind, I have fallen into some bad habits with the D-One.

There is no doubt about it, there is a lot of mainsail to deal with and the brilliant thing about that is you have got a lot of range for going fast, but also get it wrong and prepare to be punished.

Today was 20 knots and above and I missed the start because of a bit of a queue to launch and me replacing the mainsheet for a longer one (10metres instead of 7)

When I got out the wind really turned itself up and it was survival weather, so I wasn't too bothered about racing.

My goal for today was to sort out the strong wind no kite stuff, and apply the kite after that.

Ok....my settings were....

Kicker = on enough to keep the boom level if I let any mainsheet off.
Downhaul = As much as possible and then a bit more.

I round the windward mark and here is the difference....

Don't let anything off apart from the mainsheet.... leave the downhaul on tight and go off onto a reach.
The bow lifts onto a plane and you can hoist the kite more than comfortably from the wing, arm over arm with the tiller hand.

Once the kite is up, you can let downhaul off, but I recommend leaving it on in the crazy windy stuff.

You will be able to tell yourself if things are a bit too much power.....then wack the downhaul on again if needs be.

Remember what is going on here.....the D-One design has given you a shed load of power and control...it's up to you to control it.

My mistake in previous outings in 20 knots + have been to let the mainsheet off and go downwind.....this is a mistake, unless you let the kicker completely off, which looks horrible.

So I was very very very happy today as I seemed to have tamed the beast in a blow.

When the kite went up, well.....it was amazing, truly amazing, I did laugh!

Then there was the drop......as I get quicker (thicker halyard will help) with the drop I shall leave it a bit later, but flippin heck the edge of Queen Mary reservoir appears quickly on a windy day.....and a lot of Lasers floating about waiting to be kebabbed!

So to sum up, as the wind gets up.....depower the thing.

As a point of interest, sailing upwind in a stonker is really comfortable, crack the traveller off and sit on the wings, plane to windward.

Today there was a moment when I thought I might try and ease the power in the mainsail upwind....as it was the wind was bending Lasers.....and when I wacked the downhaul on the whole boat slowed right down.....amazing control, use wisely.

Now you can understand the use of it downwind to control things......very very important....more so than any other boat I have sailed.

So the D-One has some strange characteristics, but once you know what you are doing with it, my goodness, its a damn fine craft....and OMG its fast.

:o)

P.S. no pictures cos the rescue boats were....rescuing.....oh....and a foiling moth snapped his foil!!!!....it was blowing dogs off chains!

Speed

2009-12-02T16:15:00.003Z

Pretty pleased with the overall speed to be honest, really great fun.

Traveller downwind in a strong wind

2009-12-02T16:14:00.000Z

I have been told to keep the traveller centreline for downwind stuff, but in a howler I eased it slightly and it seemed to help me during gybes.....so I wonder? keep kicker on but ease traveller in a howler....I will try that next.

Upwind pointing or footing

2009-12-02T16:12:00.000Z

I found myself doing both, when the gusts go lighter I wanted to point really high, but you can feel when its not doing the speed any good, so you bare off a tad to get the speed up.

As the wind gets stronger I was easying the traveller bit by bit to get planing, while planing it felt fast and you can nudge yourself upwind to gain height.

Standard stuff really.

I love the traveller its great, so much control.

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D-One downwind technique in a blow

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Hoo Freezer