Posted by Mark on 11th April 2006
St. Petersburg and looking forward
It's been a busy couple weeks. St. Petersburg, Florida was a learning experience for all. A huge thanks to Dan Tucker, Betsy Alison, Gene Hinkle, and everyone else who helped us in St. Petersburg. We couldn't have done it without you.
The wind was howling the entire week, ranging between 15 mph and 20 mph, with gusts in the mid 20s. The standard steering mechanism on the Martin 16 is, unfortunately, insufficient for someone with my level of disability in these kind of wind conditions. Therefore, much of our week (and into the races) was spent redesigning and implementing a different approach for steering. We went through several versions that ultimately broke under the intense conditions. Since returning home, we have taken the lessons learned from our earlier versions and built a reinforced aluminum structure. In addition, our experience with reengineering the steering system in the MartÃÂn 16 will allow us to more easily adapt the SKUD 18.
So what's next? Well, Maureen and I are already taking steps to get sailing at the Duxbury Bay Maritime School to practice. Much of what we had hoped to do in St. Petersburg, we will be able to do up here as temperatures are fairly temperate. Our focus is on preparing for our next competition, the Toronto NOOD in June.
Stay tuned into the web site. Soon, sailing will be in full swing and we will have many pictures to post and much to report.