Time to upgrade and expand our electronics on board. Yes, races can be won with basic instruments. And my philosophy is often “less is more”. Yet, measuring improvements over time, assessing performance and taking decisions onboard with aid of accurate data, do accelerate the learning curve tremendously. The keywords beingContinue Reading
Two seasons have gone by and we are readying ourselves for season three! After many hours on the water we got a pretty good feel for our running rigging choices. Check out the rationale from the detailed article I wrote in two years back (here). At the time, I satContinue Reading
We all have lists. Lists for everything. We sailors have lists of lists. And we finally ticked off whole of our splash preparation list… Veloce had a surprising short list of preparations for this spring: Plus all usual standard TLC, polishing and painting… What’s on your list?Continue Reading
First post and update for this year! We just switched from Selden Rod Kicker to Barton Marine Boomstrut. Why? I am quite familiar with rod kickers, had them on several boats and therefore mounted one on Veloce right away. However… So, what to do now? Do I really need aContinue Reading
The idea of a J/80 foam deck came and went a few times, lately. And now it is done! With Midsummer Solo Challenge coming up in two weeks and Pantaenius Bohusracet at the end of the month, final preparations are coming to a close. Among the low prio/high desirability itemsContinue Reading
Back on track after Xmas! Time to prepare for the coming season. Still a long to-do list, but we are slightly working our way through it. Do you also feel as if that list grows forever, no matter how many items you tick off? After getting new clothes (here aboutContinue Reading
Veloce is now on the hard. With a very productive month on the water, we now have a better idea of what works and what doesn’t. We also made up our mind on how the J/80’s new shorthanded sail inventory should look like. Some of the input to the process:Continue Reading
Amongst several upgrades 2021, Veloce received a brand new Pelagic autopilot to try out. Having received many questions from readers and followers, I tried to recap the rationale behind the choice and our experience so far. Why a new autopilot? Our previous autopilot, a Raymarine ST4000+ had over a decadeContinue Reading
We kicked off 2021 with an upgraded sail inventory and some important changes. A re-built inhauler system (here full article); changed from roller furling to hanks (full article) and new outboard leads for both genoa and jib. Two months in the season, let us look at upgrades, additions and reflections.Continue Reading
The latest upgrade is a new jib and genoa inhauler system to match the new headsail inventory. How it works A jib inhauler allows a smaller sheeting angle, it reduces the slot between jib and main and makes it possible for the mainsail to be sheeted further in. The ideaContinue Reading