Introducing our new, approved and class-legal ILCA mainsheet blocks.
This new set of ILCA mainsheet blocks has been under development and testing for the past 18 months, and we are now pleased to announce the new blocks are now in stock and ready to improve your sheeting experience!
All but the bottom traveller block feature lightweight Delrin ball bearings, this ensures fast rolling speeds to allow for easy and quick trimming of the mainsheet.
The bottom traveller block sheave is plain bearing, this adds enough friction to the traveller system to help keep the block on the corner of the boat when sailing upwind under load.
The linked traveller blocks are held together with a riveted body, there is enough articulation between the blocks to allow them to align correctly when fully sheeted in. This new design means there is no need for the age-old tradition of wrapping the blocks in electrical tape to keep them stiff!
The Allen flags were flying as sailors arrived at WPNSA on Saturday morning welcomed by a brisk northerly breeze.
One by one the masts went up as the sailors prepared for what they thought would be a light and slightly shifty day. With the boats rigged it was time for the briefing. It was a solemn briefing as we had a minute’s silence in memory of her late Majesty the Queen. The briefing provided lots of useful information for both the experienced sailors and the many teams competing in their first ever 29er event. Recognising that it can be quite daunting for new teams transitioning to the 29er fleet the class association organised a support rib and coach for the new teams, giving these sailors pre-race boat set-up tips and an opportunity to ask questions and act as a base between races.
The fleet launched into a light 12 knots of breeze with the sun warming up the chilled air making for some perfect 29er racing conditions in the flat waters of Weymouth harbour. Until that is we were about to get racing underway when the wind decided it didn’t like where it was coming from and shifted 90 degrees! This delayed the start as the course was shifted to the new wind angle.Â
It was an early start for some of us, driving about 100miles, but that didn’t matter, I was excited to be back on the road after two months from our last Midlands series event in Shustoke early in July; I was glad about the idea of a decent forecast of 11 to 15 knots and a still warm September morning.
This is my first year in the Solo fleet and racing, but there is such good energy at these meetings that I don’t mind all the packing and unpacking, every event is a joy to me. I don’t think a year ago when around this time the Solo fleet at Northampton SC convince me to try out the club Solo, that I would be buying my Solo a couple of months after that and that shortly after I would be out on the road visiting different clubs and meeting a lovely bunch of people. I remember the first race at Banbury, I never had packed/ unpacked my boat and had never towed a boat before, but I was very lucky to never be short to find help from everyone in the fleet to encourage me to take part.
