The Sails have been hoisted!

What a great day. Almost Spring like! Probably due for rain now for the rest of the week! Final preparations now for the big launch next week. The sails went up for the first time today and all the running rigging has been replaced. Pretty much all the rope was courtesy of the wonders of Ebay. We even had the Genneker up for an airing and to make sure it had been rigged correctly. You'll probably notice the 'pop-top' up as well. A great design just bloody awkward to put up and definately needs tying on to the mast to stop it falling back down.

I put the new Gold coving line around the hull yesterday, but it looks as though this is going to have to come off. After polishing the hull last weekend some T-cut seems to have remained and in a couple of places the tape has not adhered. Luckily only £1 a roll from the Boat Jumble the other week so no great loss and still got 4 rolls in storage.

Also tested the brakes on the trailer- very sharp and the reversing lock definately works. Interesting and also a little scary how much the trailer flexes when towing on the main drawbar. I figure this will lessen when the boat is strapped down to the trailer! Currently looking out for a Seagull engine as a spare for the boat and also for the Dinghy. I know they are old but they are reliable and also take up the least room of any outboard.

So if all goes according to plan it will be off to Rutland Water next week for a couple of days sailing. Unfortunately Rutland doesn't allow outboards so they will have to be tested elsewhere. All for now. Chris. Images for Rutland next week if all goes according to plan.