VX One #170 for sale
Interests and priorities are always changing... I’m looking at moving into single-handed dinghies. Looking for a great boat (only 2 years old) at a good price?
http://www.kevinblank.com/archives/243

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VX One #170 for sale
Interests and priorities are always changing... I’m looking at moving into single-handed dinghies. Looking for a great boat (only 2 years old) at a good price?
http://www.kevinblank.com/archives/243
Best (cheap) sailing watch you can buy
Model: Casio Men's Casual Sport Watch (W753-1AV) Price: $17.47 on Amazon Prime
I’ve use a number of different sailing watches over the years. I’ve had a variety of Ronstan/Optimum Time watches and they have all worked well enough, but it is hard to justify the price of the watch for the limited number of features.
The must-have feature for any watch used for racing is the countdown timer. For me, the other must-have is a chime on the minute and the last 10 seconds on the timer. Most of the time when I’m starting a race, I don’t have time to stare at my watch, so the beeps during those last, critical seconds is super helpful.
Beyond the timer aspect of the “sailing watches”, they tend to have less features than a normal digital watch and cost twice as much. I went on a mission to find a cheap, easy-to-find watch that had the critical countdown timer functionality I needed.
I looked through a lot of Timex Ironman watches (the standard “goto” watch for sailors), but I couldn’t find one with the timer chimes I was looking for. Of course, this isn’t a wildly exciting feature for most people, so you have to dig through a lot of documentation to find what you’re looking for.
I finally settled on this Casio W-753. It has more features than I need (dual time zone, 5 alarms, auto light) and has the timer countdown beeps I’m looking for.
In Action
I’ve been using this for a number of regattas lately. So far everything is working as normal. One feature that I do miss is the “sync” button on sailing watches. You can easily pause the timer, but you can’t jump to the next minute. Other than that, I have been more than happy with this watch. I also know, because of the price, that I won’t be sad if I break it or drop it overboard.
Overall, I highly recommend this watch if you need a backup, sail small boats, or just want to get something that doesn’t cost $100.
Casio Men's Casual Sport Watch (W753-1AV)
The week I lost my boots and my boat
(10 years after Hurricane Katrina)
My butt clenched tight as I stepped out of my final layer of clothing. At least during winter the bitter cold on the bayou kept the mosquitoes quiet. It was only about 45 degrees in the shower house at the marina. These were the mornings I wish I would have been able to wrangle the financing on a larger boat. The boat I was living on was too small to have a workable shower for anything more than a quick rinse after a swim in Lake Pontchartrain. As I stood there in the shower with the scalding hot water on my back and my front side starting to freeze, the thought that this would be the last winter I would spend in the marina never entered my mind.
There are only two seasons in Louisiana, Summer and Not-Summer. By the time August rolls around, Summer has been around for a while. What was strange about that last weekend in August is the humidity was low and it actually felt pretty nice to be walking around outside. I remember looking up at the sky watching the white clouds move across the bright blue background. Not a single cloud threatened rain which was a welcome change. The calm before the storm is a real thing.
Everyone was aware there was a storm brewing in the Gulf. The forecast the week before Katrina delivering a glancing blow to South Louisiana. It's terrible to wish that kind of storm on someone else, but most people will breathe a silent sigh of relief that the storm blows into a different state. I had made a few preparations prior to the Saturday before Katrina, but nothing substantial. That all changed when I received a phone call from my boss' husband who worked at the NOAA office in Slidell. It wasn't a particularly long call, but it was ominous. The exact phrases escape me, but the gist was something like "batten down the hatches, it's coming right for us".
I spent the next 10 hours removing anything valuable from my boat and moving it to my storage unit. The only items left in my boat were easily replaceable. I moved Mariah to what I felt like was a more protected part of the marina, then packed my car with all the essentials I would need to evacuate for at least a week. I had arranged to meet friends in the Houston area and ride out the storm there. As a final step, I moved my cat Nimbus to my boss' house. I didn't want to leave her behind, but considering how many people were evacuating, I didn't want to limit my sleeping options if a place didn't happen to be pet friendly. I found out after I came back that the water rose four and a half feet at that location and she was stuck on the second floor with the other animals during the storm.
Having prepared my boat the best I could, the cat secured, and the office ready for the inevitable, I hit the road for Houston. But I never made it. The evacuation was slow and mind numbing. The interstates were a mess, so the backroads swelled with the traffic of travelers trying their best to get somewhere safer. The standard drive to Houston is a little over 5 hours from Slidell. By the time I was on the road for 10 hours and only approaching at the Texas state line, I was ready to call it a night. Luckily, I never had to use the couple gallons of gas I put in the trunk.
Earlier that year I had crewed in the Race to the Coast on a Corsair 31. I had met Sam, the boat owner, a few weeks prior at a small trimaran regatta at my yacht club. I had never sailed on that kind of boat before, but the high-tech looks of the boats got me excited. After the racing concluded for that day, he asked me if I knew how to drive. I confirmed that I knew how to sail. He then invited me to crew for him on the race from New Orleans to Gulfport. It's not a particular fast race due to the light breezes in early Summer, so for the next 12 hours Sam talked my ear off.
The next time I talked to Sam, I was about 15 miles outside of Port Arthur, Texas where he lived. Even with this being only the second time I ever met the man, he and his wife graciously welcomed this Louisiana refugee in to their home for three days while I tried to connect with my friends in Houston. The morning after I arrived at Sam's house, I watched television and my mouth wouldn't close as I saw pictures of what was happening in New Orleans. It hit home when I saw Jim Cantore standing in knee deep water in the middle of Slidell, miles from Lake Pontchartrain. I knew then that my boat wouldn't be there when I came back, if I ever went back.
The next 10 days included me connecting with my friends north of Houston, driving to Dallas to leave my car with some relatives, ultimately to fly back home for a week. It was tough to come back. There was little for me to return to. To this day I wonder what my life would have been like if I had decided to move on the greener pastures. I was somewhat devastated to find out my boots didn't not ride well with the gasoline in the back of my car for two weeks. The fumes broke down the rubber in the soles. Those hiking boots carried me through the mountains of New Mexico when I was younger. Now they were useless.
It took a little while for the people to clear out the marina enough for me to get back to my boat. That Ericson 27 braved the storm and didn't sink. In fact, I found her sitting vertical on her keel next to my friend's Ericson 35. She was still tied to all the pilings that I had lashed on to, except the pilings had broken off at their base and were sitting next to my boat. During the storm, the wind and wave action had blown Mariah against a Morgan 38. The other boat rubbed a ten foot gash in the hull-deck joint, all the way to the chainplates. In about a week's time, I had talked to the insurance company and a check was on its way for the value of the boat. A bottle of tequila later, the marina manager took care of getting the salvagers to take the boat.
Without a boat and down one pair of boots, I bought a house. But I started sailing more.
Some multicam action showing upwind sailing in 7-8 kts of breeze. 3D track provided by raceqs.com
Diversified Marine Instrument Bracket for the VX One. This is the double bracket designed for two instruments. We will be most likely adding the Velocitek Shift or Tacktick Micro Compass in the unused portion of the bracket. All carbon fiber. Mount for the GoPro is my little piece bolted on.
First Sail Video: VX One
First Sail: The VX One by Bennett Yachting
With a very unfortunate accident, the Viper 640 that I've owned for 5 years is no more and has very recently been replaced by a VX One. In this post, I'm going to give you my impressions of our first sail and how it compares to the Viper 640.
The common thread here is that both boats were designed by Brian Bennett with the VX One representing 15 years of design improvement over the Viper 640 (which I still believe to be a very good design and very fun boat to sail).
Our VX One is hull #170 that we picked up from Donnie Brennan at Diversified Marine in Mobile, AL. The boat was built earlier this year (2014) and since Donnie raced the boat a few times before our purchase, he has professionally set the boat up with all the current go-fast bits. For anyone in the Gulf Coast region looking to buy a VX One, Donnie is a pleasure to work with and will treat you very well.
Boat Setup
Setting up the boat and rigging is similar to the Viper 640, as I would expect. The major difference when setting up the boat is the mast and halyards. The standing rigging on the VX One consists of three shrouds and a fixed length forestay. The mast butt also is a fixed position, so this make tuning much more simple. The only thing you'll notice when attaching the shrouds in there are a lot more ring-dings on this boat than the Viper 640 and if your fingernails are sensitive, that can be a little annoying.
While the Viper has mast partners or a slot in the deck to hold the mast, the VX One has a hole. This can be good because once you set the mast in the step, no standing rigging is required to hold the stick up. The bad side is stepping mast takes a little more time with the mast being held vertical which can be a little challenging in higher breeze for first timers. But don't be alarmed, the mast only weighs 26 pounds and is built strong.
The VX One has a roller furling jib which was always a complaint I had on the Viper 640. The Viper has such a narrow foredeck that when you drop the jib, it tends to fall off the boat. On the VX, it's just a matter of rolling it up which is very nice.
The spinnaker halyard/pole extension setup is very good. With a single line to hoist and extend the pole, life is easy for the crew. The one thing to watch out for is to never lose your tracer line and remember to put the tracer line back when you de-rig. Just like the Viper, it is a pain to run the spin takedown line without the tracer to help. Make sure your crew is aware of this!
Trim
Once we got the boat on the water, it's amazing how easily it glides with the smallest amount of breeze. Due to the flatness of the bottom of the hull, it definitely likes a small amount of heel to get the windward chine out of the water. There's a noticeable difference in sound coming off the stern when you give it a few degrees.
The jib trim system is different than the Viper 640 or just about any other boat that's currently being actively raced, at least on the Gulf Coast. The self-tacking jib runs on a Harken track and provides two lines to trim from the center of the cockpit. The bottom line is your jib traveler and the top line is your jib sheet. Donnie marked trim positions behind the track with degree marks so they are accurate and make reproducing trim positions simple. Once your crew gets familiar with the boat, they will only have to remember a few basic starting trim positions based on point of sail, and then fine tune from there.
The spinnaker trim is continuous and does not have much load, even in high breeze. The small (40mm I think) racket blocks do a good job at making control easy. The chute itself is a different proportion that the Viper 640, so when the boat starts to load up and heel on the downwind, a small ease on the spinnaker sheet and you stay on your feet.
Helm / Driving
My first impression of the helm is that it feels amazing. The rudder is light and feels like it's at the perfect angle and position. This makes for a super well balanced boat. I remember the first time I drove the Viper 640 and I thought how balanced that boat was. Well, now I know I was wrong and there was room for improvement. When we were headed downwind with 12.5 kts of boat speed, the tiller felt exactly the same as it did at 3 kts of boat speed, it's that easy. Also, with the vertical rudder instead of the swept rudder on the Viper 640, it's much easier to get the boat to behave when you are right on the edge of being able to carry the chute.
The only time I felt pressure on the helm was driving upwind, which is expected. The slight pressure is great feedback to tell you to put on more Gnav/vang or change your main trim. You use more gnav on this boat then I did on the Viper 640. I'm still getting used to trimming the main off the boom, but it doesn't load up and it's easy to trim. I was able to sail at 12.5 kts and hold the tiller extension and main sheet with one hand.
Wrap-up
If you couldn't tell, my impression of the boat is that it's a very well designed and put together package. I remember how impressed I was with the Viper 640 (compared to your standard PHRF boats) as far as keeping things simple and how fun it was sail. The VX One improves on just about every aspect to make it much better boat/experience overall. The only worry I had on the Viper 640 was when going downwind in some breeze, it was easy to lose control and dump the boat with inexperienced crew. That fear is almost gone in the VX One because the rudder bites so much better (much less cavitation) and the chute is relatively smaller overall. I feel I could teach crew how to work the jib and spinnaker on this boat in about 15 minutes, it's that easy.
I'll be writing more posts as we sail the boat more to let you know as much as I can about sailing this super-fun one design boat.
The Regatta Box
If you're like me, during a regatta, the back of your truck or SUV can turn in to a mountain of chaos. You're tossing in items at the last minute before you leave the house, your crew tosses in items after the boat is rigged and hits the water, etc. Then after a few races, you start digging around looking for a spare shackle and you feel like you're digging out some ancient Roman ruins.
I decided to clean up my act and organize my regatta box. I went to Lowes and spent some time in their container aisle. With a few minutes of experimenting I found that the "styleselection" brand Shoe Box (13.44" x 8.02" x 4.7") fit almost perfectly sideways in the "styleselection" brand Flip-Lid Tote (12 gal, 21.75" x 15.2" x 12.5"). When I got home, I did have to cut off the little tabs on either end of the lid to make things fit better, but everything is in there nice and tight. One of the real nice aspects of this setup is that everything is in clear boxes, so finding what you're looking for is fast and easy. Overall, I think these boxes cost me approx. $15.
For those Brad Pitt/Se7en fans out there, let me tell you what's in the box.
Lube & Polish - McLube Sailkote, McLube Hullkote, sponge, green pad, rags
Line - Spare dock line, bow line, misc. Velcro straps, spare 12-strand Spectra
Gloves - Spare sailing gloves, beer coozies (very important, keep these on top)
Rigging / Tools - Sail repair tape, rigging tape, Speedpuck, spare batteries, spare rigging parts (pins, ring dings, bolts, nuts, etc.), Loos gauge, pliers, wrench
First aid kit
There's still enough spare room in the box for my GoPro gear and some extra line/tools. Having this box put together makes it very easier not to forget something when you're packing up for a regatta. Every boat is different, so you'll need different items to fit yourself out, but I think this is a great start!
Sums it up pretty nicely...
Some of the latest splicing projects... A few soft shackles and a new bridle for the spinnaker.
Rumor-ish: New Product Offering from Velocitek, the Shift
If you've been on Velocitek's site lately or seen some of their advertisements, you will have seen an advert with a cropped image of a new instrument saying Coming October 31st. Well, the cat is out of the bag.
The new Velocitek product is called "Shift". You can find it yourself by going to the Velocitek store and by searching for "shift" in the search bar. There's a little bit of information in the shopping cart page about the product. From what I see, it looks like Velocitek has been missing out of part of the one-design sailing market because some classes don't allow for GPS instruments to be used in class racing.
This product contains an internal electronic compass (one would guess similar to the TackTick) and shows your current heading as well as lifts/headers on really big digital numbers. It looks like there's a backlight as well.
One thing you'll notice from the product description is that Velocitek must be hearing from a lot of sailors that their ProStart can be hard to read with polarized sunglasses because they make a specific statement regarding that the Shift works with polarization.
The pricing seems a little crazy, $699. But compared to the TackTick Race Master which retails at $849, it's not a bad deal. The only other cheaper option for an electronic, non-GPS, tactical compass for one-design is still the TackTick Micro which retails at $499.
Read more about the Shift here:
http://store.velocitek.com/Shift-Detail
Shift
Intuitive shift-tracking with large buttons for storing port and starboard reference headings.
1.5" (38mm) compass digits can be read from over 100 ft (30m) away.
Screen is highly visible through polarized sunglasses.
A 9-axis solid state sensor completely tracks the orientation of your boat for smooth instantly responsive heading indication.
Same easy-to-use countdown timer as the ProStart.
Red LED backlight protects night vision.
Solar powered with 100+ hour battery reserve.
Does not use GPS or any other radio signals; can be configured to comply with the rules of any class that allows electronic compasses.
Now with the final day of the Americas Cup...
It's amazing to see where we are in this series. I was ready to sell my Team Oracle shirt for $5 a week ago. Now you couldn't pry it out of my cold, dead hands.
There's a great article on the Cup in the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/25/sports/after-comeback-for-the-ages-a-last-dash-for-americas-cup.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130925&_r=0
Keep your eyes tuned to NBC Sports today at 3pm Central/4pm Eastern. I'm sure they won't let us down for a spectacular race today.
Introducing nextSailor.com
nextSailor.com is a free regatta management and registration tool designed to make your job as race committee easier. Modern sailors have come to expect certain online tools from regattas like online registration with credit cards and being able to view results online quickly after the races have been scored. This has been a challenge for many clubs in the past either because of changing R/C personnel or the fact that nobody in your club has the time or technical knowledge to make these features available.
nextSailor.com is available now for you and your club to make online registration a simple and painless process. In the coming months, new features will be added at no cost to you. Give your regattas the professional features that your sailors deserve. Sign up today!
Thanks GoPro!
When I went to the Americas Cup Park, all I was expecting was to pick up a hat and watch some huge catamarans rocket around the course. But there was no way to know the surprise I would receive a few days later. Tucked away in the team gear shopping section of the park was the GoPro booth. There you could sign up for their newsletter and by doing so, enter to win a new GoPro. Being that I already had a GoPro Hero2 and I'm already on their newsletter, I didn't think much about putting my name and email down.
Fast forward to 4 days later and an email arrives saying I had won! I think to myself, "That's awesome!", thinking that I would receive a basic, GoPro Hero3 White edition in the mail. Then I ask what exactly I have won...
Turns out I am the recipient of a GoPro Hero3 Black (with WiFi remote), a Chesty chest harness for awesome POV video, an LCD Touch BacPac, and a grab bag of mounts and spare parts! It's basically your full-on, "go make some awesome video" kit.
Now let's take a look at the unboxing:
Wow, three boxes with my name on it!
Here we are with the retail packaging for all of my new goodies.
And here it all is unwrapped.
I'll be sailing in the Back to School Regatta at Pontchartrain Yacht Club this weekend, so it's time to break out both GoPro cameras and get a ton of awesome video for you to see!
Thanks GoPro!
Oh, and if you want your own GoPro, follow this link below:
Keep in touch on the water with a handheld VHF radio
I can be tough on handheld VHF radios. I'll take my radio with me when I go out for a sail by myself on my Laser, when I'm on Race Committee, or when I'm out racing my Viper 640. I will toss the radio in the back of my Jeep or in the bottom of my sailing bag. And sometimes when I capsize a dinghy, the radio goes in the water with me. Plus after all the normal abuse a person gives a handheld radio, I expect that radio to survive more than a few years, keep up with battery life, etc.
Every since I purchased my first real boat, I have relied on Standard Horizon for my VHF of choice. In fact, I still use the same radio. My radio is about 9 years old and I haven't treated it well. Dropped on the deck, dropped on the floor, submerged as I swam around to flip over my Finn, Viper, etc.
I love how rugged Standard Horizon is. The case can take a beating and you wouldn't even know it. The battery seems to last forever in stand-by mode. Even now, I'll charge it, forget about it for 4 months during the winter and still have battery when I come back to it later.
My only complaint is after 9 years, the waterproofness isn't when it was when I first got it. Of course, Standard Horizon only guarantees waterproofness for 3 years after purchase, so I guess that's to be expected.
If I was recommending a VHF to a friend for a small, waterproof handheld that would be good for just about every situation where a handheld is used, I would go with the Standard Horizon HX300. Floating, waterproof, compact. It's the kind of radio I would take with me any time I'm sailing small boats.
Click the image below to purchase from West Marine ($149)
Viper 640 sailing at For Walton Yacht Club
Last day of Challenge Cup 2013