Steve

See below Pulling the keel up drops the stern like putting a All Black tight five on the back of the boat.

I use a fishing float

Starting to sound like Mercury Bay’s the place to be for good racing.

Pics please.

SSANZ NOR 2.1 Racing rules shall be changed as follows. 2.2 Yachts with lifting keels shall have keels locked in the down position and not moved whilst racing. This changes RRS 51. 2.3 Yachts with movable ballast, in the form of a canting keel or water ballast, may move that ballast to increase or decrease weight, or to change trim or stability. This changes rule 51. 2.4 Movement of sails not in use while racing is allowed; however, sails not being flown must remain within the boat’s lifelines. This modifies RRS 51 only as to the movement of sails. 2.5 Rule 52 s

Bit of a fine line between movable ballast and a lifting keel I guess. I think it's probably a bit of a hangover from the trailer yacht days when pulling the board up off the wind on your 780 was an advantage but also bloody scary at times. Now, in most SI's you will see that all keels must be in the locked down position for the duration of the race. Canters have a separate rule. Bit of a pity as I see an advantage there waiting to be exploited.

It would be great if that was legal while racing. The weight would shift aft nicely. If only we could then push the keel forward for light airs as well and get those big bums out of the water. (and make it legal of course)

Yes. And it was blowing. I think if you had the depth, keel down might be easier. But not that bad really.

I believe they a sort of blow off valve which allows the keel to pivot backwards if grounded hard enough.

I backed her into the berth yesterday. 4.5 m at the stern so a little bit nervous. Not my boat and all that.

Thanks guys. Sounds like there are plenty of 40' (plus) boats on a 12m berth. Inside the poles must be the criteria in most places but I'll check with my mob. I've heard of instances where the tape measure has come out and millimetres out have had a bad result. Cross fingers.

How strict are the marinas? 40 feet is a tad (19cm) over 12 metres. Will they mind?

L Unless you have a tri lite. So an all round white at the masthead plus port and starboard at the bow for motoring, then a trilite for sailing means you can do away with the stern light at deck level altogether (if under 12m) Bugger it, I’ll remove the stern light as well.

But if your motor always starts first click? If not I guess you could link the house batteries. I suppose there's one more fly in the ointment. The bloody anchor winch. But if you were getting all anal about a particular regatta then one small house battery and a jump starter would suffice? Hell of a lot easier than taking off the toilet seat, the cupboard doors, the squabs and the speakers. We did all that (and more) for the RNI one year and it was amazing how much of a pile of gear we ended up having to store. Hundreds of kilos but really only compensated for all the extra palaver requ

Someone smarter than me will have the answer. Let’s say you wanted to save some weight. Starter battery is around 20 kilos I suppose. A little jump starter about 1. Why not just swap one for the other? Charge it with a USB connection like you do with a phone and as long as the motor generally starts easily then what’s the problem?

Yes, I read that. Looks like we all need to check. They mentioned standing 100’ from the mast and if you can see the trilite you’re ok. If you have to step back further to see it, then the light isn’t shining through the vertical plane correctly and you may not be seen if you’re heeling away from an observer. Depends on the height of the mast I guess but it’s worth checking it out.

So this video confirms the top diagram.. All good, the steaming light’s going.

Yes, I can see anchor lights 6 miles away from our place, so I guess we have that covered. And the steaming light has failed again so I might as well just remove it. Never used the foredeck light anyway. Then bung on the bow lights and we’re legal. Don’t look forward to the debate with the inspector though. I’m getting a wireless tri lite and a wireless wind transducer so there’s a lot of wiring to come out of the mast. Starting to wonder about the VHF aerial now.

So the way I read this, yachts under 12 metres don't need a dedicated steaming light. An anchor light with red and green on the bow will suffice when motoring. Its just that I once got pulled up during a cat 3 inspection for not having the steaming light working. And who wants all that extra weight aloft anyway if you don't need it.

I was going to throw this away with all the other old stuff but realised that this one had always been out of the weather so there's nothing wrong with it. Pay the postage and its yours.

Just let me know when the next meeting is Jon.

It's a cool rule then. But I'm sure the RNI had a rule on Portland. Maybe that was then.

and Portland Island

I think she's warming up.

Thanks Josh