Congratulations to Michael Hickman
For a well-earned third place at the Australian Championships sailing an Ajax by Carbonicboats. Great to see that the M Class is alive and well, with a very high standard of sailors and equipment. The Event Site can be found here
Octave Marblehead First Sail
Nice conditions for a shakedown. Let the observations begin!
Octave Marblehead Prototype Rigs Progress
Neat detailing for jib boom adjustments. Beautifully executed by Ray Joyce.
Octave Marblehead Prototype Rigs: Sail Controls
Very neat execution by Ray Joyce of an experimental ‘mode’ control system. It closes the exit of the mainsail automatically when the boom is on centreline. This allows a standard ‘open’ setting for acceleration and reaching to change into ‘pointing mode’ once the boat is up to speed close hauled. The standard four rigs are […]
Octave Marblehead Prototype Rigs: Progress on Spars
Carbon/foam sandwich jib booms were chosen to maximise jib efficiency and allow ‘finite’ adjustment arrangements using notches and pin/hole systems. The jib boom swivel line goes through a fairlead in the top skin of the yard and is anchored through the bottom skin. This is to maximise length for the required twisting of the line. […]
Octave Marblehead Prototype Progress
It’s alive! RC gear in place, sheeting run complete, rigs assembled. Getting closer to that first sailing day…
Octave Marblehead Prototype Rigs: Swing Rig Junctions
The lower panel of the mast tube is 14mm outside diametre high modulus tube. A piece of 16mm tube forms the basis of the horizontal element of the joint. It is glued in place together with pieces of 14mm sleeve that form the first telescopic taper element of the main boom and jib yard. The […]
Octave Marblehead Prototype Rigs: Boom Elbows
This is one solution for M class booms. A bit labour intensive but light and stiff. The balsa core in the elbow could be replaced with foam though arguably using balsa offers toughness. There is possibly a windage advantage in round booms, and our experience shows this to outweigh the downwind projected area and end-plate […]
Octave Marblehead Prototype Rigs: Cranes
Ray is making progress with the rigs for the Octave prototype. The design uses a simple method for cantilevering the cranes from the upper mast tubes. After drilling, fitting, and bonding, carbon tow is used to prevent splitting. The mastheads are filled with low density filler mainly to keep water out. This system eliminates all fittings […]
Octave Marblehead CAD Files
Screen shots in preparation for tooling files. Part of the tendering process for outsourced production tooling.