Episode 1: The Announcement

 

Episode 1:

I'm not normally one for creating posts on Facebook (or anywhere else for that matter) - preferring usually to heckle from the sidelines - but I thought it would be a good idea to have a go at documenting the preparations for our planned Round Great Britain attempt later this year and, hopefully the trip itself.

 

So, for those who don't know, the plan is that my old college mate Pole Voisey and I are hoping to get an equally tired-looking Tornado catamaran around the UK mainland this summer. We are not planning to break any records and intend to go round in a series of day-sails, camping on board the generously-sized trampoline.

 

Obviously there are a lot of reasons why this ambition may not be realised, not least of which is the 'current unprecedented ongoing pandemic situation', let alone issues of weather and physical frailty of both man and boat. But, being stubborn old fools, the two of us are working on the assumption that Boris will be letting us outside for long enough to get both the preparations done in time and the trip itself done during this summer. Fingers crossed!

 

Like the owners, the boat itself is a little past its best, but is in generally good enough condition to be considered for the trip. She was wheeled home from Eastbourne Sovereign Sailing Club minutes before lockdown began and the two of us are working through a rather long and seemingly extendable list of mods and repairs.

 

 

One of the jobs we really wanted to get sorted early on was to build a pair of hiking racks to the boat to avoid the necessity of trapezing all the way around. We owe a lot to the various videos of the Race to Alaska (R2AK) events that have happened over the past few years for design inspiration. In the end we have come up with what I hope will be an effective, albeit rather 'agricultural'-looking system.

The finest stainless steel fabricators in the land a.k.a Jim Chuter and Bryan Ruby at Kingston college have fabricated a set of brackets which will be mounted to the hulls using the beam-bolts. Some aluminium box section has arrived and my father has donated a pair of aluminium ladders, which will all be put together to make a system supported by the trapeze wires. Using the trapezes simplifies the design considerably and means we will be able to lift the leeward rack away from the water on the downhill side and also for coming alongside.

 

   

 

Progress is going to be a bit slow while we are locked down, which has meant some of the less essential items have had to be knocked off our list ... but there is still much more to tell of. We have sail modifications to consider as well as camping systems, electrical issues, main beam repairs, anti-inversion devices etc etc ...not to mention planning where we are going to go and which way... All to feature in future episodes.

 

 

Episode 2 ... coming soon to a screen near you....