First Elan 310 delivered to Australia

Margie in Australia just told me that their Elan 310 build #50 has arrived in Australia!

It caused quite a stir at the yard with its twin rudders and wide transom! Not quite the typical boat....

 Build #50......

 Offloading from the truck....

Happy owner!!

The test issue is now available.....310 testwinner!

The test I have previously referred to in previous posts is now available in the latest issue of Seilas magazine (issue 9). I'll post more info on this later, but by the looks of it the 310 came out very well!

Quoting freely from the magazine:

"After two days' intense sailing with Elan 310, First 30, Sun Fast 3200 and Dehler 32 the Elan 310 was the winner. It was the combination of sailing joy, speed and the cruising functionality that gave Elan the win"

So for those of you that can get your hands on the latest issue (9) of Seilas, run, Forrest, run!

Sail measurements

I have had a few questions about the sails we've chosen for Silverminken, so I thought I'd atleast post the certificate measurements here.

Please note that these are the numbers from my certificate, so please verify these before using them.


MAIN
MTW:0.125 (head)
MUW:0.92 (7/8 width)
MTQW:1.64 (3/4 width)
MHW:2.75 (1/2 width)
MQW:3.51 (1/4 width)

HEADSAIL
JLU:12.15 (luff)
JLP:3.81 (perpendicular)

ASYMMETRICAL SPINNAKER
ASLU:14.58 (luff)
ASLE:12.46 (leach)
ASHW:7.72 (1/2 width)
ASF:6.8 (foot)

Oystercatcher Elan 310

I recently got word from Karsten and Steffi in Lübeck, Germany who quite recently got their new Elan 310 "Oystercatcher" delivered. Unfortunately it is the end of the season, so it went straight to winter storage. They're probably eager for the winter months to pass quickly!

Oystercatcher is hull #48 from the yard, and has Okume interior.

The shrink-wrapped hull.

Here's a shot of the alternate interior material. Looks quite good!

Teak also on the cockpit sole on Oystercatcher, and a bracket for a cockpit table.

Good luck with your new Elan 310!

First Elan 310 delivered to the USA

I just got word from Blue that Elan 310 build number 42 has been delivered to Seattle, Washington!

Go "Air Time"!!!

Plastic wrapping being removed....looking good!

Build number 42......anxious to see if they made any further adjustments to the builds since Silverminken.

Looks like a happy owner!!

That aft section always looks awesome!

Elan 310 and First 30

Here's a picture from the recent test showing the 310 next to the First 30.

31 foot test video

Here's the video from the testsailing of the boats......Elan 310 (Silverminken) with orange/white spinnaker got some good footage.

310 being tested

Here's a picture from the testing that was done these last couple of days....

Silverminken looking good!

Silverminken in test

Two sailing magazines in Norway and Sweden are testsailing boats, and Silverminken is one of these boats. Here are some videos taken aboard the Elan 310 from todays testsailing. Looking good! At the end of the first video (and the third) you see the Sun Fast 3200 being parked (yellow spinnaker).

Training session....

Light winds, but we got some settings done for those conditions....

Elan 310 nominated as HISWA Yacht of the Year

Hot from the Netherlands (thanks Martwin!), the Elan 310 is nominated as HISWA Yacht of the Year in competition with the Boréal 44 and the Saffier 23. Cool!

Hit the title for the pictures and press release (Dutch).

Big interest for the 310 at "Båter i Sjøen" 2010

Lots of people came to the Elan boats today, fun to see that so many people are interested in this new line from Elan. Also cool to see that the 350 is getting a lot of attention. :)

Silverminken on display

The largest floating boat show in northern Europe "Båter i Sjøen" is taking place next weekend in Sandvika, and Silverminken will be there together with the new 350 and a 380. If you have the possibility this is a great opportunity to meet and see the boats live on the water!

Plotter placement ready

We finally got the plotter placement done. There is a protective cage in stainless steel, but it isn't ready just yet, so we'll just have to be a bit careful.

Here you can see where the plotter is mounted, the mount has a small plastic spacer below it so the mount can swivel nicely so it can be viewed from both sides of the cockpit. The hole for the cables was drilled about 20cm behind the hole for the mount, and a bit on the port side of the centerline (since the backstay runs on the starboard side below the board).

If you turn the plotter to face more forward it can be viewed and handled by the mainsail trimmer. Nice screens on those Lowrance HDS models.

Big sister arrives....

The first 350 has arrived in Norway, and is now being sanded. Pics at:

http://silverminkenthomas.blogspot.com/2010/07/elan-350-i-norge.html (Norwegian)

Kalliste win their class in the 2010 Round the Island Race

Kalliste was entered in the IRC 6D division, with an IRC rating of 0,969 and won its class. Congratulations!

Elan 310 #3 in Norway

The third 310 is now in Norway, rigged and being painted......looking good!

Silverminken was used as the template for the standard Fjord Sail 310 version, and it looks like almost all solutions are identical, apart from the shore power which has been moved from the transom to beside the port side footrest in the cockpit. Maybe because it will be less susceptible to waves and water?

Anyway, with the black paint she looks pretty awesome! Lucky owner!

Summary Færderseilasen 2010

We entered Silverminken for the worlds largest overnight regatta - Færderseilasen. We knew it would be difficult to get a team together, since we have only been focusing on shorthanded so far. Also, there was a long list of things to get done in order for her to be race-ready in time. Miraculously we  got most of the stuff done, but my heavy-weather jib wasn't ready. Unfortunately, we would have had use for it....

Hit the title for the full story.

Logo ready!

We finally agreed on a logo for Silverminken that somehow communicates what we feel about the 310. After struggling a bit about fonts, sizes and color, this is the final result. It looks stunning!!

AIS mounted

The AIS has now been mounted. Ole-Jo did a great job on this!

As everyone knows, an functioning AIS transponder needs:

• The AIS unit
• A dedicated GPS for the AIS (since it can only use 4800 baud)
• A dedicated AIS antenna (or splitter, we have a dedicated antenna)

...and if you want to use this information for anything it needs to be connected to the plotter, which often means bridging NMEA 0183 and NMEA 2000.

Here is a picture of where the AIS unit is mounted on Silverminken (forgive the quality, it was taken on my cellphone):

This is behind the starboard sofa cushion, and you can barely see the AIS unit to the right on the picture. To the left is the SPX-10 autopilot unit. Also, this is where all the electronics are connected. There are three connection bridges here. The bottom one bridges the main backbones, the middle and top are bridges for the two different backbones. Neatly done and well labelled.

Here is a picture of the dedicated GPS (the small black "dot" next to the stanchion) and the dedicated AIS antenna whip required for the AIS. Quite subtle, don't you think?

Headsail finally arrived!

Finally our new headsail arrived! Say no more....580 Technora Scrim on a medium/heavy 109%. Woohoo!!!!!!

Mounting the chartplotter

The mounting for the chartplotter has now been tested and ordered, and here you can see a picture of how and where the chartplotter will be mounted. A dummy plate is fixed where the mount will be so we can see how we can use and operate the plotter.

This way it is out of the way, while you can rotate it and see it from both sides.

Angle it a bit forward and the mainsail trimmer can both see and operate the plotter. This will turn out quite nice I think. More pictures to come when the mount arrives.

The plotter chosen is the Lowrance HDS-7m, which is pretty much a perfect fit for that area. 640x480 pixels and great usability. No touch screen (don't trust it in wet conditions) and few and big buttons.

We ended up with an NMEA 0183 backbone for the AIS transponder, the AIS antenna, it's GPS and the VHF and bridged it with an NMEA 2000 backbone for the plotter, coupling SeaTalk (the instruments) on it. (More about this in a later post).

Oslofjorden Rundt 2010 Video

Here's some footage from the Oslofjorden Rundt 2010 regatta. Now without the border.

First regatta for Silverminken

...been a while since the last update, but Silverminken has been sailing quite a bit, but now it's time for the first regatta!

Oslofjorden Rundt is a nice regatta in the Oslofjord gathering some 50-60 boats with a dedicated doublehanded class. We will be sailing in the doublehanded class both friday (30 miles) and saturday (16 miles). A full regatta report will follow...

Preparations for the regatta includes getting wiring for the plotter, AIS and VHF done. Hopefully I'll get some pictures showing the smart solution for the plotter under the tiller.

Holmsbu Hi-res video

Here's a high-res movie from the shorthanded training in Holmsbu:

Holmsbu 2010

Shorthanded training session last weekend at Holmsbu, here is a low-quality edit of the light-weather portions of the weekend. Expect an HD cut soon.

Elan 310 number three on its way to Norway

Last week we had another testsail on Silverminken, and this time it actually led to ordering the third 310 to Norway. Cool!

Here is a short clip from that day....great weather, nice conditions in the Oslofjord.

Sorry about the low quality, didn't have time to make the HD version.

Shorthanded training in Holmsbu

We were at Holmsbu this weekend for the annual training session for shorthanded sailors. Great event, although the first day culminated with a 30 knot headwind. Got the sails down with no damage in the nick of time. Phew.

Here's a short video of Silverminken sailing in the beautiful weather the next day....

Testsailing the chute!

Another testsail, this time with shorthanded expert and distributor Tor. Excellent testing conditions - not too much wind, but enough to get the smiles out with the chute up!

Out sailing again....

Went out today with my brother in the Oslofjord. Was blowing a bit more today, instruments said 10-12 knots in this video, though it probably was a bit more...max speed on video was just over 8 knots, and right after we stopped filming we hit 9. Nice!

...and she sails

I went out on the fjord today in the beautiful weather. Thought I'd motor off to meet up with the Formula 18 guys having a training weekend, and then attempt my first singlehanded sail with Silverminken back.

Here's a video of what it looked like. Awesome. Just have to gradually build shorthanded boathandling so that the assymetric comes out next time!

First videos of Silverminken

Testsail yippee....but no wind

Ugh. We got ready to take Silverminken out yesterday, had about 3-4 knots of wind, but when we attempted to hoist the spinnaker it all but disappeared. Disappointed, but then again - I got to take her out for the very first time! Fog, rain, no matter - this is awesome!

She was parked in her new berth next to an Elan 380, and let me just say that looking at the 310 from the stern is awesome! Hit the title for more.

Ready for testsail!

Today we finished everything necessary for delivery (but some more stuff needs to be done after that), but we didn't have time for a testsail, so that happens tomorrow. These things were (amongst other things) done today (hit the title for more):

Rigged....almost done now!

Silverminken is now rigged, yesterday the only remaining bits and pieces were the leads for the furler etc. The plan is to have her ready to sail today! Weather reports 4-8 knots in the area (bummer), but outside it is already blowing more than that so maybe we'll get lucky?

Some of the recent shots on the water...hit the title for more.

Rigging today

I went to check out the progress on Silverminken, and there she was with the mast up!

The boom is not yet on, but here she lies. Slender profile on the Selden rig.

New Elan 310 to Norway

The second 310 to arrive in Norway, this one with a slick looking blue hull.

Going to Stavanger.

Rigging....

Kjell Inge is busy rigging right now, so I went down to have a look.

Official catalog for 310

Elan have now produced an official catalog for the 310 - click the menu item above to see it.

Silverminken Launched!!!

Silverminken was launched today!!! Woohoo!!

First images of her on the water:

A proud soon-to-be owner!

Here she is in the water next to a 340. The bow is completely vertical, and she somehow manages to integrate power and elegance in a very compact package!

Look at that hull! Those lines! Amazing how that chine is done!

To the right is a Sun Fast 3200. I'm not suggesting anything....

The cockpit, mainsheet traveller and tiller.

You can also see the AP control to the left.

Great working area!

Seeing things like this just really makes the whole project more "real". It's like a dream, and then you see these things that make you realize it is actually real!

Category A!

Kjell Inge and Tor have been busy mounting leads and other extra deck equipment for the ASOP system.

Bad picture, I know - had to use what's available (the phone). Peeked inside - here you can see the instrument panel, stereo and below the panel is the heater control. Harken gear waiting for mounting on the chart table....

Interior. The whole family was there today and all was approved. :)

Just look at all that great running rigging!

....self-portrait.

Now she is waiting for rigging - the rig is arriving today, so in a couple of days she'll be ready for the first sail tests.

Wooohooo!

Sanding, antifouling and deck equipment

....looks like silverminken will sail sometime during easter!

Got a few more pics from what is going on right now...forgive the poor quality, these are straight out of my HTC Hero....

Silverminken is now inside, and after sanding the hull the antifouling is now being applied. Looks pretty slick!

Still not complete, though, so she will stay inside a few more days while the rig and sails are being transported.

North are transporting the sails for Silverminken as we speak, so they will be here in time.

From astern, the underbody looks sexy!

I got to take a quick tour in the cockpit. This is looking good!

The running rigging looks fantastic! Real, high-quality stuff.

A snapshot of the interior. Can't wait to go down there!

Note the seawater pump - useful when cruising.

Tor and Kjell Inge working to get everything ready.

Also, here you can see the compass was moved down in order to get three ST60+ instruments above the hatch.

Starboard side, showing the AP control, engine throttle and speaker.

That's it for now....more pictures to come!