Stats.....

Winter is approaching, and Silverminken is now ready to meet the harsh Norwegian winter.....so now the blog should get even more attention!

Even this somewhat quiet autumn has brought a lot of visitors, and I am happy to say that we have now passed 56.000 hits on this blog. Which is really awesome, considering that it is a blog about sailing (not politics, religion or the credit crunch), and even more specific it is about ONE sailboat! Hehe!

The Norwegian distributor, Fjord Sail, is arranging two cool events next week, about "how to sail faster with your Elan sailboat". Maybe something other distributors (or owners) could get inspired to spread around the globe?

The agenda for the two afternoons is:

Day 1:

• Sailing close-hauled
• Beam reaching under genoa
• Basic sail trim
• Obtaining the right sailshape when trimming
• Choice of sails

Day 2:

• Spinnaker sailing
• Asymmetrics using the sprit and/or a pole
• Techniques for setting, dousing, gybing the spinnaker
• Trimming the spinnaker in different conditions
• Choice of sails

I'm really looking forward to it, and if I know the distributor (and I do), there will be videos and examples that I will link to from this blog so others can see what we have been through.

So I hope there are many of you that can keep on sailing through the winter, keep on sending updates for the less fortunate of us!

Another update from down under

Margie writes us again from down under:

Hope you are well and finishing off your sailing season on a good note.Our spring- summer season has just started and we are working out what events we can go in. Our boat was weighed the other weekend (see photo) 3907 kg .We have received our rating (Australian Measurement Certificate) which has usnearly the same as an A31 and 1 ton race boats.Is this similar to your ratings?On the local performance handicap we have to beat the SF 3200 and Elan 340'sOur winter series was sailed in winds below 10 knots ,where we did quite well.We are still learning how to sail the boat in winds over 20 knots.Number 3 head sail,1 reef , lots of back stay and lots of vang.Have you any suggestions?
thanksMargie

Here's a picture she sent us from the weighing.

Here Silverminken is also finishing the season - this weekend we are emptying out the boat and preparing for winter. Brrr...

We have not weighed Silverminken this year, but I am positively surprised by your numbers. We figured the boat would most likely tip over 4000, and with a couple hundred more kilograms for the regular kit. Nice. We might weigh Silverminken next spring because we are considering getting a measurement for endorsed IRC.

Our Norwegian "LYS" (like PHRF) rating rates us a bit slower than the A31 (2/100) and the 340 (4/100). The SF3200 here is rated as the fastest. Based on rough estimates I would say the A31 is a bit faster in lighter winds, but it is quite a load to handle in rougher weather, where it needs lots of weight on the rail to live up to its rating.

The SF3200 has about 5/100 higher rating than the 310 here in Norway. In Sweden it has 8/100 higher(!).

In winds over 15-16 knots we use the number 3 jib, and if the winds are stronger we flatten everything. The backstay we use to avoid being over-powered, but are very careful as to not lose speed. I am considering a smarter arrangement of the backstay to have it more accessible to the helmsman. 18 knots usually means considering a reef in the mainsail, and we might also open up the sheeting angle a bit on the jib so as to have a bit wider "track" to steer up and down in puffs without losing speed. Backstay is everything, and it is very important that you have enough to tighten. Doublecheck that when the backstay is completely loose that it is not "flapping". I needed to adjust my backstay quite a bit so that I am certain that each centimeter actually does something to the mast rake and forestay tension. This I did just by untying the knot  which attaches the backstay to the boat and tightening it until it was just about to begin "biting". Really, if you are sailing in heavy weather, the backstay shouldn't be able to flap too much when completely loose, since that just means the available space for the under-deck purchase isn't optimal.

Finally a new post

It has been a while since I posted last, been a lot to do, regrettably.

But Silverminken is now on show at the "Båter i sjøen" tradeshow, an on-the-water boatshow which is the largest of its kind in the Nordics. It is displayed alongside the 210 and 350.

We also had a brief testsail with a couple of guys that were interested in the 310. Hopefully we'll see some more 310's on the water next season.

I'll post some more stuff from this season soon!

Transform from racing to cruising...

As the summer vacation is approaching, Silverminken needs to transform from racing mode to cruising mode. Here are some of the to-do issues:

Repair log:

• Change cockpit "hatches" (the two small hatches on either side, the hinges were broken due to a wrong installation, warranty) (Done - turned out great)
• Get the spinnaker halyard back - it blew out during a broach under the Twostar regatta (or, if we are being diplomatic: it blew out during our very well-timed "drop")
• Get the tackline back, which also blew out (Done, but I am considering a longer tackline so I can drop the kite without tripping the tackline from the deck - which is a very dangerous maneuver in extreme conditions)
• Change the lower part of the furlex - the "eye" which the jib is attached to broke straight off during Twostar (Done, but I will send the parts to Selden to ask them for an explanation!)
• Change the tiller extension since it got bent under Twostar, also change to one that is one size longer (starting at 75cm instead of 60). This is important especially in heavy, shorthanded conditions where you need that reach without being afraid of falling down, which we did a couple of times in the extreme waves and ended up bending it...
• Find out what hozes I forgot to reattach after laying up last autumn, causing the water tanks to leak. :)
• Change battery since it wouldn't take any charge (Done - did it before Twostar, under warranty)
• Tape some minor damage on the spinnaker (Done). Will have to send in the spinnaker after this season for some minor repairs.

Cruising gear:

• Remove stickers and flags from regattas
• Remove the battens from the 3DL, pack it up and take it home (Done)
• Remove the horizontal battens from the no 4 jib, change to vertical battens and mount on the furler (Done)
• Remove some of the excess (actually, not much) security gear from Category 3 racing (Done)
• Duvets, pillows, bedlinen (Done)
• Pots and pans, cutlery etc (semi-done)
• Cockpit cushions, cockpit table (we have a separate aluminium folding table which goes in the big locker) (semi-done)
• Attach the sprayhood (Done)
• Strap for the spinnaker boom
• Boom awning (Done) (We use a Gaastra non-inflatable awning)
• Clean water tanks
• Inflate and bring dinghy
• Fill diesel- and watertanks
• Bring instruction manuals and more tooling for spare time
• Bring cleaning gear - rubbing, polish, wax to get Silverminken shining, which also gives the kids some tasks, fender cleaning is a favourite believe it or not
• Change propane tank
• etc...

Update from down under

Margie from Australia writes us with some updates from down under, including some nice pictures and a movie showing their kite set under a regatta.

Hit the title for the full update!

Video from Watski Skagerrak Twostar 2011

Here is a video from Silverminken in this year's Watski Skagerrak Twostar regatta:

Watski Skagerrak Twostar 2011 winners

We won our class in Watski Twostar Skagerrak 2011!!

Here is an interview with the winners (regrettably in Norwegian) just after the race:

Updates from the racetrack

It's been quite a while since the last posts, regrettably, but we've been busy sailing, so now I'll try to get some more posts out (and movies) from the recent events.

The Færderseilasen was a great race, considering the fact that I had a hard time getting crew....we ended up with my little brother and a friend who was interested in testing out the 310....not really the best ramp-up for entering the LYS Racing 33 class hehe.

Anyway, we finished 36 of 40, which is pretty much what we could expect under the circumstances. If we had entered the regular handicap class (and not racing) we would have finished 7 of 12, which is quite ok. The race itself was over in just under 15 hours for us, with long spinnaker legs.

The Watski Twostar Skagerrak Race was a huge success for us. It is really a tough doublehanded regatta with two legs, totalling about 300 nautical miles. We were third into pitstop on the first leg, and on the second leg we had some incredible surfs in very extreme conditions. We bore the spinnaker in 32 knots of wind with huge waves over skagerrak, with speeds regularly hitting 14 and 15 knots - max was 15.5 on the log, whereas the GPS had just over 20 knots SOG. Amazing! We hit some great windshifts on the way north again and ended up winning the second leg and winning our class! Yippi!!

I'll get some video footage and detailed posts from both races out as soon as I can.

Here are some pictures from Færderseilasen (images courtesy of Seilmagasinet):

Here are some pictures from the start of Færderseilasen, right after we had to avoid colliding with the windward boat:







Here are some mobile pictures from Silverminken in Twostar:

Next regatta....

It's been a while since the last post ... a lot of stuff going on at the moment, but now we are getting closer to the focus of the season, the Watski Twostar 2011 regatta! I'll post more on that next week, but this weekend we are sailing Silverminken in the "Færderseilasen" regatta ,which is the worlds largest overnight regatta.

We don't really have high expectations for this regatta, since we will only be three people on board, and haven't sailed together before, so it will mostly be to get some more hours in the boat. But the regatta is always a great social event with great competition. We have entered Silverminken in the highly competitive LYS Racing 33 class, which will probably be a bit more than we can handle. :)

We also talked to another Elan 310 owner and got them to start in the same class - the Elan 310 "Sagitta" that Tom owns. It will be fun to see if we can get some tight racing!

 There is a GPS tracking for the regatta here:

http://www.endomondo.com/event/iUZKXMpQuyE#

Pictures from Oslofjorden Rundt 2011

Here are some pics I took from the Oslofjorden Rundt 2011 doublehanded regatta...

Here's Tormod at the helm just as the sun goes down in the west. Just catching the last of the breeze before it died down on the last run.

Click the title for all the pictures

"Bada" successful on the racetrack

The Elan 310 "Bada" is doing very well at the moment, following their overall 1st place at the "Riva per tutti" regatta, they came in second in IRC and fourth overall in the "Giannutri - Jack Daniel Trophy".

http://www.romaper2.com/pub/index.php?cat=irc_rivapertutti&query=irc_rivapertutti
http://www.rivaditraiano.com/continua.asp?id=289
http://www.adriaship.it/news.php?dettaglio=81


Congratulations!

Silverminken video catches on

From the norwegian sailing magazine "Seilas" web edition.....they reported from our video. Cool. :)

First race of the season

Repairs....

A quick trip up the mast today to remove the broken whip batten. I had brought a replacement, but after inspecting the broken one I think I'll have to find a smaller one.

The one mounted from the beginning was a bit too wide for the 310, so it was tapered a few mm on each side as shown on the first picture here:

The tapered end was fastened on the mast top.

This is not really a good solution, as the tapering cannot be anything but perfectly done or it will cause the point of maximum tension (exactly where the tapering begins) to be weakened.

As you can see on the second picture this is exactly what has happened.

The fibreglass has shattered at the point of max tension.

I think I'll have to see if I can find a batten which has the correct width all the way so there are no weak spots...

Shorthanded training at Holmsbu 2011

Holmsbu shorthanded training

The Holmsbu 2011 training was great this year - incredible weather and ok winds gave good training on the water both days. An incredible five (!) Elan 350s on the water this time - Silverminken was the lowest rated boat there (apart from a Jeanneau SO 35) - closest contenders were a Dufour 34, Pogo 8.50.

Happy sailors.

 Here's Silverminken on port heading into the the starboard boats right after the start of the second race.

 Here's a pic right after hoisting the spinnaker and before dowsing the jib.

Here's Silverminken racing against the Dufour 34.


I'll see if I can get a video posted as soon as possible - just need to get a rough edit done.

All pictures courtesy of Seilmagasinet.

Shorthanded session holmsbu

Pic from the first day of the shorthanded session at holmsbu. Tomorrow Tom Humphreys will have a presentation after the training

First sail.....

Season 2....

Silverminken is ready for the new season!

Here's Silverminken waiting for the truck to come lift her into her true element.....

Quite a few things were done this winter in preparation for the new season.

Like last year we've used VC-17 antifouling on the hull, with Trilux on the keel and rudders.

As mentioned in a previous post, we moved the speed transducer, and do a small repairjob in the bow - these turned out great.

The boat was washed twice with SeaJet boatwash, then I rubbed her down to get rid of all smudges, fastened dirt and other foul things. Then she got SeaJet Polish all over the hull, followed by SeaJet hard wax.

Here you can see the new placement of the speed tranducer before the antifouling is applied.

And....here is a picture from the inside. You can clearly see the old placement.

The depth transducer was originally in the now filled-in hole, and the speed transducer was in the leftmost hole (where the depth transducer is now). This was not especially good since the speed transducer was not close to the centerline. We switched places when we got Silverminken, but with the obvious problem of not being able to replace or "plug" the speed transducer due to the floor boards.

So, this is a great solution which works out in every dimension:

* The transducer is very close to the centerline
* It can be replaced by opening the panel in the floor

And....it wouldn't be a new season without some new gadgets!

Here you can see that we have mounted a Raymarine SmartController wireless basestation (to the upper right of the smartpilot).

They have now fixed the software so that if you have another autopilot controller on the network (like I have - the ST6002) then, when the batteries die, it doesn't revert to STANDBY (!!!). Anyway, this means it is now safe to use for shorthanded crews, and I am sure we will cherish this addition to the setup.

Looking good!!

Moving the speed log.....

The original placement of the speed log transducer on Silverminken was not optimal, so this season we are optimizing this so it is placed correctly and aligned perfectly.

....just a little scary seeing the hull like this.....

Here you can see the area prepared before creating the new hole. The depth transducer is the dark patch beside it.

Hopefully she'll be ready soon!

Steel "cage" for plotter ready for mounting

Excuse the poor quality of the picture, it was taken in broad daylight, but anyway - here you can see how we are mounting the "cage" around the plotter so that it is better protected in the cockpit. The plotter can rotate freely inside the cage.

We'll see how it works out on the water, but it does look very nice.

It is fixed to the board that covers the backstay purchase, so it doesn't hinder the removal of the board.

Update from down under

Margie wrote to me about the status on the 310 in Australia....good reading!

Hi Thomas
I thought I would fill you in on the progress of the Australian 310. Boats arriving in December is not a good thing as Christmas and summer holidays fill 3 to 4 working weeks. So things did not happen until late January, early February when rigging was finished and our sails were finally finished. On our first outing we decided to enter the club race and
came home first. The following week we raced again with the same IRC rating
as you listed for the German boat, again with much luck we won our section. The boat has been displayed at the Melbourne boat show with much interest and a lot of comments on just how good the shape is. On the water we get a lot of favorable comments and people
wanting to sail with us. There are 4 350's in the country with a few more on order but as yet
only one 310.

On a technical point with the spinnaker we are doing inside jibes in winds up to 15 knots and doing outside jibes in winds over 15 knots despite our best efforts in the stronger breezes we are finding that the windward spinnaker sheets are ending up under the boat.


Great for cleaning the boat but very frustrating, do you have any suggestions to cure this.

thanks
Margie

PS
We enjoyed your skiing video and envy of all that snow Attached is a photo of us going back to shore after a race with our number 3 head sail.

Factory Team?

New 310 boat test video

Courtesy of Adriaship:

Elan 310 from Adria Ship on Vimeo.

Dutch sailing magazine "Zeilen" tests the 310

Thanks to Martwin from the Netherlands for the tip - here is a video from a test of the Elan 310 in the Dutch sailing magazine "Zeilen".

Elan 310 Winter Chores

Some nice stats....

When one considers that this blog is a blog about sailboats (which not everybody is interested in), and actually one sailboat in particular (which might not be what everyone is looking for in a sailboat) it is pretty cool that the following numbers show up in the stats section:

• Over 4.000 absolutely unique visitors since content started showing up
• Over 37.000 pageviews
• Average of 3 pages viewed per visit
• 2 min 30 sec average time spent on the site per visit
• People from 84 countries have visited
• A couple (three plus mine equals four?) of "first 310 to arrive in my country" posts!

So I would just like to say thanks to all readers, hope you enjoy the site and keep posting me content about the wonderful 310 so we can keep the site up-to-date and interesting for both existing and new 310 owners!

Sincerely,
Thomas Roka-Aardal
Elan 310 "Silverminken"

More on the 210....

Little sister 210

The 310's little sister will be revealed at Boote 2011 in Düsseldorf in about a weeks time. Interesting concept, and looks pretty cool! Although this blog is about the 310, it doesn't take a lot of effort to see the relation!

Almost identical in concept to the other new Elans, except this little beauty has a lifting keel and rudders that can be retracted/lifted for trailersailing.

And....since we have very intimate relations with the yard.....we also got our hands on the product sheet......so here are some in-depth specs: