JULY NEWSLETTER
REGATTA SCHEDULE
BeachCat Regatta-Sept 11, 12, 13th Lake Newell.
Canadian Seaspray Nationals and North Americans. Open to all catamara classes.
Planning to start soon on hosting this event. Course design and volunteer confirmations to start. Our goal is to attract new sailors to join in. Likely mostly Seasprays will attend.
Prairie Wind Regatta
had seventy boats registered with five Seasprays sailing.
Richard Braul came away with first place in an eight race event. Mike Sonnie second and Hamish Ferguson third. Well done everyone who sailed in this event.
The famous Turkey award suffered a complete meltdown, literally. Due to an unfortunate water event and the reconstructive/restorative aftermath the bird couldn’t handle the heat. Have no fear, there is a replacement being worked on.
Trailer wiring
Dielectric paste, WD 40 Electric Contact Cleaner, crimp connectors, wire strippers, sandpaper, Vinegar, electician’s tape, shrink tube to make connections waterproof, grounding of lights and galvanic corrosion due to dissimilar metals are things you may need to to use or work on to get trailer lights to work.
Restoring a trailer usually involves pestering the lights to work. Using a voltmeter/ohmmeter can really help. Taking the tail light covers off and checking to see if you have current to the wires connected to the light is where I start. If no current then start with WD 40 Electric Contact Cleaner on the flat four connection after cleaning it first with sandpaper. Next disconnect any wire connections as they will likely need to be redone. If using the crimp connectors using dielectric paste on the wires after cleaning them and shrink tube to keep it waterproof. Redo the ground connector to the trailer frame and use dielectric paste here before reinstalling the screw. Use a new screw if the old one is rusted or corroded. Check the wires at the lights next. You should have power here. If the lights do not work you may try using vinegar after removing them from the frame. All contacts with the frame have to be cleaned, sanded, sprayed with contact cleaner, dielectric paste applied to the contact points and check that the lights are actually mounted to the main frame and not to some bolted on appendage to the main frame. You can check to see if the bulb will work with the ohmmeter. If the lights are mounted to an appendage to the actual grounded frame of the trailer you will have to install a ground wire that goes from each tail light to the grounded frame of the trailer. Sometimes it is easier to get a new set of lights if all this fails as dissimilar metal corrosion inside the light may be the cause.
Top batten mainsail tie in system to stop batten loss.
For sails that have small grommets on the starboard and port side of the sail at the top batten.
This system would work especially well for the sock main sail but would work well on a halyard mainsail as well. Use 1/8” or smaller line and if starting with a new batten drill one hole at the appropriate spot on the batten end (the end that protrudes past the leach). Tie the line to one of the grommets using a bowline knot. This line should be approximately 7-8” long but may need to be a slightly different length. Pull the other end of this 8” line through the hole you drilled on the batten end. Once through, knot the end with a stopper knot. This will secure the batten to the sail and you should not lose it any more. Use another 8” or so long or line to the other grommet but do not snug the knot up tight to the grommet. Use this open area between the grommet and the knot on the line to pass the other stopper line through in order to set the batten tightness. Once set, tie the lines to secure the top batten tension for sailing.
