Yachting World — November 2017

88 November 2017

Practical

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The oldest designs
are from 1967 but the
most competitive in
the revived fleet tend
to be from the late
1970s

GOLDEN OLDIES

The newest boat in the fleet was

originally launched in 1992 and the

class rules ban anything more recent

than 1996 from competing

There’s an enormous amount of custom

metalwork on board, which adds to the sense

of a top-quality refit throughout

Below deck purchase for the jib tack downhaul

and the horizontal carbon compression post

that adds transverse stiffness to the structure

The asymmetric tack line emerges from just

below the bow, which gives a better lead to

the end of the pole

Coachroof

mounted control

lines and halyards.

The three that exit

from below decks

are the staysail

port and starboard

tack lines and the

jib tack downhaul

Simple but effective stowage on the boom for

the spinnaker pole. The mast is aluminium, as

per class rules. The boom and pole are carbon

The curved

transverse jib

cars. Note the

control lines that

run through the

athwartships

compression

post under the

coachroof, the

square end of

which can be

seen here

post through the coachroof at deck level,

which helps to prevent the rig squeezing the

hull inwards at the chainplates. This is a hollow

carbon structure, so control lines can also be

run through it. Even the instrument pod on the

mast is custom made in carbon, shaped to fit

the individual instruments.

Creating complex deck layouts is easy,

but it’s a much harder task to simplify them

without compromising on the ability to control

sail shape. Nevertheless, Belinda’s layout is

much more streamlined than the original. Jib

halyard tension, for instance, is controlled by a

tack downhaul, with a block and tackle system

used to provide purchase.

Similarly, the lateral curved jib car tracks

and narrow coachroof avoid the need for

inhaulers. The jib car controls are crossed

over so everything can be operated from the

rail, and jib sheets can be taken to either the

leeward primary winch, or to windward.

The spinnaker bag in the companionway is

mounted on an upside down jib track to make

it easier to slide back and forth.

As well as competing in quarter ton class

events, which ban asymmetric kites, Belinda

has also been taking part in other races such

as the Round the Island Race and Cowes

Week, which don’t have that restriction. There

is therefore provision for using an asymmetric

spinnaker with twin spinnaker halyards to

make it possible to peel to a different sail. The

tack line exits in the bow a few inches below

the forestay chainplate, creating a perfect

lead to the ends of the spinnaker pole, which

is 350mm longer than the J (base of the

foretriangle) measurement.

Corby identifies this as being one of

the most challenging bits of the project.

“Structural stuff doesn’t faze me,” he says.

“The big hole in the bottom of the boat after

we cut the keel out was little different to

building a boat from scratch. But the painting

and fairing was relentless.”

A detailed inspection of

Belinda’s hull and deck

after weeks of long

boarding and fairing

revealed it was not

absolutely perfect, so

an extra 40 hours of

sanding was added to

the work schedule. The

end result is stunning.

A key decision was whether or not to move the

rudder post forward. In the end it was decided

to keep it in its original position

The spinnaker bag in the companionway and

rope bags at the front of the cockpit which,

along with the coachroof, were reconfigured