Sailing with Matt Layden
This entry was posted on 5/30/2008 8:34 AM and is filed under Trip Reports.
Sorry for the long delay in posting. It has been a busy several weeks since the EC2008.
I got a chance to go out sailing in the Tridarka Raider with the designer, Matt Layden. I had fixed some of the issues discovered during her shakedown cruise.
The frustrating problem with the twisted main sheet was easily solved by changing the swivel blocks to the non-swivel type. What a difference!
We had a great day on the water up at Cedar Key. In the morning it was blowing hard so we launched into the protected basin and paddled under the bridge to a small beach. Once again the new cross beams worked perfectly and made extending the amas to their full width super easy. We sailed out with Matt at the tiller.
Matt sailed her on all points without any problems at all. My problems with setting the mainsail were non existent. She moved along very fast whether running, reaching, or beating. Tacking and jybing was easy. We also played with heaving-to and found that she behaved nicely for that. Matt was very happy with her speed, handling, and balance.
As the day went on the wind starting dying so we also got to sail her in very light winds. By this time several other sailboats were out and we easily caught and passed them. Matt agreed with me that a flexible roller furling head sail would be a good solution to my issues with setting and striking the current head sail. That is the only major change that is needed.
We also got to use the sculling oar to take a shallow channel right through the middle of an island just off Cedar Key. I did the sculling with Matt giving pointers. When we started into the channel I was sculling, but not very well. By the time we got to the other side I was much better and was starting to get the hang of it.
I took a few pages of notes while learning from the master. Except for the furling head sail all of it is very minor stuff. She's a great boat and will do very well in the next Everglades Challenge.
