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Part IV: UPGRADE TO EXISTING FITTINGS AND EQUIPMENT
Concurrently with sourcing and installing the equipment necessary to equip Sofia as an ocean cruiser we also reviewed what might be required to upgrade her existing set up and inventory. We looked at three main areas; the hull, the rig and the sails.
Hull
In the case of the hull Sofia had a substantial number of DZR/zinc through hull fittings. We decided to replace them all with bronze fittings and to have this work carried out when Sofia was hauled out to have her anti fouling renewed. In this regard, we decided to replace conventional antifouling with Coppercoat. The principal advantage of switching to Coppercoat is that it lasts for approximately 10 years and avoids the necessity of having to renew the antifouling on a regular basis. While it does not prevent the growth of weed and barnacles on the hull, all that is required on lift out is for the hull to be hosed off with a higher pressure hose. The initial application requires the hull to be blasted down to the bare gel coat and all traces of the previous antifouling to be removed before the Coppercoat is applied with the temperature at an appropriately warm level. The upfront cost is expensive. However, when the cost of coats of conventional antifouling is compared over 10 years with Coppercoat the cost is comparable. It is not impervious to damage and scratches will inevitably occur due to contact with mooring chains and grounding. We have had to touch it up twice. The first occasion was in Opua NZ in December 2015 and the second in Darwin Australia in July 2017. We have found it to be effective and would certainly choose Coppercoat again.
Rig
Sofia has twin headsails with a furling Genoa and furling Staysail. She has a tall three spreader Selden mast with in-mast furling for the mainsail. While this arrangement is undoubtedly convenient, we would have much preferred a fully battened mainsail with three reefs and a stack pack. We decided to persevere with the in-mast furling, as we had used this arrangement previously on several charter yachts. With the benefit of hindsight, this was a mistake, as our reservations about in mast furling were born out during our circumnavigation. The mainsail had significant jams in the mast in New Zealand, Australia and the South Atlantic. We were fortunate that none of these jams occurred in very strong conditions and we were able to rectify the jam on each occasion. Nevertheless, we felt very uncomfortable each time. Unless the sail is furled perfectly with appropriate tension maintained on the outhaul, it will be prone to jam. This situation is exacerbated by vertical battens. When we arrived back in the Caribbean in March 2018 after the latest jam in the South Atlantic the Doyle loft in Barbados removed the battens from the existing main and made the replacement mainsail without them! Thus far we have not had a reoccurrence. However, if we were placed in the same situation again we would have switched over to a fully battened mainsail before embarking on our circumnavigation or purchased another yacht with a fully battened mainsail for this purpose.
Replacing all the standing and running rigging was a requirement for two reasons. The first was for insurance purposes. Most insurers expect standing rigging to be replaced after 10 years and Sofia’s rigging was original and already 13 years old. The second was for our own peace of mind. We wanted to start our circumnavigation with new rigging knowing the wear and tear that would be placed on the rig in the years ahead. However, fitting new rigging should not lull one into a false sense of security, as problems with the standing rigging have been ongoing throughout our circumnavigation; occurring in 2015, 2017 and 2018. As a result of this experience, we check the rig on a regular basis ourselves and have the rig inspected professionally before every major ocean crossing. At this point we were also unaware that after the rig or major sections thereof have been replaced, the rig needs to be properly tuned and, if necessary, the tension on the lower shrouds and diagonal shrouds adjusted. If the tension on the rigging is either too tight or too loose, then problems are likely to occur. We also learnt on our circumnavigation that the only way for the rig to be properly inspected is for the mast to be removed so that all the tangs and bolts can be checked thoroughly. We now know much more about our rig and rigging in general than when we started. When we had our rigging replaced we were not present when the mast was stepped back and the rig set up. This was a mistake. If you are in the same situation, make sure that you are present and see exactly what tension the riggers place on each section of the rigging and insist on a subsequent tune-up with the same riggers present.
By comparison, replacing all the running rigging on the mast together with the Genoa and Staysail sheets was very straightforward. The only addition that we made to the rig was to add an additional pole so that we could pole out both headsails when running downwind. This meant adding a second car to the pole track. While the original pole was mounted permanently on the mast we decided to locate the new pole on the deck. In this way, it could be used as the basis of a jury rig in the event of the main rig being lost overboard as a result of dismantling.
Sails
At the time we purchased Sofia it was clear her sails were tired and needed to be replaced. We asked the Doyle loft in Southampton to make us a new suit of sails before we set off on our circumnavigation. The Genoa was replaced in 2013 and the Staysail and Mainsail in early 2014. However, we retained the existing Staysail, as this had not been so heavily used and still set well. We thought that new sails would see us through our circumnavigation. However, we significantly underestimated the toll that wear and tear would take on them. The clew on the Main needed repair after the Atlantic crossing and both Main and Genoa needed repairs and servicing in New Zealand in 2015, New Caledonia in 2016, Australia and South Africa in 2017 and Martinique in 2018. By the time we reached South Africa at the end of 2017, it was clear that the Genoa needed to be replaced and that the Main was on its last legs. We had a new Genoa made by the Ullman loft in Cape Town and a new Main by the Doyle loft in Barbados. We have retained the old Doyle sails as spares even though storage is problematic. The one issue to which we did not pay sufficient attention before we set off was sailing in light airs. Sofia is a heavy displacement yacht and struggles to make progress when the wind is below 10 knots; especially when fully loaded for an ocean crossing. As we subsequently discovered these conditions pertain for a considerable amount of time on a circumnavigation. In our experience, it is a sad fact that ideal wind conditions for perfect sailing are a rare occurrence. The solution to keep moving in light airs is to have a self furling Code Zero mounted on a short bowsprit. With the benefit of hindsight, we should have fitted one.
Vice Commodore, OCC
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