A taste of India - Andaman Islands ... Jan 2008

01 - 22 Jan 2008
CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE ***Stopping at the gold Ghandi Statue in downtown Aberdeen, Port Blair - our driver was very proud of his car and new floral orange and brown upholstry***Group shot of the wild elephant hunters at Interview Island - Vivienne, Sal, Mark, John and Amanda (Alastair taking photo)***3 blokes and 3 boats, John, Mark and Alastair ashore for another excellent barbie on North Reef Island***

We were once told that “you either have a fast passage or a comfortable passage – very rarely both”. Unfortunately this was not one of those rarely both occasions and we had a fast passage, beating to windward in some very strange seas. We had heard from the boats that crossed last year that the Andaman Sea (between Thailand and the Andamans) could be very confused, lots of counter currents, volcanic ridges and mountains underwater, no exit for the tides as they enter into the Bay of Bengal, all contributing factors to yet another ocean washing machine, on an extended agitate cycle. Every now and then we would get an hour or two of flat water and we would get our hopes up that things had settled down and it would be like this the remainder of the voyage, however that was just the washing machine resting on the soak cycle before launching into the spin cycle!!!!
Less than 48 hours after leaving the Surins it was ‘land ahoy’ as the entrance to Port Blair was sighted through the mist.

MORE TO COME WHEN INTERNET ACCESS ...OK , its now January 2009, year on and I am now starting to work on finishing these..please be patient, I'llget there soon

More Andaman Photos

CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE ***Elephants on the beach at Havelock No 7 Beach***The local boys will play cricket anywhere***Women collecting firewood at Havelock No 7***The sun sets over the Bay of Bengal from Interview Island on the west coast of the Andaman Islands 10 Jan 2008***

Open 60 Trim Tabs

by Luke Shingledecker, Naval Architect

The trim tabs on the Farr Yacht Design Open 60’s PAPREC-VIRBAC 2 and GITANA 80 were inspired by the trim tabs that are quite common on powerboats. On powerboats, the tabs are generally hung off the back of the transom, while on our Open 60’s, they are underneath the aft end of the boat and do not extend past the transom. Motor boats only operate upright and are not as concerned with drag as a sail boat so they can get by with relatively narrow tabs, but since sailboats operate at a wide range of heel angles, the trim tabs on our Open 60’s extend almost the entire width of the boat.

The tabs allow the sailor to vary the fore and aft trim of the boat (bow up/down, stern up/down). Since these boats are very light for their size, they respond to the movement of weight forward and aft, exactly like a dinghy. In fact, the boats sometimes carry as much as a few tons of water ballast, and one of the primary reasons for this is to adjust the trim. By lowering the tabs, the flow of water over the tabs is deflected downwards, pushing up the stern, and marginally lowering the bow. The tabs can also be raised to decrease the lifting pressure on the stern, allowing the stern to sink and lift the bow. By adjusting the tabs for the conditions, drag can be reduced and handling can be improved. In moderate conditions, the tabs are adjusted to optimize trim, while in heavier conditions, the tabs can be raised to pick up the bow and improve handling. When combined with the effect of moveable weight (sails, gear, etc) and water ballast, the tabs significantly increase the amount that trim can be varied across the wide variety of conditions these boats see when sailing around the world.

-Luke Shingledecker, Naval Architect