Frostbite Footy Winter series R2

The light winds and slightly foggy day greated us and for a time it looked as if no racing would be possible, even with the Footy class yachts which generally have no difficulty in light conditions with a large sail (power) to weight ratio.

The most interesting part of the day was the introduction of the latest Slim derivation from the Jackson/Shepherd stable (credit to Keith Bell for a bit of input here), "the IBEX" was having it's first outing. It is a carbon fibre moulded hull more in line with the Slim with a flat bottom and rounded chines, the bouancy has been increased towards the bow and the general beam is wider at the water line giving greater bouancy overall, the deck is of similiar proportion to the Slim although slighly narrower towards the transom and so this increases the tumblehome along the sides.

The overall weight is heavier than previous incarnations with an all up displacement of around 500g and a keel bulb to overall weight of around 68%, slightly higher than we have previously achieved, the intention being to make a stiffer more stable boat than the Fat Boy or Slim.

Needless to say these extreme light winds didn't really suit the concept, however the pick up after the tack did appear to better than Fat Boy, probably due to the wider at the hull keel fin an idea we might explore further in the future.
So how did IBEX fair, well pretty well really, the result of the racing could not have been closer with the three experienced Footy skippers battling it out to finish after eight races all on 10 points each and having to be seperated on countback. Mike Ewart being declared the winner having danced his way into the lead in the final two races!