Goff's new Calypso

It's great to hear that Hartley's (current Gull builder) are so nice to do business with. Be sure to stop and have a chat with the the Guys at the Hartley stand if you're at the dinghy show next weekend. I'll be there on the Saturday, so if you want to buy me a cup of tea and chat about Gulls you can call me on 07796990219. Here's what Goff has to say about his Gull experience so far.........

I collected my new (ex display/demo) Gull from Hartley's in Derby last weekend, and what a good experience that was - the guys at Hartley were really helpful, showed me round the factory and Mark Hartley gave me loads of time going over my new boat - great people to do business with! And the boat looked good too! That was a week ago and today I went for a maiden voyage on the Norfolk Broads. Oh my, the reviews and your blogs were right, it's a great little boat to sail! Yes it was cold, so cold that most of the pics were useless cos my wife was shaking from cold, but I had a blast! What a well behaved boat, even in blustery winds like today.

 Bring on the sailing season! Goff

Paul's Winter Testing.

Paul's been at it again, his modifications are always spot on though and his new sails look stunning. Over to Paul to tell us what he's done.

I hope your'e well and not suffering too much from the cold weather down there. We're getting off a little better than you at the moment with a glorious +4 degrees today and not much wind.

Well, I've finished my mod's for this winter and took Kittiwake out for a test today. It started as a really good test for the new oarlocks! Flat calm, so we rowed to St Herbert's Island. Luckily the wind picked up a little for the sail back, which was nice.

 As well as the new inwales I've modified the gaff to allow the main to be lowered with the gaff still hoisted (pulley at the top). I've also added a new outhaul, some downhauls for reefing and a topping lift. All work well. I'm especially pleased with the inwales. I managed a little hiking today and it was much more comfortable.

Today was the first outing for the new sails as well which not only look great but feel much better than the old ones, well in a light wind they catch the wind better, only time will tell for more challenging winds.

Check out my blog for a video of today.

To see paul's video visit -  http://54north-3west.blogspot.com/2012/02/derwent-winter-sail-12-2-12wmv.html  and more of his stunning photos - http://54north-3west.blogspot.com/2012/02/winter-sailing.html