Dartful Codger 3 wrote:
It's official - Dartful Codger 3 was born this morning at 11 o'clock at Banbury, and weighed in at 33Kg each hull.
Don't know where 29Kg came from (maybe the original spark)but interestingly,Dartful Codger II (Stiletto)also weighed 33Kg/hull, or so it was declared on the spec. sheet.
However, I had to weigh the new hulls myself, as there doesn't appear to be a sheet declaring the weights any more. Otherwise, it seems to have all it's bits and pieces, right down to a sponge to clean it with (do they know something about Beaver?).
I have also been able to swap to Spencer rigging easily, as the standard shrouds now come fitted with new 'closed' eyes (like squashed circles)rather than a tear-drop shaped strip, and so are no problem to remove from the large top shackle.
Other minor changes - gone is the praddle you could stow in the cocktail cabinet, you now get a huge 3ft paddle like a converted spade, which is obviously much more efficient, but where do you put it? Still, if Queen Mary is another drifter, I think I should have a distinct advantage with this !!! However, current weather forecasts suggest the opposite.
One other change - you now get a Dart 18 tiller extension, which is approx 6 inches longer than the std. D15 one. I was assured this was not a mistake, and presume it is the length you would use when sprinting, so I suppose I will have to get used to it, or cut it down.
Otherwise the build quality on first impressions looks very good, so I only hope it goes as well as it looks - only time will tell .
P.S Just realised they didn't give me any instructions on where to stick my sail numbers, so will have to pick one of the options from the web-site - what was it again ? 4 microns up from the 17th stitch to the left of Nelson's Column ?? - Well , If in doubt, guess it !!
See you on the circuit .
Paul Smith 1961
