Home Build International Moth Blog 7: First flight for Valkyrie!

by James Sainsbury 13 Aug 2018 07:00 BST 25 June 2018

The day for launch of Valkyrie had come. We woke up early for a short trip to Rutland Sailing Club (sadly not the open at Eastbourne) to meet up with the other local (ish) boys for support. After a lot of bimbling at the club for all the little bits that were left to do, I ventured out onto the water with a gusty force 2-3 and up she went.

After a few gantry adjustments it cruised around and was really stable.

We could pretend it was all plain sailing, but with so many new details in one boat, it wasn't. Some drainage holes were needed in the deck and the mainsheet system in theory should have worked, but ended up having a high amount of friction so has now been switched out for version number two.

Now it's into the exciting phase of testing out on the water and getting ready for her first event.

There's nothing better than sailing your own boat that you've made. The feeling of it taking off and then cruising around makes all the hours of blood, sweat and beers worth while.

So I think a huge thank you to all involved!

• Atomik UK High performance sailing (foils)
• Allen Brothers (hardware)
• Kingfisher yacht rope (rope)
• Easy Composites (composite materials)
• Jonti (everything else)
• YachtsandYachting.com and Sail-World.com (for paying an interest)

The biggest thanks to Chantelle for putting up with all the building in the living room, helping laying up lots of carbon bits and the support throughout the build.