The new high-torque winch servo is 44x22mm instead of the standard 40x20mm, so we made a new radio-plate for it today. The new plate has a bigger cut-out for the new servo, and is slightly wider. The boat will sail again next weekend so we will hear how the new servo works then.
Gone is the HiTec light-blue box, and replaced with a clear one. These servos, which HiTec calls "monster torque" 🙂 are designed for either 6.0V or a LiPo pack at 7.4V. They are about 10% bigger than the standard 20x40 mm footprint, and produce 36 kg*cm (6.0V) or 44 kg*cm (7.4V) of torque. To be tried as a winch servo in the prototype PIKANTO.
Had a chance to sail the PIKANTO in nr2 rig conditions today with pretty good results. More comments to follow later...
Note to self: ran out of Malin Stainless Steel Leader, 80 lbs, which we use for stays and shrouds. Must buy more. Are there any other fishing wires that are good for IOM stays/shrouds?
Looks like they have Malin here: http://www.tackledirect.com/malinleader.html
Got a chance to sail PIKANTO hull nr 3 today in Turku. After a bit of servo-programming to get the travel on the HiTec winch dialled in right it was on with the deck patches and onto the water. Turns out the balance is pretty darn good as we had gusty nr1 rig weather today and the boat behaved very well in both the lighter and the stronger breeze. I missed two races because of a flat boat battery - the HiTec arm-winches demand a little more attention to batteries, wires, and connectors, since they draw quite a bit of current. After two summers of sailing a Noux with a fairly narrow 85mm chord fin the Bantock-style large-area fin (120mm chord at the root, tapering to around 70mm) feels easy to sail and difficult to stall. A bit more rudder travel, some more rig tuning, and lots of sailing routine and I feel this will become a great boat to sail.
Two non-PIKANTO pictures: In the middle of racing this dude pulls up with his muscle-motor-boat and starts to load it up with diesel. ZOMG: almost 400 liters costing more than 500 euros!
Our starting sequence was played from a USB-stick, no more trouble with wobble of the player causing the CD to jump and interrupting the sequence.
99mm diameter winch drum for arm-winch type sheeting with powerful (e.g. HiTec) digital servos. CNC-machined in aluminium. four M3 threaded holes, weight 21 grams, price 30 euro/pcs.
Jari has added fittings, radio-installation, bulb, and foils to PIKANTO hull nr 3. Note the aluminium cnc-machined winch-drum for the HiTec winch-servo.
While we have developed a good looking cnc-machined steel finmould, ruddermoulds, a bumper mould, etc. we are still not producing hulls in any larger numbers for sale due to various reasons. Stay tuned.
This fork-shaped aluminium part sits in the groove of the foredeck of the PIKANTO. It supports the mast sideways, the M3 threaded hole is for a mast-rake adjustment screw, and the forward hole is for an acetal jib-sheet lead.
Jari has been making eyebolts in brass and stainless steel with the cnc mill. These are M3 bolts with a hole/eye on the end. They are bolted to the deck of model yachts and provide attachment points for the jib, shrouds, and backstay.
As I mentioned earlier, the flanges around the foredeck openings were very time-consuming to laminate around, and very hard to release from the mould. Here I've ground them down with a pneumatic dremel-type grinder, and then sandpapered a bit. Next I need to fix a few dents in the gelcoat, wet-sand, and polish. Then we should be ready to mould hull nr 5 next weekend.
Jari made another red hull while I was in the USA.
The flanges around the openings in the foredeck have proven hard or very hard to release from the mould, so I've now cut them down from the deck mould. From hull nr 5 onwards (another red one I hear) there will be no built-in flanges in the foredeck. The flanges do stiffen the deck a lot, but they make the whole foredeck difficult to laminate, and hard to release - so away they went!