East Midlands section meeting Spring 2014
The date is Sunday 16 March and will be in Houghton, a village between Cambridge and Huntingdon, but this time in a hall with more effective heating! The main speaker will be James Collier, who fascinated us with his account of Arctic cruising last year. james talk will be on 'the forces on a boat due to wind and water' and will offer some insights on subjects as diverse as anchoring and fuel consumption.
James says 'Sailing is all about forces: from sails, from the resistance of the hull and from wind and waves. We all know that anchor chain should be nice and strong, but how strong? How thick should that rope be or how heavy that chain? How much difference do waves make? Why exactly does a boat sail around its anchor, and would a riding sail work? And how big should it be? Alternatively, how slippery is a hull: what force is required to push it along. What's 'hull-speed' or is it a myth? This leads to how big an engine is needed? How many litres will it consume per hour? And how does that change with wind, tide or waves? I hope to show numbers for some real boats and may even be able to run a computer model 'real-time' for members of the audience's boats. This is not a talk on sailing faster - I'm sure all have their own techniques and would probably beat me. Nor on how or where to anchor – again everyone has their own experience as valid as mine. But it attempts to show that some generally accepted rules of thumb are, in fact, simply wrong and that being quantitative about these matters is not that complicated yet leads to greater understanding.'
After a pub lunch, we have Bob Bradfield talking about his hobby, which is hydrographic surveying and making very large scale electronic charts. You can get a foretaste from his website - www.antarescharts.co.uk.
Menu choices will be sent out at the beginning of March. We’d appreciate an early indication if you can come, so that we can negotiate appropriately with the pub.
We are again looking for members who would be happy to talk at our meetings about their recent cruising experiences. Short presentations (<30 mins) with photos would be most welcome.
Contact the section secretaries for more details.