David Kenny is skipper of The Edge, a Sunfast 32 from Perth and co-skipper is Paul Schultz. Some details and photos on preparations for the race have come through from David and it seems like everything is ready to go prior to getting the boat across to the start line.
In preparation for the Melbourne to Osaka race The Edge undertook a refit in March where standing and running rigging as well as the rudders were replaced. The keel was popped off and unfortunately some issues were found with the substructure that required some additional unplanned work. The usual chores of an engine overhaul, deck hardware review and maintenance as well as assorted minor repairs were done. The joy of upgrades took the form of lithium batteries, a water maker and extra tank-age, some new electronics and comm’s gear and a hydro generator. Meanwhile back in Sydney Paul was hard at work getting his business up to the point where he can take off for months to do the race and please don’t tell Paul that I red penned his ice maker for the G&Ts !
Part two of the preparations was getting much needed time on board together to bed down the sailing systems and to this end we entered the Fremantle to Bali race in May 2017. Being a Cat 1 international race forced us to sort the ship registration, medical and safety equipment along with training courses out early and this has taken some of the last minute pressure off the Osaka event. A misadventure with the power system, specifically the charging side of the new lithium batteries, resulted in our withdrawal from the Bali race, so we spent time repairing that problem and training out of Fremantle in some heavy weather, before flying up to Bali to celebrate with the others.
A collision in the first winter race over here (groan) resulted in some serious damage to the port side of the The Edge and so for the second time this year she came out of the water for some shipwright works. Its all sorted now very professionally by the team at Fibrelite boats and we are finally back on track.
The attached photos show the loading and pseudo departure (really the farewell) of The Edge from Fremantle Sailing Club on Sunday 15th October, some of the construction and repair works with Dubbo (Co-skipper of Kraken) supervising the keel works … Ha Ha and a couple of file photos from Bali.
Thanks to David for the detailed update. Our latest information has The Edge getting under way on Oct 18th, with four on board and the first destination of Albany. Then on to Melbourne. We’ll try and keep in touch with The Edge on her journey east and update on our Facebook page.
