Andy
How big is the fleet? Good question - I asked Matt at the Boat Show and he wasn't sure "about 20" he said. So if Matt doesn't know then who does? I think part of the problem is the numbering might have got a little confused somewhere along the line. You will see that BC26 001 has been up for sale on the Swallow brokerage site for quite a while, but this appears to be a prototype and doesn't look much like the rest of the fleet inside or out. We tend to regard 001 to be Basil Papadimitriou's Muddy Waters, although he sails with a GBR sail number. I think Muddy Waters is the wood/epoxy plug from which the GRP mould was made, and is also quite unlike all the other boats because Basil has filled it with numerous ingenious ideas for compact living - well worth a guided tour if you ever get to see it (in Chichester Harbour). The first GRP boat was 002 Redwing in Topsham, 003 Iris is in Torquay, as am I 008 and also 011 Zephyr is here too, which brings me to the next numbering issue. I see on the boat register that Stuart has put Bagpuss as 011 but Richard Carson certainly has 011 on his sail so which boat is the real 011? 004 was originally owned by Nick Peters but he sold it and I don't know where it is now. 005 I don't know, 006 is still on the boat register as belonging to the Walder-Davis' but I think they sold it to an English couple who keep it in the Baltic. 007 went to Germany, 009, 010 and 012 don't know but maybe one of them is Zephyr/Bagpuss? 013 is Betty Blue in Woolverstone marina, and 018 Floki is on the Beaulieu River. Apart from that I believe that there's one in Milford Haven and one in Denmark, the rest I don't know.
Re the outhaul - I don't have a photo at the moment but it's a simple mod. Take the outhaul off the clew and attach a block to the clew either with a lashing or a soft shackle. Reeve the end of the outhaul through the block and attach it to the ring on the end of the boom. Job done. While you're doing this you might want to check the boom bag allows sufficient movement of the clew. I also removed about 25m of lashing line that the Swallow rigger had used to attach the boom bag to the end of the boom, seemed to have been a little over-cautious with it!
Re the cam cleats - when you said they were stiff I assumed that you meant the cleat itself, but the swivel bases do get stiff after a while and I do lubricate them occasionally. They are needed to feed the sheet fairly onto the winches and seem to work ok in this respect, although the port side is not as good because the sheet has to go forward of the drum whereas the starboard side leads to the aft side, which is an easier lead. I still use the swivel bases with the Spinlock cleats. On the whole I try not to use the winches with the jib sheets, if you're quick you can get the sheet fully in before it loads up, and off-wind you don't need the winch. Some people have got 2:1 jib sheets which makes it easier to sheet in but gives you twice as much rope of course. One of the advantages of the PXR cleats is that they are a lot less liable to accidentally re-cleat half way through the tack. (Photo attached.). If you do decide to change to PXR's make sure you get the 'Retrofit T' version as that one fits the same holes in the swivel base as the original cleats, but you'll need shorter screws (still M6 I think). You'll need to cut them as near as you can to exactly the right length, i.e. long enough to have all the threads engaged in the base plate, but not so long that they protrude out the back of the plate and touch the deck preventing the swivel plate from moving (and scratching the deck!)
Nick
