LUCIE is finally back in the water, she was launched in Newport, RI last week after a long and cold winter.
The rig was dressed on a sunny afternoon after LUCIE made the short trip from Bristol to Newport on her trailer. The launch itself appeared to be very easy but there was some excitement for everybody involved as we used her new lifting straps for the first time: Two keelbolt nuts were replaced with heavy duty eye nuts and a custom made lifting harness was shackled to them. This allows to lift LUCIE without using any slings around her hull and therefore eliminating the stress on the keel plank. But it still looks somewhat strange to lift 8,000 lbs of boat on two lines that are only 12mm (~1/2″) thick – though the material has a breaking strength of 37,000 lbs – per line! There comes the moment one wonders…
LUCIE hit the water in the late afternoon and essentially took on no water (major improvement over last year!), the mast went in immediately after and then boom and all running rigging was assembled. By the time all was set and done we witnessed a beautiful sunset over Narragansett Bay and decided to leave LUCIE on the dock for the night.
Shortly past sunrise the next morning LUCIE made the trip out to her mooring in Newport harbor where she now eagerly awaits the first shake down sail of the season. Her rig has been tuned to exactly the same setting as at the end of last season – the tuning she won the Newport Classic Yacht regatta with in September.
LUCIE’s sail inventory has been cleaned and inspected over the winter and a few sails have been replaced – all new sails are already measured and certified, they will be tuned within the next few days, as soon as we find the right weather window.
The next three weeks will focus on trying out all the small changes that were made to her handling and rigging and to find the perfect tuning for her sails, in mid June LUCIE will then be hauled again to start her journey to Germany.
Jens
Baltic Boat Works
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