Second Phase
At Crouesty, France, for the Europeans in 2005 we were convinced that
Hedghog was fast upwind but slow downwind when we battled with future World Cahmpion, Maurio Santa Cruz of Brazil, sailing
his new Italia J Boat.
After winning the Europeans by a clear margin from the Brazilian, we decided
that the hull would need fairing and the keel moved forward and reprofiled to Compukeel USA patterns. As the ownership of
Hedgehog was unclear at the time, we decided to order a new hull from the Italian builder, Paolo Boido.
The new hull, named "Echidna" and now sold to Roger Morris, was excellent
but being collected in August 2005, it was not posssible to be properly prepared for the Weymouth 2005 World championship.
We were still attaching fittings before the first race. A very disappointing Worlds...
We couldn't afford to run two boats, so after clearing the ownership of
Hedgehog, following her abandonment for most of a decade and selling Echidna, we sent the Rogers Hull to specialist,
David Heritage at Cowes on the Isle of Wight.
She was stripped downlaid on her sides and long boarded then totally reprayed
again and faired twice. The keel was moved to maximum forward and, having purchased the templates from teh USA, refaired to
optimum shape.
A new Sparloft New Zealand rig, the same as Santa Cruz's choice, was
fitted to the boat, the Proctor having been sold with Echidna.
The entire crew contributed towards the cost of fairing in equal shares.
Total cost
£6700.00
The resultant speed improvement was evident by the European Championships
in Poole, England in September 2006 - when we won six races and got an average points additional first for redress.
Over the winter of 2006, we decided to straighten Hedgehog's run aft and
fill the dip aft of the keel caused by years of neglect on a broken trailer.
The resultant downwind speed improvement was very noticeable - especially
the lack of turbulence in the boat's wake.
Total cost
£5600.00
Hedgehog went on to win her third, consecutive European Championship in
Neustadt, Germany in 2007.
For the 2008 season, Hedgehog has had a further £3700.00 of additional preparatory
work in advance of the Italian World Championship
Total additional cost
£16,000.00
