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It is my understanding that Cool Breeze was originally ordered by the owner of a sailing school. He wanted the cockpit to be deeper than the standard version. This has resulted in drainage issues when the boat is heeled over and the cockpit drains are open. It also means that going from the high side, across the cockpit to the other side during a tack involves efforts more akin to mountain climbing. This is particularly true if I am late getting off the rail. On the other side of the coin, the extra cockpit depth makes jibing easier with increased headroom.
I bought the boat from Geoff Eckard. He had extensively rebuilt the boat after taking ownership. This included taking the keel off, and grinding off the old gelcoat and fibreglass down to the roving. He then rebuilt and faired the hull with vinylester resin, so that the hull is watertight and will never get blisters. He also templated the keel using the Hocus-92 version.The cockpit layout is also quite unique in that there is no traveller. Instead the boom has a significantly strengthened goosneck, and is stiffened along the underside. This is combined with a highly purchased vang and a central barney post for sheeting the main. The vang sheeting arrangement is very effective. I have added a boomkicker which allows me to effectively control main trim in all conditions from very light to very heavy.A further refinement has been to remove the jumpers from the mast. They were not serving any purpose, and only added weight near the top of the mast. There is also less interference with the spinnaker, and if I get a genoa for PHRF racing, I can make it full hoist, with a better aspect ratio to the standard TBird genoa.The interior is minimal, however in several cruises of 5 to 7 days, has proved to be quite liveable. I now have a BBQ for the boat, and will be installing it on a temporary mount when required.Cool Breeze has a new North Class spinnaker built to the revised dimensions of the Class. She also has a masthead spinnaker halyard, and seems to fly a masthead chute quite well. When flying the masthead chute I have kept the backstay on to help with mast stability. Future plans include:
1. Cutting the coamings down to the Class minimums
2. Having a new mainsail built for PHRF racing. It will have the top two battens extending from luff to leech, and be loose-footed.
3. Having a new genoa built for PHRF racing. It will be full hoist, and have an LP of 153%
4. The ultimate would be to raise the cockpit floor and convert to an open transom.
The pictures below are from the 2007 International Thunderbird Championships. At the Internationals we finished in the middle of the pack, and won Race 4. One of the pictures is from that race. We had a substantial lead on the rest of the fleet. This is a memory I will always cherish.
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