Columbia 30 Sport Sailor Launch

September 27, 2004

Today was historic. Here are some pics of today's launch of the new Columbia 30 SS.

Everything went well & it didn't sink. The lift & launch were flawless. The engineered waterline stripes were dead on to the true waterline. The mast & rigging all fit. The keel went down to it's 7' draft. The tiller hadn't arrived so a temporary one was jury rigged. The 9.9 hp single cyl Yanmar fired right up & spat it's cooling water out the correct hole in the transom. The folding prop opened up & moved the boat foreward & backward. The shifter was found to be installed backwards & was promptly reversed.

We had to move the boat from Basin Marine boatyard to the Newport Harbor Yacht Club where some fine tuning will take place for the next couple of days, then back on the trailer to Annapolis for the official introduction. We backed out of the launch slip & got about 100 feet when the engine quit. We hadn't initially run it long enough to clear all the air out of the new fuel lines. Coasted to the nearest dock, bled the lines & continued to NHYC with no further problems. Full throttle power produces an amazing turn of speed. My guess is pretty close to 7 or 8 kts. The sails hadn't arrived yet so this was a power only 1st passage of about 2 1/2 miles.

Regards,

Doug Ward

On the Trailer In the Slings Lowering Keel Wet Afloat! Bow Push Off At NHYC