Boat refit update

Medallia is currently tucked up in a dry shed for its winter refit ahead of a busy race season in 2022. In this latest blog Joff Brown, Technical Director, answers your questions on the refit and shares an update on how things are going:

📸 Mark Lloyd

What are you most excited about for the refit?

We have a load of new sails coming…

Why black sails?

That’s the standard colour for sails and anything you do to change that adds weight.

What are you changing about the boat in this refit?

We’re not making any big structural changes to the boat, the boat’s pretty reliable in that way, it’s mainly system upgrades and maintenance.

Didn’t the boat have a refit when Pip got it?

The boat had a quick refit when we bought it in May but that was mostly branding, we didn’t have the time to go through, learn the boat and get her up to speed to where we want her to be.

Will you fit anything to stop the boom from jibing in downwind or light winds? 

These boats sail at higher angles than normal cruising boats so we never really need to lock the boom off downwind.

Is this boat harder to look after than Superbigou?

There’s a lot more to this boat than the old one. With the old one the problems were it was over 20 years old, this boat’s newer so you have less aging problems but there’s a lot more to it.

What’s the main evolution you’re putting onto the boat?

In this refit we’re not doing anything major in terms of evolving the boat, it’s more about consolidating the position the boat’s in, and upgrading systems where stuff’s better than it was four years ago.

What are the challenges of a winter refit?

Getting hold of materials and having things made - this is quite a short refit (three months) and with Christmas in the middle it’s not ideal so it’s just getting hold of things.

What are the top upgrades you’re making?

We’ve got a whole new Marlow running rigging package, new developmental electronics coming from B&G (which we’ll play with this year and then see what we want to do next year when they bring in their new system). We’ve also got new sails, new batteries and a new engine.

New foils?

Yes we’re looking to fit them in spring next year.

What’s your favourite thing you’re doing to the boat?

Making it ours.

How do you power the electronics onboard?

All B&G electronics onboard are all powered by a lithium iron battery pack, and charged by hydrogens, solar and engine.

How do you prep for things breaking?

Generally it’s hard to plan for breakages, all you can do is prepare the boat as well as you can.

Will you be upgrading the nav system?

Yes we’re looking at a whole new system which we’ll fit next winter.