"Black Cat" on the Ocean Blue

I am sure that most of my readers are well aware of our adventures on the prototype Didi 38 "Black Cat" in the Cape to Rio Race in January 2014. This is the boat that I built in my back garden in Hout Bay, South Africa and launched nearly 20 years ago. She was the experiment in boat construction that is the basis for all of my radius chine plywood designs, with many hundreds now on the water or in build around the world.

"Black Cat" is once again out on the wide blue South Atlantic Ocean. She is participating in the 1700 mile Governor's Cup Race from Simonstown, South Africa, to St Helena, the remote island in the middle of the South Atlantic. Much as I would like to have been there, I was unable to join the crew for this race but they seem to be doing a pretty good job of it without my interference. They have led the monohull fleet both on handicap and on the water from the first position report and remain up there. Only the trimaran "Banjo" leads them.

"Black Cat" at start of Governor's Cup 2014. Dave Mabin photo

The crew, led by Dave Immelman, has been having great sailing, with three consecutive days of 200+ mile runs in strong downwind trade conditions. Now they are working their way through the light winds of a high pressure system at lower speed but maintaining their lead. Dave is the resident skipper on "Black Cat" and was my navigator for the Cape to Rio Race 2014.

We wish Dave and his crew continued good sailing and that they can find their way quickly through the high to more good breezes.

Welcome to 2015

Whether 2014 was a good year or a bad one for you, it is now disappearing in the rear view mirror. It is time to take on 2015 and we are ready for it. Bring it on. Happy New Year to all.

We are settling into our new home and office. The number of cardboard boxes is diminishing as we find homes for things in closets and for pictures on the walls. Eventually I will have the garage organised enough that I will be able to get back to working on projects.

The office has been the most challenging. Somehow networks have a way of being disobedient when the time comes to reconnect everything after being totally dismantled. Like a happy family, the computers and printers are now all talking to each other again.

As part of this move I have phased out our trusty EnCAD CADjet 2 plotter that moved with us from South Africa 11 years ago. We still have the HP 750c Plus that joined the business 8 or 9 years ago and have added an HP 1055cm Plus plotter with automatic roll feeder. This is all intended to turbocharge our drawing printing capacity to better cope with the seasonal peaks of orders.

This is a temporary home for a year or two, a place of transition until we buy a more permanent new spot for ourselves. Time will tell where and when that will be.

All of our contact details remain unchanged. The mailing address, telephone, fax and email are all as before.

We are up and running again, ready for whenever you want to start your new boatbuilding project.

We are Moving

After more than 10 years in this spot, we have sold our house. We will be moving both home and office between Christmas and New Year. Our mailing address will remain unchanged, as will our telephone numbers and email.

There will be disruption in our service during this period. Aside from moving, we will have to set up all of our computers, plan printers, network and internet connection. It may last the full week between Christmas and New Year. We also have a new 36" roll plotter that must be set up and brought into the network.

Anyone wanting to order plans before Christmas must please do so in the next few days. Any orders received after Tuesday 23rd December may not be shipped until after New Year. I apologise for any inconvenience but ask you to please bear with us during this period.

Here are our contact and other details:-

Dudley Dix Yacht Design
1340-1272 N Great Neck Rd #343
Virginia Beach, VA 23454, USA
Tel (757)962-9273  Fax (888)505-6820
Email dudley at dixdesign dot com
Website http://dixdesign.com/
Blogs http://dudleydix.blogspot.com/ & http://boatbuilder-tips.blogspot.com/
Facebook http://facebook.com/DudleyDixYachtDesign/
http://psoriasis-spot.blogspot.com/