Peter Shepherd

The Environmental Agency recommends the use of barley straw for the PREVENTION of Algae growth in lakes and ponds, not so long ago I was involved in using barley straw to combat a blanket & bind weed problem in a boating lake fed by land drains. the following pointers may be useful. 1. The straw needs to be added to the lake before the problem arises. We used to add ours around mid February as it needs 4 to 6 weeks to start breaking down properly. It acts by inhibiting algae growth not destroying existing so if you are to late deploying you will need to remove it mechanically (damn hard work!) 2. The bales need to be broken up to allow the water to circulate throughout the bale, if you don't do this the centre of the bale can stagnate and can actually make the problem worse. (place them in loose chicken wire or the posh reusable version plastic mesh) http://www.componentforce.co.uk/category/410/protective-netting-standard 3. Add flotation devices (we used pop bottles) to the bales to keep them on the surface of the water as the straw becomes waterlogged. 4. Dosing rates are quite critical and can be found out by trial and error, an Environment Agency article gave typical dosing amounts, which are repeated here, this may not be practical for very large lakes. https://njaes.rutgers.edu/pubs/fs1171/Pond-Lake-Mgmt-Using-Barley-Straw-to-Control-Algae.asp 5. The breakdown of the barley adds minute amounts of chemicals to the water which would appear to INHIBIT the growth of ALGAE, please note that despite it's name Blue/Green Algae is considered a bacteria and not an Algae. Dyes may also be used and will help to inhibit the growth of horticultural weeds as well this is perhaps the most useful article on it's use within recreational lakes http://www.maidenheadsc.org.uk/main/images/downloads/dye%20use%20in%20weed%20management%20-%20very%20final.pdf I hope this helps

Vinnie I would be interested to know what weight your hull comes in at, the first carbon one out of our mould weighed in at 1080g using three gel coats & two layers of 200g carbon with a bit of additional stiffening here and there. Hopefully you will be prepared to compare notes.

The plug looks great, a really nice finish. It seems we have Romanza's coming out of everywhere! When I started the blog I didn't realise it would have such a good effect.

No pressure then Mike! Build Blog can be seen at http://sixmetresailing.weebly.com/romanza-build-blog

Boat A is rounding a downwind mark to port, however she is taking a wide line, although inside the zone and is part way around the mark. Boat B approaches on the same tack albeit tighter to the mark than Boat A however she does not have an overlap at four lengths and considers that there is plenty of space for her to round the mark on a tighter line than Boat A which may bring her overlapped but not into contact with Boat A. Boat A's skipper hails "No room/water in there Boat B" what is Boat B's correct course of action?