After months of waiting, PDRacer #824 “Serenity” was launched today. Molly is sitting beside me as I type this up, making a video of the day’s activities. She (Serenity, not Molly) sailed well. Better than I actually thought she might. Aside from a few broken zip ties and paint to be retouched the worst damage to the boat was the handle of the leeboard snapping. (How or why this occurred, I have no idea.)

There are a couple tweaks I need to figure out though:

• Tiller handle. It’s too long, and being screwed in two places means I have to either pass it under my legs, or sit in front of it in the middle of the cockpit. Both options suck.
• Cleats for downhaul had to be moved lower on the mast. (Took care of this one already.)
• Rudder has too much play on the pivot. It tends to drag back behind the boat. I think a bungee cord could fix this nicely.
• Trailer needs some padding on the braces. I’m thinking some pool noodles would actually be perfect. Sliced in half, and zip tied to the braces.
• Replacement leeboard handle. It’s not a tough fix. A rope handle will be more than sufficient.

These few things aside, it was a pretty good experiment. I’ve learned a ton by making this craft. Once it’s a bit more user friendly, it’ll be time to get Molly into the captain’s seat, and then it’ll be time for PD Racer number two. Hee hee hee…