Just when I'm thinking off getting the burdens of yacht ownership lifted from my shoulders, along comes a beautiful 6nm evening sail. 18 to 22 knots at the start, which held steady for the first two legs. We were slow at the start, because I had the wrong man or the wrong instructions on the main sheet trimmer. (Details again!) When we tacked for the line we didn't have the main sheet strapped in tight. And that doesn't come easy when you have 20 knots over the rail.
Nevertheless, we were good enough that boats seeking an early tack to port had to duck us. Exciting & sustained
The reaching leg was uneventful except for the fantastic rides we were getting on the rollers. Just at the reaching pin, as we were thinking of gybing, we had an involuntary gybe and went with it. Rounding the mark, we dropped our chute.
We discovered the wind had shifted 150 degrees and we were going to have to tack to fetch what was originally the leeward mark! Wind from that vector was 7 knots, but building. Two boats we thought we had buried screamed by us with their huge genoas.
When we rounded it, we raised the chute. Or should have. For whatever reason it was impossibly snagged and had to be brought down again to straighten out. We were able to fly it for only half of the last leg. We finished in the 1st half of the fleet but corrected out to only 7th out of ten.All sailors agreed that it was a unique and interesting sail.
That Alerion-28 gets his props. Full hoist in 20 knots and in 2nd place for the entire race!
ReplyDeleteAgreed. That crew has really worked on their performance over time to the point that they have proved the Alerion's amazing range of conditions. It's one of those 'couch' boats where you sit in instead of on and, in fact, you're sitting on cushions. Exactly what I need at this time of my life.
DeleteIn this race I was at the helm for only two of the four legs, but my quads have still not recovered.
OTOH, It may not be age-appropriate any for me to own a yacht. Or income-appropriate, for that matter.