Sea Trial Trails

Wow! First day of REAL sea trials is done. The wind was around 20kts, with gusts up to 28kts (14 m/s). Perfect wind for really seeing how the boat behaved.

First of all, the balance was superb!!! We did not yet have the reefing lines installed, so we sailed with a full main and the staysail. Not a perfect set of sails in these conditions, but the boat was still very stable and showed no broaching tendencies. Plenty of heel of course, but the angled rudders always had full grip and never ventilated. Steering felt precise even during the gusts.

We ended the day with a long list of small and medium sized work items on the todo list, both on the rigging and on the sails. Leeches need shortening on the main and solent. Mast had a bit of an S curve so the foot and D2 stays will need adjustments. And so on. But overall, I feel it was a solid success. Many thanks to Hans, Herman and Bengt from Hamel Sails. These guys really go through everything down to the last detail in both sails and the packs in order to create easily workable solutions.

We had two professional photographers in a RIB taking pictures, but I have not managed to get any images from them yet, look out for those in a couple of days!