I had a 135% built by a local sailmaker for Christmas this season. So far, I'm very impressed with the boats new performance. I know now the old 150% I had was beyond worn out. A short sail out of the harbor this week in 5kts building to 10 to 12 was a good test.
I've spent a good amount of time sailing the boat now and pay attention to headings, compass and GPS when tacking checking board performance and sail trim.
Sailing some long tacks to windward, without over pinching and maintaining a good speed, such as I would choose racing to a windward mark, I saw the boat tacking through a smaller angle to windward than she used to achieve. That was very nice to see. Simply a better windward shape on the sail that I could winch in tighter and still maintain good power. And this was mostly in wind in the 7 knot range. We were sailing nicely above 4 knots.
Just later, the winds came up to about 10 knots, maybe 12 from the southwest so for one more quick test, I cracked off onto a reach to eastward on Penobscot Bay. With the board raised to half and telltales trimmed from genoa to mizzen, the new smaller genoa was perfectly shaped for the moderate air reach. The boat was holding 7 knots over the ground. I'm happy with the new sail.
I've spent a good amount of time sailing the boat now and pay attention to headings, compass and GPS when tacking checking board performance and sail trim.
Sailing some long tacks to windward, without over pinching and maintaining a good speed, such as I would choose racing to a windward mark, I saw the boat tacking through a smaller angle to windward than she used to achieve. That was very nice to see. Simply a better windward shape on the sail that I could winch in tighter and still maintain good power. And this was mostly in wind in the 7 knot range. We were sailing nicely above 4 knots.
Just later, the winds came up to about 10 knots, maybe 12 from the southwest so for one more quick test, I cracked off onto a reach to eastward on Penobscot Bay. With the board raised to half and telltales trimmed from genoa to mizzen, the new smaller genoa was perfectly shaped for the moderate air reach. The boat was holding 7 knots over the ground. I'm happy with the new sail.
