Hey, Chuck
I didn't get a chance to talk to you after the race, and I was wondering how you made out. I didn't realize the weather was that bad for that long, good job finishing. Racing does have a way of getting you out in conditions you normally would avoid.
After I rounded the southern mark, I was congratulating myself for escaping the big squall coming up from the SW. Then a couple miles from the finish (in a different class) I ran head-on into another one out of the SE. I don't think I saw much over 25, just rolled the genny up about 1/2 way and carried the main just short of flogging. It didn't seem worth it to leave the nice, cozy cockpit and put in a reef, just for a mile or two. My tacking angle wasn't much better than 120 degrees, but at least the boat was moving pretty fast.
By the way, MaineSail, I have a Furlex furler of mid-90's vintage, and it is set up so the foil and upper swivel make one complete turn before the lower swivel turns. Between that and the foam luff on the jenny, the furled shape is sort of OK, not great. I couldn't imagine going on the foredeck singlehanded in those conditions to swap out hanked-on headsails, though, and just dropping a hanked-on sail would have been a chore. (1979 Pearson 32)
I didn't get a chance to talk to you after the race, and I was wondering how you made out. I didn't realize the weather was that bad for that long, good job finishing. Racing does have a way of getting you out in conditions you normally would avoid.
After I rounded the southern mark, I was congratulating myself for escaping the big squall coming up from the SW. Then a couple miles from the finish (in a different class) I ran head-on into another one out of the SE. I don't think I saw much over 25, just rolled the genny up about 1/2 way and carried the main just short of flogging. It didn't seem worth it to leave the nice, cozy cockpit and put in a reef, just for a mile or two. My tacking angle wasn't much better than 120 degrees, but at least the boat was moving pretty fast.
By the way, MaineSail, I have a Furlex furler of mid-90's vintage, and it is set up so the foil and upper swivel make one complete turn before the lower swivel turns. Between that and the foam luff on the jenny, the furled shape is sort of OK, not great. I couldn't imagine going on the foredeck singlehanded in those conditions to swap out hanked-on headsails, though, and just dropping a hanked-on sail would have been a chore. (1979 Pearson 32)
