A warm late autumn day and a forecast of 15 knots enticed me to the water today. With Elaine as crew we completed the course used for the RANSA Winter Wednesday Series in an hour and nine minutes. Fully crewed we have done the track in a similar time on two previous occassions but today the wind angle was ideal for a quick reach around the track.
We started a couple of hours before the usual scheduled start time and enjoyed the early finish and late lunch on the mooring back at Greenwich.
There was a few occassions when some extra crew would have been very helpful, perticularly the work out of Rose Bay where the breeze picked up mightily. It is a bit tough trying to steer and wind in the main in 19 knots of breeze and at times Elaine could have used some help to wind on the jib the last few millimeters but for a short handed exercise routine it was very satisfying and just a little tiring.
With a full crew we would probably have carried the No 1 heavy genoa and gone faster in the lulls but flogged the main more in the gusts. The backstay worked well for flattening the main but it will be better with an extra 2:1 in the cascade as it was a bit difficult to ease in the light patches. A full time attendant on the backstay will certainly improve the boat speed.