So Wednesday was the last day of training and the boys were itching for a sail. They were greeted by flat calm conditions, which was not what the forecast had said. But the forecast hadn't been right one day this week.
As the boys were packing the boat away after residing themselves to another missed sailing day, the wind filled in just as the No2 rig had come off. The decision was made to go for it on the never before used No1 rig.
Ant was available today so before launching, the team discussed what they wanted out of this session. The main points were to go through tacking and gybing again as monday but with Tom, Mark and Mike, but also trying things in different order to see how effective they would be.
Mark started by learning to check the mainsheet ratchet was on. After 5 minutes upwind, he was on the verge of a heart attack trying to pin the main in on his own. In the 8 or 9 knots of breeze, the first few tacks were slowed right down, to get everyone used to their footing. Towards the end of the session, Ant encouraged us to speed the tacks up in the slightly fresher breeze, so as soon as the battens popped, Mark and Mike were hittting the wire.
The gybes bear aways and hoists also got alot of practice, with one particular bearaway seeing Tom going it alone as he left the rack for a short swim. Ant very kindly caught this moment on video. The gybes were mostly good, and the crew placements were runt through. In particular Mark has learnt to stand forward or Mike will actively shove Mark into the kicker to get through to the other side.
Even with the cold conditions of December, all the team were over heating after just one lap and realising that they all need to start hitting the gym if they're going to manage week long events sailing all day.
The boat was packed away and the boys headed back to Ant's for a debrief with a cold beer. A video is to follow of the new rig in action.
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| Mark looking his usual active self before the sail |
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