We had an early morning sail yesterday before the mistral fully kicked in. The goal was to look at a few jibs and rig in the breeze. We were off the dock a little after 8 am and were back about an hour and a half later as the breeze steadily built to over 30 knots.
Today’s forecast was for some wind early and dying as the day went on. We got off the dock around 11:30 and the mistral was still in effect. We hoisted the main and jib and had another look at a jib. After that, we hoisted the FRO and got it on the lock, which is always a struggle when all the rope is new, unfurled and off we went. After making sure everything was good and solid, we furled, took it down and started sailing back towards land with the main and jib. We were seeing puffs to 29 knots and it looked like the breeze was picking up instead of backing off. We called it, went in, and got some work done on the sails and other items needing attention before the regatta starts on Monday. One more day of practice.
Doogie

Windward leeward work was the motto for today. We did a few practice starts and some laps on our own before being joined by the Stig and the old Alegre. The starts allowed us to work on our weaknesses and sort out some approaches to the line. We followed that up with some racing for a 1 lap course but rounding the bottom mark. The good news is that our string line system (spinnaker retrieval system) seems to be functioning again. This was something we really struggled with in Palma. The team has put in a good effort to try and understand what was wrong and what needed to be remedied. We are still working on it and improving but we now feel we have control of the system.
After sailing, the boat got stripped down and the boys are now in the process of getting it weighed, a mini maxi class requirement. Tomorrow there is a mistral forecast so we will get an early start in the hope of getting a few hours of sailing in before the breeze picks up too much.

Doogie

Today was another day of light air practice. We again worked on light air speed and technique. Little by little, we seem to be figuring out some better ways to sail the boat in the light. Tomorrow, the breeze will play ball a bit more and should allow us to do some practice races against other boats.
On another note, part of this job means that we all have to travel on planes. Some people can travel in planes easier than others. On our boat, we have several grinders that don’t always fit in plane seats very easily. Take a look at this photo of the tight squeeze Newbrook had on the last flight into Sardinia.