Well, it has been a couple of weeks now since the Newport Bermuda Race and the team is now gathering in Palma de Mallorca, Spain for our next event, the Copa del Rey.
The boat is scheduled to arrive on the 11th and unloading it the same day. After that, it will be flurry of activity to get the rig down, make a few small mods, perform some service on the boat, and get it cleaned up and put back together. The target is to have her sailing again in a couple of days. So stay tuned for more news as we gather the team again and prepare for some inshore racing.

This weekend is the NYYC annual regatta. Friday will be the Around Island Race, followed by 2 days of windward leewards on Saturday and Sunday. The last couple of days we have been working towards getting the boat ready for inshore racing. That means getting our string line system functional and all the little inshore systems sorted. We have been working on mark rounding’s, sets, pre start maneuvers… The team is looking forward to finally racing the boat and seeing how we line up.

Today was a good confidence builder for the team. We headed out in 20 knots and a very confused sea just outside. The breeze slowly built to 30 knots over the course of an hour as we sailed upwind to get enough runway to have a good run downwind.
We sailed hard upwind and took a reef as the breeze built to 26 knots. The reefing went smoothly and worked as we hoped.
As we approached the top we brought the A3 up on deck and began connecting it. That was a fun experience as we launched off a few good waves as the breeze built to 30 knots. We bore away, hoisted the A3, unfurled it, and off we went. Plenty of water came over the deck as we punched through some good sized waves. We sailed with this set up for a bit and then furled and sailed with the jib and main with the boat speed sitting at 20-24 knots.
After that, we called it a day and headed in.

We have been sailing for a couple of days now to continue our testing and training. The systems are starting to work and we are slowly starting to look at our crew maneuvers. Some of the sails are a handful, such as our A4. That will be a monster to hoist, drop, and pack. We are hoping for more wind in the coming days so that we can really stretch our legs and get the boat in some big wind and wave conditions.