Happy Spinnaker Day!
Although many people actually refer to yesterday as Father’s Day, in addition to that though, we were also able to celebrate Spinnaker Day! Yes, yesterday was the very first time that Rebecca and I have flown our spinnaker, excluding the 20 minutes or so that we had it up on the delivery trip almost 12 months ago.
Because this is all new to us, and I had only ever seen the sail set once before (a year ago as I mentioned) there was a little bit of thinking that had to go into how to run the lines. Once it was all said and done though, it was perfect. We started off on a nice broad reach with only the spinnaker up (no main sail) at 5 knots of wind. It ultimately picked up to almost 10 knots and our maximum speed topped out at around 5.5 knots. Not race worthy but as I said, we didn’t have the main up to support it. This event was extra special though because Rebecca’s parents, who themselves are sailors, were there to share it with us. All in all it was a great day!
Dad at the helm steering us towards our anchorage on Saturday, pre-spinnaker.
Rebecca and her mom enjoying time at anchor.
It’s time for the BIG sail!
No caption is necessary for the above two pics! 🙂
Good for you guys! Sounds like it all went pretty smoothly. I have a confesstion. The last time we set a spinnaker was racing many years ago. Our PDQ didn’t have one, and although this boat does we have just always been close to short handed with a little one to tend to and have never gotten our act together to set it. 🙂 We’ll get there, it’s on “the list”.
It went quite smoothly. It has a sock so I started to raise it, saw that I had a sheet run incorrectly and doused it. After fixing that issue I had the sail almost all the way out but then encountered some resistance in the sock near the top so I doused it again and fixed the way those lines were run. The third try was the charm! Given the right wind conditions we’ll definitely use it again.
Great photos guys…….Apples dont fall far from the tree between Rebeccas Mom and her….The best days in boating is when you can get family out for the day…..Thats what boating is all about…..How many type sails do you carry on the boat……Could you sail effectively with just main sail and jib…..Love the colors……By the way, Happy Fathers Day Mike, looks like both dads on the boat were in their glory…
Thanks John! I agree… it was a great day. Rebecca’s brother and his family are coming to see us soon. We’re looking forward to that as well.
Our boat came with two main sails, a small self-tacking jib, a 150% genoa and that asymmetrical spinnaker. We sailed all last season with just the main and small jib. With the better of the two mains up this year and the genoa we have had much better performance (although it is a lot more work than sailing with the little self-tacker). The spinnaker will be a nice addition for those downwind light-air days.
I would love to see a blog entry with all the changes you have made to the boat and a new tour of the boat (your home) with all the changes……..
That would be a big post and require some thought. It’s a good idea though. Let us work on that.
How come your dad and Rebecca’s mom have on long-sleeves, but Rebecca’s wearing – um – never mind –
Great Pics!
Fair Winds,
Mike
🙂
They were taken on different days.
Sat. = rainy
Sun. = sunny (the morning was at least)
Mike and Rebecca, it looks as though a good time was had by all! What a wonderful way to celebrate!