|
Our first training was ok, as you could see before, we had a pretty steady breeze of around 15 knots. But having no idea what the normal boatspeed should be, this was only a pretty fun day on the water in stead of a real training. A maiden trip voyage can never be described as a good exercise.
Day 2 of the training sessions was, as we like to call it, SURVIVAL! Around 30 knots of wind and a broken halyard after 2 minutes beating upwind, kept us alert for more damage. So we opted for safe sailing and didn't train on boathandling and manoeuvres. However, we flew the fractional spinnaker and had a blast sailing the New First 35 downwind at 11-12 knots.
Day 3, as we ordered, was light..... We wanted to sail with our A1,5, an assymetric sail for light to very light conditions. When you struggle to
keep the symmetric flowing, an A-sail will give you more push and flow around the sails. But none of the crew, coming from a one design class, has ever sailed with such a set-up. So we needed at least one day of light winds to try the sail for the very first time before sailing the Dutch Nationals. And we did! We had between 7 and 11 knots all day... and for the very first time we could practise some manoeuvres and were able to concentrate on boatspeed. In a line up with a Sun Fast 40 Performance, we noticed that at 75% of the time we had same speed and same height. And only a few times the First accelarated and stretched away from the Sun Fast. At other times we pointed 5 degrees higher. This tells us that the boat is capable of much more than we squeeze out of her. If we struggle to keep consistancy in height and speed, we are in for a laugh at the Dutch Nationals this weekend.
For us, The IRC Nationals will be a huge learning curve. Trying to keep up with the other First 35's, A35's and the J109's. A real training where we can start comparing and tuning our mast. Wish us luck!
23-08-2010, 11:54
Geschreven door Christopher 
|
