Breeze on!!

What a perfect afternoon. Managed to get away from school on time and straight down to the club. I put the mast up on the boat last night so it was rig tension on, gear on and out. The sea breeze had filled in to about a 3 so it was out to play! As I made my way out of the moorings the breeze increased a little and I found myself flat wiring and powering upwind. The boat felt well balanced after minor adjustments to trim and I blasted up the side of Northey Island and out into the bay. I decided to do a bit of training and figured a rough triangle course using the club racing marks and a nav buoy. This forced me to think speed and then work out the best way to trim the sail whilst out on the wire. Unlike the 700 which has continuous control lines going to the rack which gives for reasonably easy change of control my Farr has a slightly different set up and although they come out to the edge of the cockpit they are less easy to change when out on the wire. This is something I think I will look at along with the cleating system on the main in the winter, but for now I just want to sail without playing too much.

As time went on the breeze increased and there seemed to be more breeze on one side of the river so in true Cherub style I ditched the race training in favour of a pure blast!!!! All I can say is if you want to have the thrill of a planning sail without the continuous swimming you get when learning to sail other skiffs, then think Farr!! Off the wind it gives the pure feeling of speed you get from sailing a 12 foot boat with a bit more stability. Although blasting I did decide to develop gybing which I must admit is different from the 7 due to the low boom height and lack of room. It is more an in kneel and duck affair than a run and duck. Also the tiller is slightly further forward that other Farr's so that restricts the room as well so it is all about figuring the best way forward. Like the Laser a good pull on the mainsheet aids this but I am finding that then movement is needed forward to keep the boat flat. By using the chines as well you use a lot less rudder and this keeps the boat moving. I kinda did all of these but I would say I'm still a way off perfecting it. Gutted I didn't have the GPS out with me but I did manage to get the live weather read out. Top gust was 22knots at the club and it there was more breeze out where I was. All in all a bloody enjoyable sail!!!

The only slight downer was the tide went out too soon and no water and having raise the dagger board up above the boom = a capsize into 2ft of water and a muddy mast and sail.

For cast looks good for tomorrow so I might see if the GPS is going to play ball for tomorrow.

 

live weather from BSC website

Www.blackwatersailingclub.com