This last Sunday I was invited to Kailua-Kona for a sail aboard a
Corsair 31
trimaran. This
boat is kept on a
trailer at the Kona Sailing Club and it was new to the owners. My friend was along to help them sort things out and I was a tag along. Launching and recovering using the fold out amas was much easier than I thought it would be.
The day was beautiful, sunny with about 8 to 10 knots of
wind. We had no trouble doing 6 knots on every point of sail with eight of us onboard. What a performer!! Saw two humpback whales in the distance. Generally a great sail with a fun crew.
Yesterday I took my little
dinghy 11'6" LOD and 13'4"
LOA down to the beach and launched into Hilo Bay. The winds were to 12 with some higher gusts. Again, a sunny day with a few clouds. I have spent the last 3 weeks and two days
rerigging, building a kickup
rudder and patching port and starboard toerail damage. I rerigged to accept Flying Junior
sails. I truly did not know how she was going to perform. Other club members were out in a real Flying Junior. I out performed them to
weather but only because there were two of them in their
boat and I was by myself.
In the 12k and higher gusts she was overpowered but balanced pretty well. I was nearly always on the verge of
capsize unless I scandalized the main. If I had had reef points I would have used them. A great sail but didn't see any whales. Probably a good thing since I wouldn't have time to look at them. After two and a half hours of sailing I was ready to take a break. Really satisfying to put together a boat that works so well.
Isn't sailing a real joy?
JohnL