At this point, the A-Class sloop rig has a window where it is competitive (over 18 knots from my observations). Randy will try an iteration where the main gets a bit bigger and the jib smaller, he'll tweak the trim controls, and he'll get more time on the water with it but it will be a challenge closing the gap we saw with the rig in the 12-15 knots we had on the last day of racing last week. The top four finishers in each of the four races that day were consistently 1/2 to 3/4 of a leg ahead of the sloop rig at the finish. Randy knows this for sure but he's having a lot of fun just seeing what he can do with it. You have to admire him for that.

If you have not figured it out, we kind of set everyone up last week with the online comment that Randy was on the beach before everyone else after Tuesday's light air race(had to have some fun with that). He was there because he saw the wind dying to the point where the race would be abandoned and headed to the beach at the first weather mark (he was actually in the top ten in that race) while the rest of us drifted or paddled in.