Hi all,
just to keep you off season sailors dreaming, thought I would give you this morsel of sailing report from last week end, sorry there are no photo's. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Sailed at Port Melbourne Y.C. on Port Phillip Bay last Saturday. Wind 12 to 15 kts. from the south. Which makes it very lumpy for the wind strength and by the end of the second race there where some rolling breakers on the course. Courses all windward leeward.
Had some wild trapeze rides with the kite up, absolutly on the edge of control and beyond, standing on the back corner, flying a hull. Spent most of the time driving up the backs of the waves and leaping off the top into the trough. Only had one nose dive which stopped the Blade enough to throw me forward off trap <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />, but I was able to regain my feet and keep going. It was adrenalin pumping sailing at it's best <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" /> Keeping the boat in the water was realy more of a control problem than the odd wave the bow went into the back of. As at the speed I was doing sailing so deep, I was bouncing around a lot, great fun <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />. Each run by the time I came to gybe everything that could get off the tramp was hanging out the back, including the mainsheet <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />, the biggest problem. Ropes where in a mess every where, so getting organised on the next gybe took some time.
Just to get some debate going, in these conditions trapping proved to be outstandingly better VMG wise than sitting in, as I did decided to chicken out one leeward sitting on the side hiking insted of trapezing and hardly caught the boats I had passed easily before and after that return, whilst trapping. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
