Why did I sail uni? Because I couldn't get crew. I had two people line up several weeks before the event but they both canceled. Chuck tried to find someone for me in his area but was only able to find someone who weighed 210 lbs. If they had sailed with me, we would have had a combined weight of around 355 lbs which I didn't think would have been very competative againt Chuck and Mavis at 280 lbs. Besides, I enjoy sailing the boat more as a uni then sloop and with the 2 Nacra 5.5 unis and 3 Taipan 4.9 unis sailing, we essentially had a fleet of 5 boats racing boat for boat.

To answer the question of why we didn't sail with a spinnaker, the conditions were not ideal for sailing with a spinnaker. The wind forecast was for 10 to 20 knots Saturday and in the morning it appeared to be favoring the high side of that range. The forecast also called for a very high chance of thunderstorms anytime during the day. The Atlantic Ocean was not flat either Saturday. There was a bit of a rolling sea and a significant surf to sail through to get off the beach. Since I had not lauched in the surf before or sailed in open waters with big swells, I was a little hesitant about even sailing let alone sailing with spinnaker. I have sailed uni with spinnaker in conditions under 10 in flat water and have had my hands full keeping the boat under control. To sail in stronger winds in rougher seas, I don't think so. If I was sailing sloop with an experienced crew, maybe I would have considered it.

We only sailed 2 races Saturday and 2 races Sunday because the race commitee had to cancel the other scheduled races because of approaching thunderstorms. We barely made it back to the beach Saturday before a squal line hit. I almost lost my boat on the beach when a gust of wind started to send it airborne. If another sailor hadn't of caught it, I would probably be looking for a new boat right now. Having a light boat has its advantages but staying on the beach in high winds is not one of them.

Jennifer
Taipan 4.9 #262