There is one Blade and four Taipan 4.9's sailing F16HP here at Gulfport. The winds Saturday have been up and down and all around making it difficult to compare the performance of the two boats. Matt on the Blade seems to have better upwind performance but is a little slower downwind. Rick White is here sailing with a roller furling screacher instead of a spinnaker and is hanging in there on the down legs. Seth Stern's boat has a leak in it and was taking on water so he had to retire after the first race. He has made temporary repairs and is hoping to be out again on Sunday. The wind has primarily been from the north all day, which is an usual direction in Boca Ciega bay. The problem has been oscillating wind due to the weather mark's position behind a condo and the wind wanting to turn to the east because of the prevailing winds and to the west due to the sea breeze. There have been massive holes and erratic winds and the only successful approach to the weather mark is on the port tack layline.

Hopefully, Sunday's winds will be from a different direction making for a better course. I'll let you know the outcome when I get back later today. For now, I'm off to the races.

Jennifer Lindsay
Taipan 4.9 #262