Finally some wind and I have crew!

We went out this weekend on Sarasota Bay in 32 to 36+ mph wind. I did not reef the main because I wanted to learn how to handle the boat and having never sailed with a reefed main on any boat in the past 25 years, I did not want to ad to the "unknown" factor. While this trip out was not about perfect performance, I felt that I did learn a lot. Mostly that I need to learn a lot!

I know from my hobie experience that EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE TIGHT! Reefing was never a good racing decision in my past experience with Hobies. Our wave conditions were maybe 3 foot chop and we did stuff the bow both upwind and down wind as well as lose the rudder control to cavitation. I never felt that I was going to lose the boat. Just that I needed a little more finesse and experience and needed to push harder. I felt that with more practice and a lot less paranoia about breaking a mast, I should be able to handle those conditions reasonably well.

Having said all that, I wondered what would be the pros and cons for reefing the main? Could a Corsair 28R be sailed like a Hobie 16 in heavy air? i.e. rake the mast way back.

I would appreciate hearing from anyone with an opinion or experience on heavy air sailing.


Kathryn Garlick Evolution, 28R, #185