On the run
After fighting the battle of the bilges we thought why not really punish ourselves and raise the cruising chute – another hot, sweaty deck job in high humidity which takes a good half hour…each way
Quick take pictures. Cut for the trade winds in the 15 to 25 knot range this sail is bigger than it looks. This is the first time that it has set well and it has clear potential, however after putting in the physical work to organise lines and raise the sail the wind died again about 4 miles later so all hands went forward to pack it away.
We have met couples who are ditching their chutes because they can’t handle them – they are going to be sold as new. It is taking practice and we are now on our third deployment so our preparation is getting better. Certainly we will be more selective about when to let the kite out of the bag and we have a halyard to re-route at the mast head. We expect to get some good mileage under this sail. And it looks great.
From the tack it’s flying but at 12 knots the wind is a little below the operating window.
How we wanted to continue to run for miles under the one sail…….
