Well we got the new A2 spinnaker and it’s a beauty. What a difference it makes to our downwind legs. Our first outing was a real ‘practice’ in the middle of a race but I think we will sort it soon enough. Ballard Sails did the design and build locally which is something I wanted to do this time around. So far I’m very happy with the work and the service. This sail is right at the max allowed for us and really puts a good amount of sail out in front of the boat which the old Hood sail did not. It is more of a challenge to trim than the AP kite and that is to be expected. We also need to band this one in any kind of breeze but that’s OK by me because it is less likely to get away from us on the hoist.
After our challenging live practice in the SBYC Snowbird race 1 we put in 2 solid hours of practice. Gybe after gybe working on the timing of the outside gybes, something we’re learning to do. The new MLX spin sheets seem to work well too. Now I just need to fit some secondary winches to cut down on the gymnastics at the back of the boat and we will be in a position to start sailing a lot closer to our rating.
Above is a sneak preview of the new A2. Didn’t have a chance to get any full shots of the sail. Here’s Jacqui in front of the A2, she’s the person we have to thank for the cool color layout. Next time out hopefully we’ll get a full image of the sail.