Projection 762 Help please?

We've been doing a bit of two-up and 3-up sailing recently and although fun, it isn't really competitive. Gybeing with two on board is... interesting!

I wonder how other P762 owners do it...

We raced against Pink Gin last night - they were short of one crew member in winds of up to 30knots and despite a terrible start and first beat we overhauled them about halfway through the race on boat-speed alone (they eventually won the race on rolling handicap). In the bigger gusts I think we were probably sailing about a half a knot faster upwind, so in these conditions what Garth says is true.

In lighter winds I'm not convinced. Providing you have enough weight to keep some of the hull out of the water (weight to leeward upwind) we have had consistently good results with four or even three on board.

We're still having fun!

Welcome Jean... I'm curious as to what sail number you are??

I don't know whether Duncan would agree with me but I don't think that Pink Gin's higher spinnaker hoist makes any difference one way or the other. We often seems to be close to them when going downwind and I suspect that the thing that makes the biggest difference in lighter winds is kite area and in stronger winds probably boat handling. The quicker you can get the boat moving the better.

I certainly haven't been inspired to cut any more holes in the mast yet!

Detente, it's good to get a bit of debate about this!

I apologise for sounding flippant but when I wrote that message I had very little time. I couldn't agree more with your comment about boat-handling, I'm well aware of its importance in all wind conditions, and I think most people who have sailed the Projection for any length of time regard it as a trickier boat than it first appears. Regarding mid-range wind conditions, yes, we've all been there and struggled against bigger boats, and I think it takes a great deal more than 15 knots to get it to plane! 

However, until Duncan starts to overtake us on every downwind leg I'll stick with what we have...

Here's an impractical suggestion... I would love to sail with some other P762 crews sometime... Difficult when I'm in Scotland, but I think it would be really helpful all round. I'm prepared to do some travelling!

We've been having a bit of an interesting time with Upstart recently.

Our last race was end of May at the Felixstowe Regatta. Windward-leeward with 25 - 30kts breeze. Great speed upwind with full main and #3 (and 6 crew hiking very very hard). We were the second lowest rated boat in class but in second on the water at the leeward mark - nearly hit 17kts on the run.

Second run wasn't quite so fun, caught a wave doing about 16 (not even a nose dive) and the rig kept going as we slowed down. Cue a hillarious 30 mins recovering bits of rigging and sails.

Didn't want to post about it until insurance all sorted but finally, phoenix like, she's ready to roll again.

Things to note - the boat behaved impeccably - beam on to a big sea with the rig and sails in the water to weather. Really looked after us.

Secondly - check your backstays! We had some jacketless dynema below our purchase system and I reckon that's what went.