Hybrid !

Gordon - Thank you for the very kind offer.  I had a search this morning and have found a part-empty box with a few pairs remaining.  Should be enough with a bit more care of them than usual  to see through the next modifications !

Friday on-water session went well.  Conditions were an occasionally gusty 10-14mph with some big shifts thrown in.  They even caught out one Blaze who went in to windward on a beat.  The additonal rake previously mentioned and the now slightly softer rigging tension worked well.  Same pace as before but the rig felt 'happier' or a bit more forgiving / flexible.   Generally the stalking horses had a slight edge upwind but were held in all condions by Hybrid offwind.  The slight deficit was to be expected as they were mostly Blazes again and their leverage helped... Yes - I could have hiked harder but we'll soon see how effective that is after the side-deck mods planned for next week.  (I like to be comfortable if I have to really work at it !)  Last sail before the mods planned for next week and it might be useful to switch to / try out the slightly smaller 8.8m 'Fire' sail before any such changes.... It is about half a metre smaller as well as being flatter but fits the same spars / rake settings.  If similar boats are also around tomorrow and the conditions are broadly similar to Friday it will be intersting to see the relative advantages / diasadvantages.     

It really has been tried already ...  It is easy enough to recover, particulary since it is relatively narrow.  Even the most unathletic should be able to right it OK and if  they cannot heave themselves directly over the gunwhale as it rights and/or rather than climb around they should easily enough enter via the (open) stern.   This aspect of the Hybrid concept was tested in (last years) earlier version as well.