We had been home for about 10 days, l had some work to do, and also some Cruising Association work to get on with, amongst other things. We arrived home from up country about 8 pm with more CA stuff to get on with that evening. The following morning, l had to go to the doctors to pick up prescriptions before coming home and packing up before going to Elektra. We had hoped to sail 40nm east to Cawsands. But time slipped by, and having stowed the gear are stores, we didn’t cast off until 1120hrs.
The forecast was west-northwest force 4 gusting 5. We were hoping for a good fast sail to Cawsands. But the weather had other ideas. The wind was west-southwest, up and down like a yoyo between force 3 and force 6. I was working hard, reefing in and then shaking the reef out and then reefing again, and so on! Vicki had disappeared below with the companion way hatch shut because of the heavy showers! It was the first time l had worn full waterproofs all this season. We only sailed on Elektra genoa, but still covered the 25nm in 5 hours.
I was talking with my friend Geoff, who also owns a Sadler 29, l said they are tender, but he disagreed and said they have a sporty rig! You certainly do not need a lot of sail to maintain a good speed. Elektra will do 3kts through the water with 6kts of wind.
Having a yacht, which is slippery like S29s, are, means they get overpowered very quickly, so quite often, it’s safer to just sail on her genoa. I certainly wouldn’t of wanted her mainsail in today’s conditions. As time went on, l decided to divert to Fowey and sail on to the Yealm tomorrow.
Love Sailing 