Today I was too lazy to hoist mainsail so decided to go on the spinnaker only. And its a first time I am testing this asymmetrical spinnaker with the sock(not furler). So far deploying it was easy, we will see later today how hard it is to put it down with out mainsail to cover wind :)

For me if boat goes more than 5kn I always prefer sailing than motoring. And sometimes it is possible to start sailing in as low as 6-7kn of true wind speed.

In light winds I rig my code0 sheets inside the shrouds to get more upwind. Too bad my code0 was made before I found this trick and it is a bit too big so it lands on the shroud. Anyway it works well and I can sail at around 70% SOG/TWS.

Few random drone shots of sailing in Bahamas

Yesterday we did a 90nm passage from Martinique to St. Vincent. Boat is fully loaded as we are going into 14d. quarantine. Lots of food, bottled water, beer, wine, full water tanks - 900L, full diesel tanks - 450L + 80L for genset. And of course all the spares and toys as usual for livaboards. And still on a nice breeze of 18kn and 120-130TWA we are averaging 9kn of boat speed with occasional 12kn down some small waves.

Today was nice conditions for upwind sailing: flat water and wind around 15kn, boat speed - 6,5kn. Not bad for cat without dagger-boards.

Finally I found a light wind day in Caribbean to hoist my new mainsail without reef. Here is a video of this beauty :) Material/Technology - Vantage One, area - 88 square meters, 7 battens to keep good shape from top to bottom.

We are in Caribbean from December 2020 and it is always windy. More or less you have 20-25kn of wind every day. Sailing between the islands mostly on the beam reach, so going 9-10kn SOG is a casual sailing with first reef in the mainsail and full jib.

First test of my new square top mainsail by OneSails Palma. Reef 1 in 20-22kn of TWS on 80-90 TWA.

Gusty wind (20-30kn) today, TWA at 100-120, reef 2 in mainsail and jib. Boat speed up to 10kn. At 30kn boat feels stable and safe with second reef in my new mainsail. I still need to do some adjustments with battens to get the shape right of this new square top mainsail.

True wind speed 18-22kn - time to reef. Boat accelerates nicely to 12kn in gusts.

From 8kn boat speed at 65TWA to 5kn in 40TWA. Keeping boat on 45-55TWA is what feels good and upwind VMG is the best.

After the accident with mast winch, which lead to tearing it off the mast, I was not able to raise mainsail. So did few tests on downwind without mainsail.

Dead down wind (170-180TWA) in light conditions. To be honest, this is not my favourable sail plan for DDW, I would prefer light symmetrical spinnaker. But for short distance and once you have already both front sails ready it is very easy to unfurl and start sailing.

I wanted something better than Hydranet: more shape, less stretch. Of course durability will never beat Hydranet. We will see how long it lasts in full time cruising mode. OneSails team designed this jib to maximise sail area while still keeping it on a self tacking track. Selected technology(VantageOne) - paneled membranes that are built using automated flatbed machine lamination.

Sailing 1 kn less than true wind speed.

True wind angle 130 - 150, boat speed 6,5 - 6kn, asymmetric spinnaker - 140m2

To furl this big sail I use electric winch on a mast. Will upload video about this setup and how it works later on.

On 80 degrees true wind angle she reaches 9kn boat speed in only 15kn of wind.

In 10kn of TWS and 130TWA boat speed at 6,5kn with only asymmetric spinnaker and no mainsail.