Making Up Miles

In the last two days we’ve made up some ground on the group of boats that have been in front of us for the last week or so. Jean-Yves Bernot, guru of the great French weather routers, when I studied with him last summer, said ‘try to put yourself in a...

The Finicky Genoa

Last night we came up against the precise finickiness of the genoa, our biggest upwind jib. It is masthead height, tacks to the bow, and trims through the ring along with the solent and staysail. Our polars say that upwind it is good to about 13 knots true wind speed....

26th Anniversary of Capsize & Rescue

Last night we alternated between the solent and genoa. The former goes better to windward, whereas the latter, if going to windward, tends to drive the boat over into excessive heel. Or at least this conflict occurs at very narrow range of wind conditions where one...

Onboard Data

Through yesterday afternoon and into the night, we sailed stably and quite fast. We made minor adjustments to which ballast tanks we filled, or did not, and whether a reef, or not, was useful. One aspect of this boat that is very different from our boat for Vendée...

A Chat with the Brazilian Navy

In the night, we had a bird flying just overhead about 30′ up above the cockpit in the dark. I could just barely make out its shape, dark against dark. It was amazing that the bird would be able to see rigging, and avoid it. Some time later, I was in the cabin,...

Crossing the Equator

At 0450 UTC this morning, Great American IV crossed the Equator heading south. It is my 12th crossing under sail, and to see the N turn to S on the GPS holds the same wonderment as the first time. We are in the Southern Hemisphere. And when we get to the Southern...