Patrick O'Brian had a joyful sail with me the first time I closed upon Mahon in the Balearic Islands, but I wonder if he would have enjoyed the passage of the Falcon to his fictional hero's favorite port on this occasion. It was pretty rough.
After our happy tussle with Mirabella, we wanted to find some stronger wind to test our systems. A Mistral was developing in the Gulf of Lyon, so we thought that would do---the forecast was for thirty knots from the North. We waited for it to develop at anchor in the shelter of the Porquerolle Islands, and at seven am the following day we sailed away to find it.
We got a lot more wind than we had bargained for, as the Mistral grew to over fifty knots and the seas rose to the nasty, steep, shortly spaced waves this region is infamous for---it's hard to estimate wave heights, but we think the average was five meters, and the big ones had to be at least eight. Unfortunately, there was a strong Westerly slant to the wind so we were unable to run down wind, as we had hoped. Our goal was to cruise at 25 knots, but on the broad reach we had to sail, and with these waves on our quarter, we rarely exceeded twenty. The waves were our speed problem---we really bashed into them, and the spray engulfed the yacht. I think that only the upper yards escaped a drenching at one time or another. Several times our aft cockpit was under a couple of feet of water, and our rescue boat was lifted from its chocks, but fortunately it did not come adrift. I cannot adequately describe the thrill of sailing at eighteen plus knots through seas this large in the bright sunshine of the Mistral---the seascape was simply magnificent.
As the wind increased, we furled away our sails, until in the fifty knots of the afternoon, we carried only our lower topsails on each mast. Our speed rarely dropped below fourteen knots, and we were delighted that our automated sail systems worked flawlessly in force ten. In all, it was a great test for the Big Bird, and a reassuring confirmation of the concept.
We plan to putter around in the Balearics until next week when we will drop in to watch the St.Tropez regatta. Of course, we wouldn't dream of showing off in front of our old classic yacht competitors.
Tom
After our happy tussle with Mirabella, we wanted to find some stronger wind to test our systems. A Mistral was developing in the Gulf of Lyon, so we thought that would do---the forecast was for thirty knots from the North. We waited for it to develop at anchor in the shelter of the Porquerolle Islands, and at seven am the following day we sailed away to find it.
We got a lot more wind than we had bargained for, as the Mistral grew to over fifty knots and the seas rose to the nasty, steep, shortly spaced waves this region is infamous for---it's hard to estimate wave heights, but we think the average was five meters, and the big ones had to be at least eight. Unfortunately, there was a strong Westerly slant to the wind so we were unable to run down wind, as we had hoped. Our goal was to cruise at 25 knots, but on the broad reach we had to sail, and with these waves on our quarter, we rarely exceeded twenty. The waves were our speed problem---we really bashed into them, and the spray engulfed the yacht. I think that only the upper yards escaped a drenching at one time or another. Several times our aft cockpit was under a couple of feet of water, and our rescue boat was lifted from its chocks, but fortunately it did not come adrift. I cannot adequately describe the thrill of sailing at eighteen plus knots through seas this large in the bright sunshine of the Mistral---the seascape was simply magnificent.
As the wind increased, we furled away our sails, until in the fifty knots of the afternoon, we carried only our lower topsails on each mast. Our speed rarely dropped below fourteen knots, and we were delighted that our automated sail systems worked flawlessly in force ten. In all, it was a great test for the Big Bird, and a reassuring confirmation of the concept.
We plan to putter around in the Balearics until next week when we will drop in to watch the St.Tropez regatta. Of course, we wouldn't dream of showing off in front of our old classic yacht competitors.
Tom