The Falcon arrived Back in La Spezia after a fast, 15 day, passage from St Martin. The wind was complicated by a lingering low near the usual Azores high, and daily updates were used from Met-France, which we found to be extremely accurate. We also used the SeaTech route planning software, which incorporates the yacht's polar curves, into the projected weather, plotting the best route to follow in sailing. This program was very useful and impressive. The weather ranged from dead flat calm, through which we motored at around 13 knots, to two periods of strong winds in the Atlantic of force seven and eight, through which we sailed at 18 to 20 knots. As we had good favorable wind through Gibraltar, we didn't' stop, and sailed directly to Italy, encountering a force nine and ten gale in the Golfe du Lion. In the past twenty years I have never been in this part of the Med without encountering such a mistral. With only our lower tops set, we never-the-less held our sailing speed to 17--18 knots---faster speeds are, of course, possible but it's uncomfortable in the short period waves for which the region is notorious. And so, in less than a year from our departure from Istanbul, and with 21 thousand nautical miles under our belts, we are back for a couple of weeks in the yard before we begin our Summer season in the Med. I am happy to report that the DynaRig (FalconRig) has performed flawlessly, and no servicing of its sails or systems is on our work list. In the recent passage, Christian only went aloft once to check a connection---there were no actual problems. I have mixed feelings about the prospects of more FalconRig yachts from Perini, a number of clients are considering their 66 meter design. On the one hand it would be nice to see the concept validated by others; on the other, it's nice to have the only one. Tom