Full sail test

Today we, Roland and I, made the first full sail test. The testing of Arpex'  sailing abilities is a long awaited pleasure to me, and I was eager to get into the pudding. As the old ones said: "The proof of the pudding is in the eating."

And I must say, to me the pudding tasted very well. Quite splendid, indeed.

The day was beautiful, the wind was building up, the sea was still flat, except for the occasional chop from the powerboats, and a long underswell inside the channel. A consistent breeze of about 12-15 knots promised a challenging testbed for the trial. The occasional strong gusts of 20-25 knots, promised a high heartbeat rate.

First we raised the mainsail, just for testing, and then got it down again, I was also interested in feeling how it would come down... just in case needed. There were no issues to make the sail come down. Handling the halyards worked like a charm.

We left the mooring under strong, gusty wind, and went inside the Bay to start sailing. The sail went up without fuss, and we started working the strings to get it to set right. I found that the arrangement with the boom works very well. I really love the possibilities to shape the mainsail. But this was not a topic for today. Today I just wanted to get the horse to run, and stretch the legs a little.

And stretch her legs she did! Arpex really outperformed my expectations for the first day of sail. To be quite honest, we also worked her hard. But what surprised me, is that all felt safe and in full control at all of the time. Arpex is smooth and responsive to the helm. Except, of course, if there is no headway.

The top maximum speed was, I think, not recorded. Because the GPS Tracker calculates the top speed as a 3 minutes average, the maximum speed indicated in the GPS Tracker recordings, was 11.9 knots. In the video above, the GPS announces a speed of 6.7 knots in a lull. But then the gust comes in, and the boat starts to accelerate to a speed of, what I would estimate of being above 12-13 knots. I think....  You give me your estimate. I don't know.

The point is that the boat sailed like a charm. She points high into the wind, while keeping her speed. When under main and jib, she wont miss a tack. This needs to be tested in swell and waves. We tacked her under jib alone and under main alone. Under main was more difficult however. Under jib, it was good to let the jib hold back for a short while, and let her turn into the new tack. Under main we had some unsuccessful  tacks. But jibes were no issue.

At no moment did we fear the ama flipping. She at times lifted gently, but never to be out of the water. Steering her felt like riding on a magic carpet, really. A real pleasure.

But the wind built up, and got too strong. We pressed her too hard, and caused some damage, which now needs to be fixed. The issue is, of course, related to the highest stress points of the boat. The crossbeams and their attachment this will be reinforced with carbon fiber. As will the boom. I was quite surprised, that the boom didn't break. I'm also very happy about it, because it will wrap it in carbon, to increase strength.

But the result for me was very good. We gave her a really hard go today. The wind blew with up to 20+ knots. And I was very pleased to see her sailing as sweet as you could wish. A real pleasure. The integration with the cabin works like I had in mind. The cabin is a very nice space, full of air and light, and views to the outside. It offers great shelter from sun, wind and rain. The boat sails fast. To my conservative reconing, I would presume that we had a top speed of about 15 knots for periods during the gusts. Nothing felt strange, or out of control to me. On the contrary.