The Atlantic Crew Meet and the Parasailor Flies!

We've had a weekend with Fergus and Rich (the brave crew joining us for the Atlantic crossing in November) aboard Maunie. It was the first time they had met (luckily they seem to get on!) and on the Saturday we went out for a sail from Dartmouth in bright sunshine and a Force 4-5 north-westerly. This provided us with the first opportunity to fly the new Parasailor spinnaker.

As you'll see from the photos, it's a novel sail - part spinnaker, part paraglider. It has an inflating 'wing' across an open slot in the upper third of the sail which makes it very stable and generates some lift at the bow of the boat. The slot also allows any sudden gusts of wind to vent through it, making it much more resistant to the sort of conditions we're likely to encounter in mid-Atlantic.

The sail also has a certain logo that you may recognise! We really needed another boat close by to take photos of us.

We're really pleased with the sail - the boat was very stable and went like a train. The wind got up a bit so getting the sail down a bit dramatic. We had a long beat back to Dartmouth for a well-deserved meal at the Royal Castle.

Here's the crew

Rich

Fergus

Us

On-board pirate (made by our friend Jenny in the village)

We're now back home madly packing and sorting the house. All being well we will move aboard in a couple of weeks - yikes!