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@Dammit
Yesterday we went out in my friends 32’ ketch, it’s a fibre glass hulled boat from the early 1980’s, around 9 tonnes. We had been going out fishing on this boat before I started learning how to sail, but we’d used the motor - this was the first time we actually went sailing.
With all four sails set and good winds Valor will do around 7 knots - we didn’t have fair winds yesterday so we saw just over 4 knots for brief periods, although that was enough to get the gunwale close to the water which was fun.
Everything happens much more slowly on this big boat compared to the little dinghies that I have been using for the past month of so of buggering about in boats, and the sensation of speed and the immediacy of the response are both muted.
Weng’s boat has a steel tube and GRP Bimini added, which I can’t stand up underneath, so it was a case of finding somewhere to perch where I had sufficient leverage on the tiller but could also see the wind vane and what the sails were doing - tricky! I’d far rather a clear field of view (and would have accepted being rained on in exchange) rather than having the roof in the way. I’d also very much have preferred to have been standing, especially when sheeting in or out as doing so squatting wasn’t my preference. I would also like to try a smaller yacht that weighs less, but has a keel and ballast, and that I could stand up in - which I admit may be impossible as the smaller boats have lower booms, although I guess I’d just need to develop a good ducking reflex.