Well yesterday we had our first big wind sail on Lake Huron. The wind was coming from the south, steady 25 knots and building. The water was choppy with whitecaps on the waves. We motored out of the harbour, and the M35 had no problem powering us out into the lake with the wind on the beam. Occasional waves crashed over the bow. We headed up into the wind and I pulled the in-mast main sail out to full. I then un furled the Genoa 150 and reefed it to about 110%. On a beam reach were well over 8 knots on the GPS. Wow this was fun. My wife and I took turns at the helm. With the waves over a metre it was a challenge to steer until we got used to it. Over all we and the kids felt very safe in our new 350. The heel was not too bad, though we did bury the side windows while on a close reach
After our sail furling the sails was a chore. I had to winch the sails in, while my wife tried to keep the nose to wind. Not sure what the wind built to, I forgot to look. But the beach sand was being picked up and was blasting everything downwind. What a great day!
R.B.