Dad and I have both been going crazy w/o a boat… We sold High Voltage (our old yellow boat we raced on Tuesday nights) because it was too much of a hassle for us. A few reasons, but mostly it needed 7 people’s weight to sail competitively yet 5 people was the comfortable crew in terms of elbow space and getting everything done. Also I couldn’t sail it alone and I needed at least 2 other people and mom’s truck to get it put together and to go sailing.

We’d been thinking we’d take a summer off and not do anything seeing as Elias is brand new and the 20′ sportboat scene is just getting rolling here. But we also figured it wouldn’t hurt to test sail some boats. I had sailed at viper 640 in Marblehead in the fall. It’s a great boat, but it’s a bit too demanding (it’s basically a giant dinghy). My issue was in the typical 10~12 in Marblehead with 3 people sailing the boat, I was told “hike hard” upwind all the time. Sure hiking is great exercise, but 3 up in light/medium wind, no need to so badly? No thanks, I want to be able to sail this boat alone… So we got a ride on an open 2 weekends ago… It might be slightly less powered up, but it’s secret is in the heavier deeper keel. This means you don’t NEED to hike. You can, there are straps, you’ll go faster if you do, but it’s not mandatory like it was with the viper. The open is also very easy to setup, and sail alone, and I’ll be able to tow it with the WRX.

After the test sail we asked some questions and it turned out there was a boat for sail in GA, but they could delivery it to Annapolis for us that week. The price also fell in line with our budget (said budget ruled out the SB3 and M20, but they also seem to be too much boat for solo sailing) and everything just worked out. Mom and Dad drove down to pick it up in Annapolis on Thursday 2 weeks ago. Bad weather delayed them getting home Saturday. We rigged the boat Saturday night, but unfortunately couldn’t sail in Sunday due to mother’s day.

Last night we finally got to sail it for the first time last wednesday. It was a light air night, but we still had a blast. Who knows how we’ll do around a course in light air (the boat likes hot angles) but we were moving quite well last night in 6~8 knots of breeze.

I also gybed the boat “alone” no problem (Dad’s only help was to step on the sheet) and doused the chute alone as well. Seems like I should be able to sail the boat alone easily in ~15, more w/o the chute for sure, but I’d bet ~20 with the chute will be possible alone once I have more time in the boat.

Check out 2 videos I snagged last night:

We’re thrilled with the boat. It will be interesting to see how it stacks up on Tuesday nights, but it’s the perfect little boat for us. So far my only complaint is it really needs a main feeder. The mainsheet is easy to adjust to. It’s not hard or bad, it’s just different, but after ~15 minutes with it again last night it’s getting pretty easy.