Its looking a bit more business like with its new kite chute and rack tramps, the weathers great but still no rescue facility down the club until sunday when you can bet your life there will be snow on the ground and no wind.

Since last trip the kicker and cunningham shackle failed as soon as we got a puff of wind and got her up on one sponson with the resulting boom catastrophe. I've rigged a new takeoff point from one I found already drilled up the top of the mast which accommodates my Alto jib, so with any luck it'll not only look nicer but there will be sufficient power for me to get on the racks in less than 12 knots and get a hull out of the water. Until you get one side clear it doesn't really come unstuck I've found on the fresh water of the lake.

So it's this sunday we launch and hopefully nothing else to traumatic goes wrong.

This was lasts weeks pfaffing about..

Sadly my old app trail guru seems to have given up the ghost, but this cycling app seems to do the same thing, so here's a track of todays sail. Got the new spinnaker chute on which makes the boat look a bit more swish. It was another light day, quite warm spring sunshine and barely a force 1-2, we had a couple of puffs that got a hull unstuck briefly, to torment with what could be. A couple more issues surfaced, the top spreader is interfering with the sail downwind, not sure what I can do about that, Neal thinks it's an old 49er spreader, it's not adjustable and is really a lash up as are so many of the topside features.

The spinnaker also engaged with the spreader during a gybe, it wasn't that breezy so the gybe was fairly ponderous, but I had to drop the kite for fear of ripping it. I've always felt the pole Jamie just happened to have laying around was too short, and having taken it out for a short blast, it was Neals first comment, he did get a couple of lift off moments and it was interesting to watch someone who knows what they're doing sailing it.

So, we're getting closer, it is definitely underpowered for theses conditions and does just sit sucking deep in the water with way too much wetted surface and it needs space to really get going, then when it does, as neal found out with a close call near the bank, you very quickly run out of room.

So Still to do on the check list, red and black rack covers, bigger jib and now a longer pole for the kite, but I am at least a bit more confident that when the time comes she'll be OK on the sea, not long now, another couple of weeks...