We had four SH boats on the line for the OYRA fully-crewed Farallones race this Saturday. It wasn't quite as windy as forecast (max mid 20's) but the sea state was quite wretched and there was a BIG swell on the backside of the island. After the SSS pleasure cruise this year, I felt the need for a proper Farallones and this satisfied the bill. No whales, though.
For me, the wind was too far forward on the way back to set a spinnaker until the Lightship, and by then I was too knackered to bother (and it was still blowing pretty hard). Of course the wind died completely (from 20 to 4 knots within five minutes) at Bonita / Mile Rock. I finally set a kite just to get in the gate.
Not my best race, but no gear or bones were broken. And I learned more about the (disappointing) limits of my autopilot, which was my intent. All in all it was a good day on the ocean.