I confirmed with Joe Harris that the WSSRC confirmed that leaving from Newport didn't require rounding an island.
There's also this boat at La Base.
Sad for Thomson but a painful reminder that land = trouble.
About the assyms ... We use a sock. We did have some troubles but they were simple to fix. On boats like these they are a must. Hoist the spi in the sock, preset the sheet, go deep, hoist the sock, and voilà, head up and trim. Dropping the spi is also easy. Go deep, release the sheet, bring the sock down, release the tack, let the halyard down and voilà. There's no fear about hoisting the spi, which is so much different from DE. Things can still go wrong and we had an hourglass a couple days ago, which required dropping the spi on deck (and a bit in the water too). Really cool.
There's like 20 of these around here, and about 8 going out training daily.
And voilà ... It's over. Six days of Class40 discovery. In the end we had great weather, a few sunny days, a foggy day, and a couple coldish days, and no rain. Today we were two again; we rounded Ile de Groix, and when that was over, we did a second spi run. 10-20 kts, with a stint at 25 kts under A1, pushing us to 15 kts. The boat is very stable. Remembering to manage ballasts takes practice! I am starting to build reflexes.
These boats are demanding. Everything takes energy. Getting the A1 bag on deck, routing the sheets, setting the tack, all the while beating upwind, hoisting the spi in the sock, furling in the solent, hoisting the sock, it's a lot of work, so planning is essential. Instead of gybing we tried dousing and re-hoisting, which is much slower. It was good practice. Good fun and a great learning experience. Now imagine doing all this while tethered!
I'll ride the TGV to Paris tomorrow to spend a couple days with my mom and then flying home Tuesday, back to work Wednesday.
So what's next? I don't know yet ... A doublehanded Transat would be great.
Here's an update on my progress, or lack thereof.
I've decided to stop teaching sailing. It takes time, which I don't have much of, and the return on investment is minimal. I also discovered that some students can be nasty when their sailing skills are put in question and they decide to retaliate. I'll just say this: I have experienced the sense of entitlement of millennials. All combined it's not worth it for me anymore. It was stressful, low reward and demanding.
I was put in touch with the US based Class40 contingent with my request to double-hand a transat of some sort. No bite yet ...
I've continued to evaluate the possibility to get the Open 40 Anasazi Girl over here. Transport by road is out of the question with the keel being so deep. Delivery by skipper is very expensive (I got a quote for $30,000 without fees). All sea transport I found will go to the East Coast, which is not helpful. Unless someone knows of someone who wants to have fun sailing this boat to here for T&E then I think I'm just going to drop it of the list of potential boats, which will then be empty now.
Money wise I have a buyer for my tiny studio in Belgium, which will fund the 1/3 of an optimistic budget.
I'm without a boat and without a place to sail "for free" ... I will have to charter sailboats now, if I want to keep my skills fresh or simply enjoy a fresh breeze.
No dinghy sailing yet ...
Basically ... I am where I started 6 years ago, only with a bit of hardware taking dust on shelves.
It's Christmas time so maybe I should pretend that I still believe in good old Santa and send him a letter. I'd probably talk about a <40 foot boat (to keep budget in check), with twin rudders (for stability and redundancy; if they pop out even better); it'd be fast (as in 240 miles/day are achievable, singlehanded, under auto-pilot); safe (sturdy construction, possibly "unsinkable", certainly with multiple watertight bulkheads; a protected cockpit). And of course it would have been prepared recently for offshore short handed racing. Oh well ...
Still searching ... There just doesn't seem to be something between good old boats and modern racers.
Any suggestions for boat loans? I'm concerned they would require insurance, which with my trip in mind, would be cost prohibitive.
I don't believe there would be any way to get singlehanded around the world insurance, it's not just cost prohibitive, it''s not available Most insurance policies have limitations, even a singlehanded trip to Hawaii is a no go. I think there are plenty of good boats to do this trip at a much better price than a race boat..... which you don't need as you're not racing anyone.