new canvas onboard

Having sailed with old baggy sails since we changed boats and bought Duende in December 2011 (some 5000 nautical miles ago) - it was pure pleasure hoisting the new ones up the other day and getting to experience just how much good they do to the boat. 

We have quite a substantial spinnaker collection onboard and we're not shy to use them, but given its easier set up, we have missed a gennaker. One that we had on Caos back in the days if you remember. This new blue and white asymmetric was just what we were looking for. Works well from 60-150ยบ off the wind up to 18 knots and is easy to set up, using a jockey pole as a bowsprit now to begin with. Though knowing Alex, he'll probably produce a carbon one in a very near future.

The beautiful new mainsail has three reefs, which was something we missed on our previous two reef sail, and its balanced shape also helps decrease the weather helm issue a bit. 

With half of the summer remaining, it seems a good idea to slow down on the, until now, intense work tempo. And make sailing a higher priority again. Maine and Long Island are two of our prospectives for this season.

Thanks to North Sails Denmark for great service!