Well done, Pol! It's always good to hear about another satisfied customer.

I've just got a strong enough cell signal to look at the photos, and yes, a little attention to the LHP will sort out the creases. And then she'll look good - except that the bowsprit now looks weird!  Do you, perchance, possess a good handsaw?

Whoo-hoo - well done Pol!  And, wrinkles or no wrinkles, she looks absolutely stunning.  Of course.

After gaff rig, I think you will really start to enjoy going downwind - just let out the sheet and point the (incredibly long, and now redundant) bowsprit where you want to go.  Sail by the lee and laugh! 

I hope you and the family do get away for a jolly little cruise while the good weather lasts.  What fun you'll all have, getting to see how it works and enjoying the relaxation of it all.

Looking good Pol!  I wish you many happy times and sea miles in the days and years ahead.  Rest after toil...

Hi All,

On Sunday I took ANNIE out for her trial sail. Various volunteers find themselves too busy so I was on my own which I was not unhappy about. As I raised the sail, standing at the mast as I'm used to doing, I didn't pay any particular attention to the sheet which was fairly well paid out or to the helm. And I didn't need to. In the force 2 to 3 which was kindly laid on, Annie went bowling off across Crinan Loch at a good 3-4 knots and, while I went back to the cockpit to see what hauling up the last panel on the winch felt like she just carried on on that course. It seems that she has perfect balance on all points of sailing, as I wandered about the deck taking photographs she would just stay at whatever course I had been steering!! A neighbour in Crinan Harbour with his very sleek cruiser racer took some photographs. I took a couple of him too which I will post as soon as I can, as they tell a bit of a story I think! In those conditions he needed to work quite hard while I was lolling around on deck marvelling at this glorious rig, and running through in my mind all the great help that I have received from such an amazing community of junkies! In fact, he was on his own and it would have been unfair to have expected him to put up any big canvas for those light conditions. In the meantime I was absolutely blown away by the performance of my boat. He was pretty surprised too!!

We plan to go away for a few days from this weekend and I will report back more fully after that mini cruise. High-pressure is due to dominate apparently, which I'm quite happy about at this stage. F 2 to 3 seems quite enough for Annie under her full sail to make very respectable progress, and if it is in sunshine we'll alll be happy. In fact, as I ran back for the harbour I reefed her one panel at a time and took some photographs. By the time I had three panels down she didn't seem to have slowed much at all. We would have been booming out and rigging preventers and a lot of fiddle on Annie in her previous guise to get that kind of performance, not to mention hoisting her little handkerchief tops'l.

The set of the sail seems to be surprisingly good (I think!). The parrels work well. I may need a tack line. To even out the wrinkles in the sail, not necessarily to remove them, I need quite a lot of luff hauling parrel after first putting on a bit of yard hauling parrel. We may need to give some winter attention to the lower four.

Thanks in particular to Arne who encouraged us to get on and make the sail ourselves. I am completely elated with the result. The way she looks, the way she sails, and the prospect of happy family cruising and contented single handing is beyond my dreams!

All the best,

Pol.