Is mankind's highest ideal to live without
incident or adventure? And if so,
when did this begin?

Wildwind 31, originally uploaded by stevenjbaker.

This Hobie Fox with me at the helm is beam reaching with spinnaker, chasing down a Laser Vago, and without trapezing too. This should not be possible — beam reaching with spinnaker that is — because there should be more wind and it is a powerful boat.

Wildwind? This week it has been “Mildwind”, but fun nonetheless with a good crowd of sailors. The one cross-shore blast of 20-25 knots was exciting in the FX-1 and I’m hoping for more of it next week. The weather is indeed a cruel mistress.

And “that’s about the size of it”.

Wildwind 47, originally uploaded by stevenjbaker.

Shortly after this photo was taken, the wind picked up to a gentle force 3, enabling a brisk sail in a Hobie Fox, a fast Formula 20 catamaran.

We achieved some hull-out broad reaching with spinnaker and the crew on the trapeze, which was ideal.

Sadly, circumstances have spared you a photo of these heroics, so I’ll have to ask you to make do with this stock image of a close-hauled Fox:

A superb boat. I may just have to sail it again later.

A steady force 2 all day. A touch dull.

Practice races all day of one lap, windward leeward. Far too small for a Tiger, but not a bad way to get practice starts. Mostly won, although humilated by a Hobie 16 (no gennaker) helmed by an Olympian.

Cross-shore tomorrow I hope.

And the jeep was fixed too

Minced about in the morning on an FX One in light winds. Then the promised “cross-shore” breeze kicked in on schedule at 15:15 with a perfect force 4-5.

Absolutely screamed to and fro in the FX One, hull out, trapezing at the very back of the boat. And no pitchpoles: not a capsize of any sort. Bloody marvellous.

Laughed my heart out flogging a Pico on a dare as the breeze built. What a horrible plastic pig. (It is, of course, a boat for novice children and the staff abused me appropriately.) If I just stood horizontally across the boat, it couldn’t capsize. It just brought me to the vertical, dumped the air and flopped back up. Tortured that for a bit then took a break.

Tiger tomorrow, I think, for old times’ sake.

The view from the balcony, where I sit now, is quite acceptable too.