Today we had a nice afternoon sail with my parents and got to fly our new cruising spinnaker. This was my first several hour sail aboard Spray since completing the Transpac race to Hawai'i. My parents owned sailboats from the late 1970s thru the 1990 and sailed extensively along the Southern California coast. However, they sold their boats when the moved inland and haven't sailed for over 10 years. Fortunately, it was a beautiful day with good wind, calm seas, and plenty of sun. We wanted to try our new cruising spinnaker which we just picked up from Ullman Sails yesterday. I got a great deal on the sail plus a new ATN sleeve and it fit Spray very well. The sail was designed and ordered for my dock neighbors Tom and Kelly for their Hunter 37. Unfortunately for them, and good for me, the sailmaker built the sail in turquoise rather than the dark blue color that was ordered.
The spinnaker worked nicely. It was easy to hoist and douse with the ATN sleeve. I attached the tack line to a block on the anchor roller bail and secured it at the bow cleat. The sheet was run outside the lifelines to a block at the quarter. Everything worked as it should and we sailed back down the coast at 7-7 knots. Here are some pics of our sail.
