first sea-trials off of portland are a success!
Since launching Koloa Maoli at the end of June, the program has really jumped into high gear! Re-assembling the boat and getting her ready for sailing during the first week since launching, i’ve now taken the boat out for four day sails in the past ten or so days and have really begun to get a feel for her. Not only has sailing on Koloa been quite social so far, but we’ve had some really good sailors onboard to begin learning the boat with. Thus far, i’m really happy with the boat and am beginning to create a list of short-term optimizations that I want to undertake while simultaneously planning a lot more sailing in the upcoming months.
Once the boat was fully ready to go sailing, I assembled a crew of friends in Jonah, Noah, Harper and Diesel and my photographer friend Hanna to join me and we went out for a nice Wednesday sail on July 2. Breeze was puffy and inconsistent and eventually went pretty light, but we had a great sail and the boat performed well. We sailed the boat conservatively, and went from full main to 1 reef and back, and sailed with the stay sail (little jib), the Solent (big jib) and A5 furling spinnaker. The autopilot and electronics will see some re-calibration and re-initialization to dial in their performance but almost everything is functioning decently well, so it’s nice to get the boat on the water and begin to learn her and see where we can make gains. Dave had the boat well set up and in very good condition when he sold it to me, and for the most part, the boat is really dialed in. Feeling the boat power up for the first time and effortlessly begin charging through the water was a very special moment for me. I’ve always admired this boat and have long had a major love for Class 40s and Koloa has always given me good vibes. It’s truly very exciting to begin sailing this boat that I am slated to sail so many miles on.
Sailing upwind in light air on day 1 of sea trials. Hanna Morrill photo credit.
With a day of sailing on Wednesday, I put the boat through a weight reduction cycle and some more boat prep on Thursday and Friday. Stuff like spare parts, extra tools, the spare life raft, etc got removed from the boat and placed into storage while I also continued dialing in some maintenance projects, installing additional gear that was not yet installed and making some continual preparations for more sailing. By the weekend, the breeze was looking fairly promising, so I put together a small crew for both Saturday and Sunday and we went out. Breeze was looking a bit lighter on Saturday, so myself and Seth from Maine Yacht Center and Adam from Wichard went out and sailed around with full main and solent, and then downwind with full main, stay sail and masthead Code Zero. With light winds and flat water, it was great to feel the boat slipping around at hull speed and higher, all powered up even in the relatively light winds.
Great sailing with the masthead Code Zero up, just a few miles off of Portland.
Sunday dawned with the promise of more breeze, and the weather delivered as Seth and Steve from Maine Yacht Center joined me for the day’s sailing. Sailing out of the main shipping channel and then bearing away, we un-furled the A5 again and sent it fairly hard in breeze that was solidly in the mid to upper teens. Adding full water ballast and putting the bow up to a more aggressive angle, Koloa Maoli charged along and we had our first fast, fun, wild sail. The boat feels quite controlled and planted, as long as you stay engaged with the sail trim. As soon as the boat feels over powered, the rudders lose control quite quickly if the sails are not eased. With a noticeably warm breeze, it felt like we were sailing in Hawaii, not Maine! It’s been good to gradually work the boat up into more and more breeze and to push it harder and harder. All things considered, it’s been quite mellow sailing, but so far everything is very confidence inspiring and I am really beginning to look forward to pushing the boat hard into some bigger breeze and seas. Class 40s are such neat boats and Koloa feels exceptionally solid. Not the quickest boat on earth, but as far as being a well rounded Class 40 that I can sail reliably in a wide range of conditions, I think she’ll serve me very well in a race like the Global Solo Challenge.
Nice sailing in some breeze with the furling A5 spinnaker up.
Yesterday I again had a pretty good size crew on the boat with my girlfriend Marisa, Hanna, Seth, and also friends Julian and Alli. Again some very good sailors onboard and we went out for a nice sail, only to realize the fog was coming and going, and that visibility was quite low. With fog going in and out, we sailed as fast as we dared with the masthead Code Zero out and a permanent spotter on the bow as we sailed around a sailboat racing fleet, a lot of pleasure craft and the ever present lobster traps in Casco Bay. In the end, it ended up being a gorgeous day of sailing with some great folks, and another good test run for the Code Zero and for the boat.
Heading back towards the harbor in briliant sunshine, after being socked in with fog and having almost no visibility for most of our sail on Sunday July 13.
So far, i’m super happy with the boat but also just very humbled at how much work remains to be done. By far my biggest hurdle, as was the case in the last race, is going to become properly funded for an endeavor like this. But I think we’ve got a good strategy and a real shot to get there. Huge thanks to everyone who joined me for the first few sea trials, and there’s a lot more coming on the calendar soon!
Thanks for following along on the first steps of this new journey!
Ronnie
