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Bird on my Screamer and 6.6 Infinity, perhaps my best day sailing ever. It was only 90 minutes, but it was nearly perfectly powered conditions with some flat, some choppy, and lots of fun. I had by far my best jibe ever. I came out with almost as much speed as I had going in, with a perfect sail flip and balance. The G's where great. I sailed so well and so comfortably, I couldn't believe it. I pulled off a couple of decent fast tacks, too.
I was just eating up this NW wind until I came in for a needed break. I was really thirsty but was having so much fun I didn't want to come to shore. I finally did, and talked for a few minutes to Mike, Thomas and John before heading back out. Sadly, while I was on shore it died. I slogged for a bit, tried some more tacks, but never got on a plane. I finally came in and put on the Allstar but never really got going on that, either. By the time I left, it was blowing about 6 mph and was getting calmer.
I think the big difference on the Screamer has been the mast track placement. I put that sail as far back in the track as I could and I just feel so much more comfortable, everything seems very balanced. This has been the case for the last two times I've sailed it. I still need a bigger fin, but the balance on the smallish fin feels really nice. I had about a dozen chop hops, though nothing that great. The thing was, I was doing them, where before I could never get out of the water because I was so out of balance. Getting into jibes felt great and I didn't have to use my arms hardly at all -- at least, I didn't have to use them nearly as much as before and they never got that tired.
The next week is Christmas and I don't intend on sailing much. It's family time, and a little work, too. I'll try to sail on January 1st. It seems like it's a good thing to do, though it's not going to be that cold here to make it a good story for the grandkids in 25 years.
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