Michael wrote:

Never catch me that far offshore in a 'wee' boat. 26' was small
enough even though it is a proper British built Westerly. BUT they
sure are fun to drive in the right places. My 18 footer was a
Mercury class sloop. What do you have?

A Copland Foxcub, which I've called 'Hispaniola'. Not in the water - I'm
gradually doing what has turned out to be something of a restoration. It's a
1972 and is the fin keel version (they also made bilge and swing keels). By
all accounts, the fin keeler points well, which was a major reason for
choosing it. Once in the water, the plan is to use it for round-the-cans
club races, daysails and short cruises around my local waters - the Firth Of
Forth in Scotland, which is big enough to require at least an overnighter to
get to the more distant parts from the marina. One of my little ambitions is
to circumnavigate all of the islands on the Forth, preferably in one trip.

I currently get a regular twice-a-week racing fix on a Sonata (22' 7") -
been crewing on that since the start of the season. I was out on a Sigma 38
today - the Queen Mary 2 was anchored in the Forth prior to heading over to
Norway, so a few boats went out for a look-see (photos to webshots soon). We
were out for about three hours, two of which were spent sailing in circles
around the ship.

The Sigma is the first yacht I've sailed other than the Sonata, and I was
most impressed. I had the helm for about 45 minutes to an hour and I was
surprised at how light it all felt. I had half-expected something that size
to feel heavier and turn more sluggishly, but it all seemed eminently
drivable. Getting the jib in on tacks was easy enough as well, only having
to winch a bit if the timing wasn't quite right (wind was light at 8-9
knots).


--
Wally
www.artbywally.com
www.wally.myby.co.uk