Proof that there is no season for sailing, just various states of blue when you come off the water, my co-skipper Armand and I have been training this week in the famous Baie de la Foret Fouesnant, home the top Figaro and Open 60 sailors.

Given that this was our first training together on the boat we wanted to see what she would do so we would have a reference point for the future, so when dark clouds appeared we kept the small spinnaker up with a “lets see what happens” attitude. Unfortunately the squall hit with 40 knots of wind and we wiped out spectacularly, with Armand standing on the side of the cockpit and able to see the bulb out of the water.

We recovered the spinnaker and as conditions alternated between squalls with hail and calms with sunshine we worked our way through the entire sail wardrobe and were forced to complete all the maneuvers in the book to make it through the day. A study in contrast, we ran for cover with no mainsail in a 45kt squall and then drifted home on the zephyrs just as ice was forming on the dock.