Overpowered 6.5 meter Minis with 12 meter rigs do one thing spectacularly well. Surf downwind, the windier the better! So it was with dismay that the fleet and I looked at weather charts that promised an upwind thrash from Madiera and calms by the Canaries instead of the steady trade winds for which our yachts are designed  As I was soon to learn, few things about my race were as advertised.

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