After some set-up and work to tune the rig we entered a race with the local yacht racing club PYRA. Poole Yacht Racing Assocaiation.

The race was from Poole to Cowes. Handicap was VPRS which we had a handicap measured by them. All the sails hand measured and stats for the boat from the Globe 580 website, so accurate.

The boat is fast, and handled really well. We won. Was great. Kept a good speed, some wave surfing. Went along happily at 6 to 7 knots on a reach in 15 knots of wind. Rising off the wind to steady 7 knots and rising to 9 knots when surfing. The A5 is furling and easy to deploy. We had a go with the A3 also furling, again goes out easy and quick to retrieve.

The A5 has an integrated luff torsion rope, this sail goes round to 50 degrees happily which was great for the race. The A3 torsion rope is free from the sails luff, so sailed down to 160 degrees.

We had a fair few boats in our class and got a good start, boat really flew upwind. Rounded the first windward mark well and went for a reach, A5. I put in a Harken MK4 furler on the headsail. I wanted a versatile boat that I would not need to be on the foredeck at all in a breeze. The A5 stayed up, then as we bore off the wind we furled that an hoisted the A3 on a Karver Furler. I needed to work out a system to have this easier to hoist and lower as it needs to come down when not in use.

The A3 really get the boat going. We had a few broaches as the wind picked up, we quickly learnt to feel them coming and as long as we reacted quickly and pointed downwind with the gusts we could avoid the broaches. The boat recovered quickly to the broaches.

So we pushed fairly hard and won the race. Very pleasing. The boat did well, we could have gone faster, but as a first race and only a hundred or so miles under the belt we all felt pleased. 2 adults and 2 teenagers.