Good Bye Genny

There was no warning to this failure. In fact the sail, while well used, had no given problems before this, but here we were, three minutes to go, and with little sound and no drama, it just ripped from leech to luff.

I don't know how Ed found this empty spot of water where this photo was taken because when I dove below to dig out the #3 there were boats every where and when I came up a minute later we were in a crowd right at the line.

OK, we go with the #3

We are off to the first mark after changing to the #3 jib. This is the right sail for the upwind work, but we could have used the bigger genoa in the off wind leg down to Mele Island.

These sails are all getting a bit old. The one that blew out was a kevlar genny which we raced with in Seattle for three years then used, foolishly maybe, while cruising all over the Pacific. I think it's finished now. This number 3 jib is even more ancient, and we've already been patching it forever. Can't last much longer either I guess.

Wings' Crew-Port Villa, Sept 2000

Click any Image to enlarge

wingssail images-judy jensen/fredrick roswold
At the quay in Port Villa
Awards Party

Certainly the best "pick up crew" we ever had, and one of the best crews we ever sailed with, these folks were great. With three minutes to go to the start the jib blew out. I threw the helm over to Ed and told him to stay close to the start but don't hit anybody, and I ran below to find another sail.

The crew on deck got the old jib pieces down and hooked up the new jib I pushed up through the hatch in record time, especially since it was the first time on the boat for most of them. When I got back on the helm I said to Ed, "Where are we?" He replied, "This bouy you see just ahead of you is the pin end of the line, we're starting."

By that time the sheet leads had been changed and the new jib was going up and we made the start on time and in great position. Three minutes from disaster to good start.

You can't ask for anything better.

Names of crew (Top Photo, left to right)
Deb, Fred, Laura, Randy, Andrew, Julie, Ed, Sue, Dave

Riding the Windvane to Vanuatu

wingssail Image - Fred Roswold

We found a variety of wind on this trip from Fiji to Vanuatu, not every day at sea was windy and bright like this photo; in fact we had some calms and had to motor. That gave us some chance to rest, read, and play on the computer. But finally we got into the trades and the last day or so was glorious sailing like this.

Port Villa

Port Villa

To our way of thinking this is the best harbor in the Pacific. It's a bit deep for anchoring but there are a lot of moorings, and of course, you can tie up to the shore if you want to pay a bit more.

Vanatu

Stern Tie Berthing in Port Villa

Map of Vanautu

Far across the Pacific lies an island group called Vanatu. We sailed to this country in 2000