Maiden Voyage / Sea Trial - FirstTime out with New Sails!

We finally got to take Rhapsody out for her first sail. We motored out of the slip and into the bay where we gingerly unfurled the mainsail for the first time. We coasted along under main-only for a mile or so until we could tack up and out of the bay.

We felt pretty good as we were sailing out of the bay making 6-8 knots in a 10 knot breeze. Even better was the fact that we were leaving every other boat in the dust! Of course, the boats we were sailing past were smaller 28-40' boats, but that vindicated the fact that Rhapsody, at 51', with her 44' of waterline, was indeed able to take advantage of her higher hull speed and bigger sails.

We went out in the ocean and did Man Overboard Drills. That's where we toss a life preserver over the side and then each person has to single-handedly maneuver the boat under sail in a figure eight back to the life preserver, stop the boat, and "rescue" the life preserver. Trish and I each did three drills to make sure that we had some sense of how to handle the boat in an emergency while under sail.

We then hove to, had lunch, and lazily sailed her back into the bay. We got her into the slip without too much fuss, although my parking skills need a little work!