SAILING THE HANSE 40

Our Hanse 40 finally arrived in late May. We put the pieces together as quickly as possible in order to make a spring boat show in Newport. Luckily all the pieces were there and fit together nicely. We motor sailed to Newport, got a great reception and headed back to Marblehead after the show.

In Marblehead we got ready for our first Wednesday night race. With the self-tacking jib handling was a breeze. The wind conditions were averaging 10knots up and down. After 2 tacks we crossed the fleet. We could not believe how well we were doing with the little jib. We lost a few boats down wind, but finished a very respectable fourth. Next Wednesday there was a little more breeze and we moved up to third place.

Our next big challenge came at the Eastern Yacht Club 4th of July regatta. This is a big event and gets over 60 boats with 13 of them in our class. This regatta is famous for light air. The conditions were as predicted 6 building to 10 by the finish. Again we got a good start and tacked to cross the fleet. We hung in there the rest of the race and finished 2nd to a Swan 44 with carbon rig and full race gear and crew. We never even sat on the rail.

We would have liked to have gotten our names on the huge perpetual trophy, how 2nd still made us feel pretty good.

We made a big move by getting a new Doyle genoa for the boat. We headed out for our Wednesday night with 4 kids, Marvin who sits in the companionway and a couple of my friends. We had a nice breeze and a 2-to3 foot chop. With the freeboard of the 40 we all stayed dry even the kids sitting up front. Many of our competition took some good waves over the bow.

After a less than great start, we headed up the first 2 mile beat. The boat sailed beautifully and we were enjoying a great summer sailing evening. We round the top mark 4th and held our position down wind. On the second 2 mile beat we worked our way to first place. We extended our lead down wind to the finish. The victory is always sweet. As we drank beer and ate cheese burgers at the yacht club after everyone commented on how fast we were and how good we looked.

When you go below on the Hanse 40 everyone is immediately impressed by how roomy and comfortable she is. When we test sail everyone is amazed at how easily she sails. No one ever guessed you could win competitive races with her.

So far nothing has broken and it is our first boat that doesn't leak. She is huge and comfortable down below and a dream to sail. We are looking forward to spending many more hours on our new Hanse 40, including a cruise to the Vineyard in August.

Please mail comments to me at Bump@newwaveyachts.com
 
Bump Wilcox