LESSONS LEARNED

We should have fitted a new stove, as it failed after a few days. Cooking on top of a Jetboil was difficult while racing!

A solid leeboard, rather than the makeshift one we had against the lee cloth while sleeping on the windward side, would have made sleeping more comfortable.

Set up satellite communications, especially email, and routing software before leaving port. Although we obtained forecasts and race updates, we should have set up this beforehand so we could focus on racing.

We should have trained together more, especially as Maverick has hanked-on sails. Our short qualifying passage was not enough time to get super fast at sail changes.

Maverick has an Aries wind vane, but in really light winds, especially with the spinnaker, the autopilot was used more. In a bigger sea, it was easier to link the autopilot onto the wind vane, giving more range of movement for the tiller. This meant Maverick wouldn’t wander off course so much. It allowed us to carry a little more sail for longer and hold a straighter course.