After a long wait the wind did come today. The forecast of 14 to 18 knots for the afternoon lead me to believe some fun was about to be unleashed. Well the forecast were wrong. After 16:00 the wind picked up and it got to 22 knots with gust pushing for 25.
Now I went to my playground to measure the wind speed at around 15:30 and at that time it was well within the forecast values (15 knots, gusts reaching 17 knots). I then went home to get my gear and, stupid me, I took only my 6.9m² sail with me. That proved to be a big mistake…
A 6.9m² sail is perfect for light winds (like the ones I measured before getting my gear) but for 22 knots I should use a 5.0m² sail. So I had a bit more sail than what I should…
I'm not a very week guy and I'm also a bit on the heavy side and with some struggle I managed to keep on sailing but, even if I was actually enjoying myself, the sail wasn't having any fun at all and eventually the third panel didn't resist one of the gusts and broke apart. It's actually looks like it exploded and some of the material is gone.
So, in resume, I had lots of fun but am now looking for either a new or second hand sail. Or a way to repair that old sail. Time to hit the local market.
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