Overpowering!

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Well I finally experienced it.  Nowhere close to the image above, but I felt it a bit…  When a sail is too big for the weather conditions they call it being overpowered.  Up to now I have not had that experience.  I went out for a sail again (2nd time this week!) and it was blowing about 15 knots.  I had the big 155 sail up and the fun began!  I sailed out of the harbor and the waves were a tad bit choppy and about 3-4 feet.  Nothing crazy.  The wind was a constant 15 knots or so.  The boat was well behaved, and powered up…but I was feeling a tad bit uncomfortable when it came to tacking.  So I did a few tacks…they were UGLY.  LOL.  Usually the sail went flying way to fast, the boat over rotated, and I ended up having to crank the sail in with the winch.  ALOT of work with the 155.  It was a handful singlehanded.  In hindsight I should have furled it in a bit to maybe a 125.  I am curious how that will affect the shape of the sail.  I stayed out a bit in those conditions.  I feel anytime I feel relatively safe and I can be in conditions that are usually different and challenging then its a wonderful experience.  So I did a few more tacks all relatively ugly and sloppy and stayed out long enough for a whale sighting!  That never gets old.  Its been 3 years and I am still loving the sailing life and learning more each outing.  Looking forward to this sailing season!

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