Just thought I would share a terrific sail over the weekend.
The forecast was for SE 30knot wind and 3m swell (yes they still report wind strength in knots). And the course for me was NE, so I was looking forward to a fast ride up the coast.
Of course on the way out there was one little problem. I picked up a courtesy mooring while I waited for the bridge to open (to leave the lake and head out offshore), and went below to use the head. Now, in the 3 years we have had the boat, the head has been problem free. So with only minutes until the bridge opened, I flushed the toilet. It made all the noises, but the water level was not dropping!:D Oh Sh%t I thought
So, I rushed topside and went through the bridge. On the other side I picked up the other mooring and prepared to try and fix the problem.
But, the soaking time seemed to have softened things??? and it all flushed away. - Ah ;)

Well, Saturday was a little overcast, but there was definitely a good wind blowing. So I cleared the Swansea channel, unfurled the headsail and pointed the boat towards Newcastle. With 15-20knots blowing, I headed offshore - the swell did not seem too big. Well, the boat straight away accelerated to 6.5kn, and as I rode the swell, had little surges to 7.5 - 8kn.

The trip is a straight line 12Nm, but if I followed the rhumbline, then the wind was at about 120degrees, which meant when I surfed down a wave, there was a chance of gybing. So I headed further out to sea, and kept the wind at about 90degrees. I figured - why not enjoy the ride.

As I got closer to Newcastle, the wind had grown to 25knots, and the swell was definitely bigger, with a regular 3m swell, and an occasional 4-5m set coming through. So I was getting used to catching a wave and seeing the GPS getting over 9knots. Then came a huge set, and I know it was huge, because as it picked me up, the front of the boat was point downwards, and I could see the bottom of the wave in-front of the boat.

Well, the wind blew and the boat accelerated down the face, as I surged along at the bottom of the wave, I glanced down at the instruments....
The SOG was 12.8knots!
The paddle wheel speed log was showing 11.4knots.

Of course this was not the end of the fun, Newcastle Harbour (which is the worlds biggest export coal port) was closed to commercial traffic due to the high winds and large waves. But that did not stop me, the headsail furler was jammed, so I could not furl the sail, and had to sail up the harbour, while sorting out the jam. Once fixed, I tidied up at the Newcastle Yacht Club for the night.

I ran into some friends at the club, they were involved in the offshore regatta that weekend, and they mentioned that at least one boat had seen the conditions and come back in, or stopped racing because of the conditions. They were also impressed that I had handled the condition solo (they had 9 crew on their boat). Of course I was not racing, and had the wind behind me, so I was not bashing into the waves!.

Anyway, a great day - a new personal speed record, and more proof that the 375 is a capable boat.
Cheers