330 lb. 17' sailboat SF Bay challenge

 Fossil Fool explains:

Bike sailing at its finest! After a year in the workshop, there's not much left to build or fix on the First Mod, which means I actually have to go out and sail it! I live in a world class sailing destination, site of the 2013 America's Cup: San Francisco Bay. Once I leave the relative safety of the Berkeley Sailing Basin, 99% of the sailboats I see out on the Bay are keel boats with sealed cabins. They have thousands of pounds of lead ensuring they stay upright. The First Mod was designed to be bike-trailerable and it weighs only 330 pounds. It's a centerboard boat. In the process of making it, when I expressed my hopes and dreams to be able to hit different destinations like Angel Island, folks on the Wooden Boat forum told me the Bay is no joke and people just don't do those sorts of trips in small open boats. Now that I'm trying it, I can see why! We have been seeing lots of big wind waves and the summertime winds are severe. But it's happening and my skills are progressing. So I hope you'll enjoy this window into what it's been like out there. The boat is a scaled up First Mate designed by Australian boatbuilder Ross Lillistone. It's 17' long not including the bowsprit/towbar and 68" wide. The rig is a 105 sq. ft Balanced Lug sail originally designed for the Goat Island Skiff. Most days it doesn't feel oversailed, but on this video I was wishing I knew how to put in a reef out on the water. I'm hoping through these vids to connect with other Lillistone sailors, Balanced Lug sailors, and dinghy sailors, to be able to improve my techniques and feel more confident moving through the chop. Thanks for taking a look! Build log on Wooden Boat Forum http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthread.php?251743-Building-a-scaled-up-Lillistone-First-Mate-in-G10-for-Bike-Sailing