C22 Whitby Singled Handed

LOTS of wind tonight!

At the dock it was registering 19 knots from the NW with gusts to 25.

I rigged up a double reef and #3 and left the dock.

Two boats: Still Time and Cheeky Monkey.
Course was set for 2 medium.

Coming out of the harbour, there was less wind, so I dropped the #3 and hoisted the #2.  Was challenging as the autohelm is not holding a course!  I sailed around for a while and decided to shake out the double reef for a single.

Had a bad start, as I going to go over the line early, so I had to throw in a 360, but wrapped the jib sheet on the drum!  We were neck and neck at the windward mark.

Winds were dropping, so I decided to shake out the single reef for full mainsail. 
Friggan autohelm is useless!
Had to move the outhaul from the reef point to the clew of the main; what a nightmare!  Turning all over the place and did a couple of 360s.  That is NOT racing!  I should have just left the reef in.

At the leeward mark, got the jib sheet wrapped around the winch handle and couldn't undo it.  Dead in the water with the jib backwinded.  TERRIBLE.

Wind started picking up again, and boat was being overwhelmed with the full baggy main.

Finished 6 minutes behind the Shark.

Frustrating race, but It was good to be sailing with some wind on a nice night.

Trip Odometer: 10.70 miles
Moving Average: 4.3 knots
Moving Time: 02:30:00

Google Earth Track: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12535935/Still%20Time/2014/20140605.kmz