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Nick Carter and Jimmy Cornell, Aventura’s core crew
As we cast the mooring lines and David Oestereicher, the Garcia Yachting‘s commissioning skipper, eased Aventura away from the dock, I realised that the moment of truth had finally arrived. As far as the actual concept was concerned, I had absolutely no doubt that Aventura had fulfilled all my expectations. But however beautiful, or functional, a yacht may be, in the end what really counts is her sailing performance.
On this Sunday in late April, the weather was typical for the English Channel, or, to be correct, La Manche: grey, overcast, wet and cold. But at least we had reasonably good wind, blowing in stronger gusts during brief rainy squalls. We sailed for a while with full mainsail and Solent jib. Sailing close-hauled in 14 kots apparent wind, Aventura swiftly accelerated to over 8 knots… and I instinctively felt that I could relax. “This boat ain’t no dog” I told my friend Nick who fully agreed. Having raced all over the world, in matters of performance I trusted his judgement far more than my own.
We tried various sail combinations, tested the staysail, reefed the mainsail, and could find no major fault. There are still may things to hone and put right but with still over one month left until the planned departure from London bound for Greenland, we are now confident that we shall be able to keep to our schedule.
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