Racing a cruiser

The Nimble 30 has a PHRF rating of 225 which means that Pondera is about 100seconds slower per nautical mile than the faster boats in our racing fleet.  Just because she's not fast doesn't mean we don't go out and play on race day.  Pondera is surprisingly fast when on a beam or anything close to a reach - the extra sail area of the mizzen really pushes us along and if I'm single handed, raising the asymmetrical spinnaker and the mizzen staysail really gets Pondera going.  In strong winds its easy to reef the main down - reef lines are led to blocks on the cabin top - and keep the genoa and mizzen up.  This is called sailing 'jib and jigger' and keeps the boat really well balanced.  When the wind is but a wisp, I have a light weight blooper rigged on the foredeck that keeps us moving forward.

Here's some pictures over the past 3 seasons of racing my cruising yawl.