[chef2sail]

Great first trip. You will learn from every experience. It sounds as though you were overpowered with too much sail area up.

You have two options.

Reef the main which you probably should practice doing in calmer winds or even at the dock till you can get that done effortless. Remember if you are thinking of reefing,,it is proably time to. Reef early. Quite it is quicker to sail upwind in shortened tacks against strong winds then motor head on into the wind and waves (chop). You will face the perpedicular face of the wave which will stop or slow you down when heading directly into the wind. Sometimes its even better to motor the same way.

Secondly if you have two headsails and you see the wind picking up it is prudent to use the smaller on. A furler will allow you to shorten the jib sail without changing sails although you lose some pointing ability as the furler sjortens the leech as it furls inward.

You will get better with experience amd time on the water. Congrats on your new boat. Maybe we will see you sometime on the water this summer. We have had our C&C for 15 years.

Dave