While watching the Transat news and studying weather has been a constant distraction, I have have been busy trying to get ready for my first big solo trip this weekend. We (the boat and I) will be heading out on Thursday evening for a quick trip to Toronto and back to visit the c-class worlds which are underway at RCYC, then turning around and coming home on Sunday.

Getting the boat ready for this little jaunt has been a lot more work than I thought it would be. Little things like getting the hanging stove rigged, installing the last of the required safety gear, rig inspections and engine maintenance have taken up most of my nights this week. It’s nice to finally be preparing for a longer sail, but it is a bit stressful, because forgetting something could mean the difference between a nice weekend sail and a total disaster. “Thorough preperation” continues to be my mantra, so if I get through all of the stuff on my list done, I should be in pretty good shape. (Knock on wood.)

Over the last two weeks, we’ve been trying to get the boat out in various conditions and start to get a sense of what she can do. The big challenge at the moment is to figure out what sail combinations we should have up in various wind speeds and angles. It’s been a usual fall here in Kingston, so it’s been blowing twenty something for past couple of weeks. I haven’t even had a chance to really test the genoa yet!

Generally I’m very pleased with the boat. Matt Fair and I had a chance to take her out and do some upwind practice in 30+ knots last week, and with two reefs and a jib she was wonderfully balanced. The trip this weekend should be good for taking notes on sails, speeds and stuff. Greg van Rossem and I also had a great downhill run out in the lake last weekend and we had some great speeds, over 11 knots. It’s been SO much fun figuring out the boat and how all of the manouvers go. We’ve certainly got a lot of work to do, but we are definetly off to a good start.

I’ll try and post an update from Toronto, so stay tuned to this page for updates throughout the weekend and the rest of the season. (Remember there is still over a month of sailing left!)

After a brief postponment, the minis are underway and the weather for the start couldn’t have been more perfect. The low pressure system that caused the postponment has stabilized and the fleet started in a north breeze of 15 knots.

As of this morning, Isabelle Joschke is in the lead, which makes me smile. While Isabelle has had an amazing season and is a favorite to win the race, she is still a bit of an underdog. Some of the others who are favorites for the race, had a really rough start, but are now getting things sorted and out and back into the positions they “should” be in.

It’s been a bit tough finding news for this race, so I thought I would provide a few links. If you have found another good source of news please post the link in the comments.

The official site is here. The race tracker is under “cartography”.

The best mini blog out there is the Adria4oceans team blog. This is a two skipper/boat team and they are also favorites for the race over all. Unforetunately Andraz had a collision with a press boat at the start and damaged a dagger board, but he is pressing on.

Yachting World also has had tonnes of good coverage.

Finally there are a few threads with news and opinions worth watching. Here on Leo’s forum, and here on Sailing Anarchy.

For weather, checkout the NOAA Atlantic Briefing.