I am just back from a quick trip to Vendee’, France for a visit to the Jeanneau 64 production line and a sail with designer Andrew Winch on his personal Jeanneau 64 “Polar Bear”. When the designer of a boat steps up to the plate and buys one for himself, you know he has hit the mark. This was Andrew’s first sail on his new boat, so it was a very exciting time for him.
We motored silently out into the Bay of Biscay from the yachting port of Les Sables d’Olonne, into 10-15 knots of breeze with gentle swells rolling under the keel. The boat sailed beautifully with her new in-boom furling mainsail, providing an outstanding fully shaped SDL main. We flew the Code 1 on the way back in and saw over 8 knots in only 10 knots of breeze which I thought was very impressive.
