Saturday dawned with brilliant blue skies, no wind, and glorious sunshine. We didn’t need any more encouragement we shot off – under engine as soon as we had 2m of water at Brighton. It would be churlish to complain that there was no wind – but, there was no wind. So we motored and later we motor sailed – after I had wrestled with the in mast furling main for about 30 mins.

I must say I was very disappointed. I had that sinking feeling when I could not get the main out at first. I started to scold myself for having compromised from my initial goal of getting a boat with a traditional fully battened main. But, after a rest and a careful examination of the way the sheets were running, the friction points and a couple of trips to the mast to wriggle and free anything that looked like it might be causing friction – bingo – the main came out smoothly.

I will reserve judgment – but – I am hopeful that as we get used to the contraption we will get better at dealing with its foibles and actually start the to enjoy the benefits that in mast furling was designed to deliver – watch this space!