I know I promised that I'd write again on Friday but truth is...I've been too busy sailing the entire weekend. We had beautiful weather here in New York and a good breeze on Friday and Sunday.

Friday morning I rigged the boat for the first time. All the lines were pre-run so it was fairly easy to set up. The carbon rig is so light that one person can erect the mast. I however had to do this a couple of times to get all the lines straightened out. Great workout... Around one o'clock the reporter (Aaron) from Bloomberg Markets showed up and we put the SC20 in the water for the first time. Already we were getting quite some interest from the local sailing school. Both students and teachers were praising her good looks. As I got on board with the keel raised, the SC20 feels like a small dinghy, but as soon as you lower the keel the she changes into a mini yacht and becomes very stable.

We raised the sails and off we went. Right away you can feel the difference. The SC20 looks like a classic yacht but sails like a high performance boat. She picks up speed very quickly and points really high. You do need to pick up some speed first though to get the most out of the modern keel and rudder. The SC20 is a very lively boat and reacts to the smallest movement of the rudder.

The layout of the SC20 is such that even though it is a small (narrow) boat she offers a lot of space in the cockpit. All the lines and hardware are routed and located, to create the most space available for the people sailing the boat. I'm 6'4" and Aaron is pretty tall as well and the two of us had no problem moving around in the cockpit. A big benefit as well is the raised boom. This offers you better visibility and makes it easier to switch during a tack or gybe.

When we set out we first made a couple of tacks on the Hudson River towards Haverstraw. The wind was a little gusty. At best 10 to 15 mph during a good puff. Like I said, the SC20 goes upwind really well. The boat is very stable and you can pretty much let go of the rudder and she will stay on course. The self tacking jib makes sailing her really easy and she is no problem to sail single handedly, like I did on Saturday and Sunday. A nice surprise was that the Scandinavian Cruiser 20 is a lot dryer than I thought. Even when we hit some bigger chop in the middle of the Hudson there wasn't much spray or water that came into the cockpit.

On our way back we rolled up the jib and unfurled the asymmetrical spinnaker. What a thril! We were flying. With the spinnaker, the SC20 is not designed to be sailed straight downwind but we had a great time reaching and jibing her on the way back to the marina. We weren't planing quite yet but came very close. A little more wind would have done the trick.

Over the weekend I fine tuned the boat and test sailed her under different conditions. Overall I'm very satisfied with how she arrived here in the US and even more so with how she sails. I may make some small changes here and there to set her up to my preferences but that's really it. The Scandinavian Cruiser 20 was well designed, well built and sails very well.

Recapturing the Essence of Sailing as well as the Joy of Sailing.

Best regards,


Haye

P.s. I: more pictures and video will follow soon.
P.s. II: the article should come out in the October issue of Bloomberg Markets.