It was a warm, pleasant day, overcast with a few spots of rain. Aerage wind in Bewl Water was 7 knots but punctuated by some fairly strong sustained gusts. Intention was to practice launching, retrieval and Gybing with the Xenon gennaker.

The first problem was a very hurried packing of the Gennaker and equally hurried Gennaker rigging. This cost us dearly in time. The first launch appeared to be successful, the gennaker inflated and operated well but the gennaker downhaul line looked oddly positioned. An attempted gybe resulted in a twisted gennaker and it could not be retrieved. Rather than risk damage by applying force the luckless crew clambered across the bow to bundle up the jammed gennaker and we returned to shore. An attempt to correct the poor rigging and off we went again only to find yet more problems with the gennaker rigging.. After lunch the Gennaker was completely deriogged and re-rigged. This time correctly.

The wind was now strengthening and after several successful launches, retrievals and gybes we attempted a planing run. Setting a course that favoured the Gennaker we launched and hiked out. The Xenon immediately picked up speed and went into planing mode. The bow lifted slightly and the dinghy went through the water with more of a hiss than the usual noise of waves striking the hull. The wake from the stern was smooth and flat with foam only from the rudder blade. Neither of us had travelled that fast in the Xenon before.   The need to concentrate on keeping the gennaker fully out and the dinghy on the best wind course prevented us from admiring the scenery and the jumping fish as we shot across the reservoir.

As we ran out of water the dinghy was turned into the drop zone and came off from its bow wave with a bang, just as though we had been hit by a wave created by a passing powerboat.  The dinghy had been riding on its bow wave and the sudden drop in power caused the Xenon to drop forwards over the wave. If this was possible with gusts of around 10 knots or so it will be interesting to see what the Xenon can achieve in stronger winds.

However our dinghy handling leaves something to be desired and the relatively comfortable wind was very forgiving of most of our errors. We capsized once when a gybe went wrong. Fortunately we had the double floatation pack at the masthead and after a very quick retrieval of the floating Gennaker we had the Xenon back up and running in seconds. Once again marvelling at the superb self draining deck that dried out almost as the crew regained control. When we first bought the Xenon I think we all had some concerns about how easy it would be for a large dinghy to be righted. However now we have it down to a fine art, we each know what to do and nearly always it is possible for one of the crew to climb on to the centreboard without getting his feet wet - wait for the other to free the cleats and retrieve the gennaker and then lean out and up she comes! - I haven't yet timed it but at a push I think we could do the whole righting in under 60 seconds.

Apart from the need to get the rigging right the main point of note was the need to pull in the Gennaker control line  (the Gennaker sheet on the same side as the active Jib sheet), hard at the launch and steadily release it until the leading edge begins to curl. This technique enables a smooth launch in which the Gennaker inflates steadily without the uncontrolled snatching /wallowing or twisting caused when the Gennaker sheet is not pulled in hard.

Despite our problems and a capsize it was a very enjoyable days practice and yet again confirmed the Xenon as the right dinghy for us.