Having previously spent over two hours setting up the Tornado, today’s second try took about an hour but we were assisted by a number of ESS members. Once we got the boat on the water the offshore wind took us to the mouth of the bay without any tacking. The light wind conditions were perfect for familiarizing ourselves with the Tornado. Nihei-san was out in his Hobie 16, keeping an eye on us. After a few experimental tacks and jibes we headed to Enoshima where we left the boat on the beach and headed off for lunch. The island was crammed with tourists – some of whom were resting on the hulls of the Tornado when we got back. 
The Tornado (white sail) on Zushi Beach
After lunch the winds picked up and we rocketed across to Nejima. Enroute, a seam on the trampoline came apart where it had been repaired in the past – the stitching thread had rotted. Later Nihei-san lent us a needle and some tough thread. On the approach to Zushi beach we hit a windsurfer while making a terribly timed adjustment to the rudder assembly. No harm was done to either the windsurfer or his sailboard however, we did spend some time afterwards recovering the windsurfer’s bandanna. Dragging the boat above the waterline confirmed the boat is a lot more difficult to move about out of the water – the two of us could barely move afterwards.
The Tornado (white sail) on Zushi BeachAfter lunch the winds picked up and we rocketed across to Nejima. Enroute, a seam on the trampoline came apart where it had been repaired in the past – the stitching thread had rotted. Later Nihei-san lent us a needle and some tough thread. On the approach to Zushi beach we hit a windsurfer while making a terribly timed adjustment to the rudder assembly. No harm was done to either the windsurfer or his sailboard however, we did spend some time afterwards recovering the windsurfer’s bandanna. Dragging the boat above the waterline confirmed the boat is a lot more difficult to move about out of the water – the two of us could barely move afterwards.
Tornado Practice - Zushi to Enoshima to Nejima and back to Zushi First impressions of the Tornado was that its very quick, has a complicated jib sheet arrangement, is a little slow to tack, is really stable while jibing and is a lot of boat.
That evening we had dinner at a Thai restaurant in town, set up the tents on the beach and went to bed at about 10. Next morning John woke at about 6 and repaired the Trampoline. We packed the tents away had breakfast and made ready to leave Zushi.
At 10am we headed off down the Miura peninsula into a fresh headwind and it looked like being a long day of tacking. The tacks took us about as far offshore as I’ve been, and well clear of most of the nets and rocks. By mid day the winds weakened but the boat kept moving along. During a particularly relaxing moment John decided to move weight forward and managed to fall in the water, sliding under the trampoline – I headed up into the wind and he managed to climb back onboard after his refreshing swim. We rounded the end of Miura peninsula keeping well clear of a series of nets at about 2pm and entered Tokyo bay with the winds strengthening. The wakes from shipping coming out of the bay made things a little interesting for a while but nothing really challenging.
Zushi to Mirua Multihull Yacht ClubThere were a number of nets to avoid on the way into Mirua Multhull Yacht Club and the winds really kicked in while we approaching the beach – we almost got a hull out of the water! After a nice soft landing we again had to man-handle the boat off the beach but only after struggling with the main sail for 15 mins – there’s a knack to getting the headset of the sail out of the mast. We borrowed a dolly from the club and wheeled the boat up on the beach.
This weekends data from the GPS
Trip: 89.7km
Moving time: 8h 16m
Max speed: 27.8km/h
Average Speed: 10.8KM
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