Making Short-handed Short Work – Onboard Rapido 60 Sail-World magazine has reported in an article by Anna Merchant that was published on 11 February 2021.

The article – with a video – is about owners Dougall and Jaz Love selecting their Rapido 60 – and how they use their C-Tech SnuffAir to safely manage their 297sqm spinnaker.

“Meet Jaz and Dougall Love, owners of the 60ft performance cruising trimaran, Romanza. In 2017 the two ocean lovers sought after a boat that could be comfortably managed shorthanded but also be quick enough to compete well in their favorite local races. Really, a boat that could do it all. Although a tall order for many yacht designs, there was one that caught their eye and three years ago Jaz and Dougall opted to build their very own Rapido 60…”

Jaz says on the video that Romanza has given them “enormous pleasure over the last three years… to be sailing, cruising, racing and to be just enjoying the harbour in New Zealand”.

Dougall says that they wanted to upgrade their spinnaker and “were able to source a much bigger second-hand A-sail, but the next challenge was finding a safe way to manage it shorthanded. After some research a few prospective possibilities came flying at them. Not knowing what the best product was, they chose based on the company they knew well through previously working with, trusting and relying on for sail battens and hardware. Then came the unveiling of their true downwind speed with the use of an enormous new free flying A Sail, assisted by the inflatable SnuffAir to keep everything comfortably under wraps. The speed gains made from this choice were unreal…

Dougall adds that “We’ve had it for 12 months now and have used it flawlessly. It’s even better than I expected actually, this is a massive sail and personally I don’t think you could beat this.”

Original article

• To view the original article and video, click here.