J133 – Bella J
We were very impressed overall with Bella J, which was well equipped and well prepared for the regatta. There were excellent race sails and instruments, although not all of the sail wardrobe was available to us. There was clearly a lot of thought and experience in how the boat was set up for racing and this made for some great efficiencies during racing. Sarah and Grace know the boat extremely well and were well placed to advise on sail choice, safety, manoeuvres and race transitions. They listened to and respected our requests for their roles with running of the boat during racing. They offered conservative advice on sail choice and race strategies. Sarah and Grace are very good race crew and stepped into race roles as we requested and fitted in well with the rest of the crew. Grace stepped up to main sheet trimmer when our usual trimmer had an injury and she performed very well in all conditions. Grace had also recently completed her Sailing First Aid course which was very useful for cuts and bruises incurred by some of our crew! Sarah and Grace were patient and calm at all times with our race crew of mixed abilities, and they integrated very well with our crew both on and off the water. Overall we were all very pleased with this charter and would consider chartering Bella J again if the opportunity arose.
