Sailing in 20 knts plus

[rob.lovelace]

I'm just starting to get used to sailing in 20kts I'm sailing in company with a Flinders Islander and he calls 20kts a fair breeze. I'm thankful to him for pushing me outside my comfort zone constantly getting me out in most weather under30kts He sails a Tracker 26 bilge keeler it's an Alan Wright design and handles strong winds better than the top hat ( or me in sundowner anyway) I love 10-15kts but if you wait for that breeze you don't get much sailing done. forecasted 5-10kts generally means half a day with no wind at all or drifting along in 5kts going nowhere. So it seems I have to get used to sailing uncomfortably or not go far. 25-30kts 2m swell 1.5m seas Luke will say" it's going in the same direction as we're going, we'll just get there quicker. Me, I shit bricks and try to keep up.
As for furlers, I have one and like it as a single handler. But like everything to do with sailing there's always a trade off eh?