I launched Ariel in late Spring, and though I didn't use her as much as I wanted to (do we ever?), we did get a fair bit of good sailing in.  I live just outside of Windsor, Ontario and keep the boat at a marina on the Detroit River.  A couple of months ago, my brother-in-law and I did an overnight sail to Lighthouse Cove (about 40 miles each way) at the eastern end of Lake St. Clair just after a series of thunderstorms blew through.  Lake St. Clair is very shallow, so the waves build quickly and are very close together.  We were on a broad reach with only the reefed main up; the wind was gusting over 20 mph. with 6-8 foot waves.  Man, what a ride!  The boat was very stiff and was still making 5-6 knots, according to my GPS unit.  By daybreak we were pretty sore from all the bouncing around and were glad to stay at the marina for a day.  The sail back (the following day) was excellent with lighter winds.  In all honesty, this boat has far exceeded my expectations and was well worth the almost 6 years I spent building her.

          Patrick Heine