Rare bird - A Beneteau First 260 resource

Back in 2009, during the height of the worldwide financial crisis, Conq/Finot penned this 27 footer in the image of the First 260. Designed to much of the design brief of the 260, it incorporated a carbon rig, electric auxiliary, and asymmetric kites. Rumor had it that this was a Beneteau proposal that never saw the light of day. While it is not clear if that was true or not, it would have competed with the well selling First 27.7. The resemblance to the 260 is very clear, and even more so to the updated First 25, which moves the mainsheet/traveler to the transom, utilizes a fathead main without a backstay, and has a spreaderless mast. The boat was called La Mouette , which is French for 'seagull'. Roughly translated, the designers words on the boat were: The experiences of the Vendée Globe IMOCA 60 and the adaptation to new energy, recycling of materials and the moderation of the size of the sailing necessities by the crisis, lead us to imagine a concept boat that will ...

After a 13-DNC in the first race, and an abandoned 2nd race that makes the DNC non-discardable, we were playing for pride in the 3rd Commodore Cup. Thankfully the breeze showed up, straight out of the SW that promised a 4 mile long beat out of Wayzata Bay to Excelsior. It was choppy, shifty and 12-18 knots breezy, which put a premium on boat handling and tactics. Due to good crew work we managed to stay close to our flat-water polars in the chop. Half way up the beat we were still trading crosses with a well-sailed Merit 25 which owes us lots of time. And in touch with the much faster lead boats, a J/27 and a Soling 27. We round the windward mark and after a short jib-reach over the top of Big Island, we set the kite and run for home, running through gibes 7 times to stay on our angles and stay in best pressure. After 9 miles of sailing, we cross the finish to take the win! Sadly the DNC in the first race blows our Cup chances, but will show up next weekend to show t...