It was a really nice boat with enough cabin room to stand up straight inside. The inside was nice and there was a galley and shower. I guess the boat was designed to be a compromise between racing and cruising with enough sail control and rig to be raced, but also with enough creature comforts to be able to cruise it around comfortably.
It took 2 people to manage trimming the large genoa. There's almost no way to physically reel in the sail to close to trimming position. One person had to tail the sheeting line with another to grind the winch. I alternated with my friend between grinding and tailing. It was hard to know when to stop grinding because the most effective leverage position was to face the stern without seeing the genoa. The skipper had to call out when the sail was in the right position...there's a real danger of damaging the sail and poking a hole through it against the spreaders. Sails that big are really expensive! I also helped out on the foredeck with launching and dousing the asymmetrical spinnaker.
It was neat experience overall, but I found that I was detached from the race and couldn't keep track of our tactical position. The boats in the fleet are also different and there was a handicap rating similar to PHRF. It was hard to judge your speed and point relative to other boats since some where more like sport boats than cruisers. I much prefer one-design racing I think. It was also really nice to sail around with the Toronto skyline in the background. Here are some pictures:
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