After too many races either being cancelled or sailed in conditions requiring a large crystal ball and rolling the dice when deciding which corner to bang, the weather finally obliged. A good solid, honest breeze of 10-18 knots from the west, a tidal prediction that was almost flat lining (supposedly) for several hours and 14 boats on the line, happy days.

Fi set another one of her excellent and intuitive courses, however, when so many letters are displayed on the platform, we on 3793 must go through a process that GCHQ might normally take ownership of. Not only do we have to write down every letter and then convert that letter into the name of the mark, but where necessary we also then convert that name into one we can recognise as being the mark e.g. for Our Kid read Drakes and X mark will only ever be X mark on 3793. I then go through a visualisation process and will try to read the course back to Jo from memory. Adding to Saturday’s visualisation challenge was the fact we had three different weather marks (two to port, one to starboard) and two leeward marks, the course being Stakes(p), Our Kid(p), Morris Lane(p), Our Kid(p), Wills(s), NC12(p), + Stakes(p), NC12(p). When displayed on the box KDUDVQ+KQ. I know my mind should be elsewhere with 5 mins to go, but sometimes I look at the letters and see what words could be formed. The only one jumping out at me this time was DUD, which I hoped was not a sign of things to come!

A well set line led to a clean start. At Stakes, the final shift into the mark favoured the left side with a rounding order for the first few boats (I think) of 4101, 4114 or 4036, 3922, 4016, 3793, 3971 ……..

The run down to Our Kid proved interesting. Some opted to stay high of the main channel, others soaking down out of the channel, and a few including 3793, down the middle soaking when pressure permitted but perhaps stemming more current. 4101 made the best of it followed by 3793, 4114, 4016 and at this point I lost track. I mentioned Fi’s intuitive course, because the breeze did back a few degrees as we sailed away from the mark. 4016 and 4114 having tacked off to clear their air were now edging ahead of 3793 and 4101. These four were nip and tuck all the way to Morris Lane where 4114 and 4016 were ahead with a small gap back to 3793 and 4101. Phil and Martin in 4058 had a very good beat, now breathing on the transoms of the leading four.

This theme continued for the remainder of the race, with some exceptionally close racing throughout the fleet. Although, once away from the immediate influence of the land the wind shifts were small, getting out of phase was expensive and keeping clean air difficult too. 4016 and 4114 had an incredible race, the lead changing on numerous occasions. With the course to be shortened after the first rounding of NC12, an early gybe into more favourable pressure allowed 4114 to pass 4016, on what became the final run before the short beat back to the line.

Great to see Chewy out once again, and more importantly, in the bar afterwards!

With special thanks to Fi and Lisa for yet another excellent race, it was a real pleasure to be out in a decent breeze after the recent disruption.

Results;

4114 Richard & Jack

4016 Roberta & John

3793 Pete & Jo

4101 Crispin & Steve

4058 Phil & Martin

3922 Ian and Mike

3936 Andrew & Martin

4115 Ian & Kim

4036 Dick and Pete

3971 David & Frances

4020 Graham & Chewy

4019 Steve & Rob

3966 Richard & Alan

4027 Mike & Ron