Who was out this weekend?.....

wasn't really out at the wkend or on the water at all...

spent the late afternoon/evening packing the spice up, while the 300 was being sailed by other members...

however its now in sinking mode
and the broken transom doesn't help at all (as can be seen in repairs area of forum )

yes alright george dont rub it in.

i went out in the 600 both days, saturday was lovely, i thought i had got 2 firsts but the race officers were stupid and didnt bother to apply the handicap to the results. sunday was insane, i didnt bother to race, mainly because i went reaching out the have, capsized, got it back up, reached the last bit out the entrance, stuck the bow in, lost ballance, collided with the forestay, still got a bruise on my ankle to prove it. after that i went close reaching in the direction of ryde, managed to tack without falling over (woop!!) tried to reach back to the line and realized i was having enough trouble just getting back there to think about bothering to get round a course so just stayed out for a play. i had a great time and at one point i managed to do my first proper pitchpole (the mast hit the water before the boat fell over sideways) it was great. however my play was bought to an abrupt halt when i hooked on after a capsize, put my weight in the wire and bang! splash!, the shackle that holds the adjuster to the trapeze wire had gone. i dropped the main half way down and drifted back downwind into the haven. note to self: get a new shckle before next weekend.

Thanks Pierre.

You might be right about the smug thing though, as I do now consider myself to be a sailing god!

I was sailing one of the Contenders Redback is talking about, I had a fantatstic sail and found the waves entertaining, though I did manage two stick the bow in a couple of times. I made every gybe too, board down - kicker off, no problem. I enjoyed the upwind legs as much as those off the wind, the Contender is just a fantastic boat in those conditions.

Oh yes and I won the race too, making it all the sweeter and giving me third place overall, one point behind the first and second boats.

Having just re-read this post I've realised I sound like I'm bragging, that was not my intention - I'm just enjoying the glory of actually having won a race. As Redback says, it was hard work and for anyone to beat the bloke in the other Contender in a blow is pretty rare.

Edited by No. 5