Who was out this weekend?.....

Had an amazing race yesturday!! A Race to bournemouth pier and back
scaling 9miles each way. Was a perfect run there and beat back so whilst
the going there was fun playing in the waves, a 9mile beat is a long hard
slog! Managed to iron out a lot of kinks and learnt a bit about making
the boat go well faced with different wind Vs wave patterns that hit at odd
moments.
Overall a lot of fun but I hurt a lot!!

Today was a bit of a light wind drifter, not so fun but still managed to a
lot out of it so far as working on my tacking and gybing.

A rather polite gentleman decided to tell me how sh*te I am and how I
wouldn't stand a chance in a proper boat, would be at the back of the
fleet. Apparently after having watched me sail (sail past him that is,
whilst he's in a faster boat) that if I were jump in a laser I'd get absolutely
trounced and apparently I know that I'd get trounced and that's why I
chose the streaker.
In my usual maner, I smiled and quite calmy said "you seem quite
confident of that"
to which he responded "of course I am, I've seen you race and you clearly
don't know anything"

A few years ago I probably would have walked straight down to the
dinghy park, rigged up two club lasers and told him to get into his sailing
kit..... But time passes and I now think to myself... wow, this guy must get
really angry having me race against him. Well I suppose I shall just have
to keep being annoying Race on mr grumpy, race on, because I'm
going nowhere!

I gave my boat a wash and polish (bit of an operation that...). Got pushed over the line in the first race, parked on the line beautifully in the second and got away fine.

Medway Marathon today, but the wind was light.  My crew chickened out and found me a substitute who was very good.  We were crap at first though and the fast fleet got ahead of us but things got better and we eventually reeled them in and overtook all but the Canoe.  The wind increased from F2 to almost F3 along Gillingham Reach but it took a while for the 800 to get back past but we stayed almost with them to our first windward mark at the entrance to Otterham Creek.  Downwind they pulled away a bit and on the next long almost one tack beat they got away by half a mile but the 59er, 29ers and the other odds and sods didn't catch us.  A very strong adverse tide did let a MPS and a 600 get up to us at the end but MYC decided to shorten course send us home from there.  It was deep all the way back to the finish and we feared the 59er with its big kite would catch us but no.  We sat inboard wing-wanged the pole out and just planed home sitting almost centrally.  The 600 was left of course but the MPS decided to get the apparent wind going and sailed away.  We could no longer see the 800 and the Canoe.

The winners were of course the light wind specialist boats.  Nice looking minature 400s called Matrix's and the Wayfarers.  They had left earlier and didn't sail in so much counter current.  We aquitted ourselves well but were surprised to find the 59er had caught us on handicap even though they were miles behind - but then it was a 3½ hour race.

That is an awesome cake.  Where can we place orders????

Apparently fog, drizzle and next to no wind is highly unusual at Derwent, as we were told at the weekend, especially Sunday (when we didn't race). Repeatedly.

 

Lovely friendly place mind, I'll happily go back if there's some wind.