Who was out this weekend?.....

Medway Dinghy Regatta Saturday and Sunday

Scary stuff on Saturday.  About 25mph and wind over tide made for the sort of conditions which aren't much fun unless you are completely on top of them.  We were just sailing round trying to survive although even then we did lead the fast fleet for a while going down the river by kite.  A rather spectacular pitchpole put an end to that though.  The 4000 isn't as easily pitchpoled as some due to a lot more buoyancy under the bow than the Bethwaite designs but we managed to negate that by blasting full tilt into a mudbank.

Sunday was better, still plenty of wind but we made things a little extra interesting by arriving in plenty of time for a 10:30 when the start was at 10.  So we threw the boat together and started almost 10 minutes late with the mainsheet all twisted and then we broke something and sailed an extra loop in the course.  We finished knackered and last.  Slightly less wind in the afternoon produced the best racing.  We sailed too deep on the first downwind and rounded nearly last but carried a great gust down Gillingham Reach to bring us up to the fleet again and on the tail of one of our rivals who sails a 59er.  The next few legs had a lot of 2 sail reaching and we despatched the 59er and a couple of 29ers which brought us close behind a well sailed ISO which we passed on the beat and we could see the 5000 only just ahead.  We couldn't catch them but got back feeling it had all been worth it and wondered how many days it would take to recover.  And as I write this on Monday I can tell you that it'll take more than one!

That boat is famous in our club - the last owner was a 6 foot tall policeman!

It is an all glass Miracle