Lost Mojo..

It's just the Winter blues.  Short days & sh!te weather.    I don't bother anymore with Winter sailing as it's often too cold.  And if it's not cold it's blowing gale with horizontal rain.  That's not enjoyable.  So, I write off Winter as a time for sailing and try and get the garden done, mend fences, dig the veg patch, fix the house, go somewhere warm for a holiday, walk, have friends round for supper, see family etc.    I do nothing to the boat; I don't even look at it.  

Then when Spring comes, I nip off down to the club, get the cover off the boat, put the sail up and I'm sailing in 10 minutes.   I try and do the Wed evening series and a Sunday  race series.  That's it.   And the odd OD duty.   I know I'm not a good club social member but nor would I be if I just drove to opens every w/e.    But it works for me and I feel I get good value from the club.  This sort of sailing  doesn't mess with my family life and nor did it when my kids were young.  I just sailed a boat we could sail together; N12s, a Firefly, a Tasar (great boat !) and latterly a B14.  If the kids were doing something else, I just found another crew.   Sure, the results were a bit patchy but it was fun.

I choose to sail in the handicap series because I can sail the boat I want.   Thinking back, I almost always have done this.   Perhaps I'm not right in the head but I like h/c racing.  I find it far more interesting than processional class racing.   I like racing against different boats that all have their on preferred mode of sailing and being able to exploit this.    The fleets are often bigger and as for not knowing where you finish, I think that's rot.   I generally know where I finish within a place or two and that gets confirmed online a little while later. 

Sure, wind strength can turn things on their head a bit in h/c racing but it's all part of the mix I enjoy.  The main thing is I get to complete  a couple of race series in the season and that's good enough for me.    The thought of having to drive hundreds of miles every w/e to get a sail is, to me, utterly absurd.   I want to be in the boat not the car.

So are you not joining this year jimbo? 400 quid, that's a lot of money, even when I was in full two boat three board storage plus family it only came to 350..

I have to say I'd have given up any pretence of windsurfing years ago if I couldn't store the boards down the club near the water, as it was this year past I moved a load out because I didn't agree with my membership fee being paid to just one individual when others were working for nothing, that'll now change now I'm in the hot seat.

PS I'd have a word with the Y&Y web team, their spell check defaulting Jimbo to Jumbo, very fattist.


Edited by iGRF - 17 Jan 14 at 11:22am

Calshot - heck of a long way - a good 15 minutes for me if I include pasty and petrol stops…….  

I have two kids under 6 yrs old, a management position for a large company, numerous family commitments but for me I get plenty of sailing fix in. Ok I only live 5 mins from my club and my club fees for family membership plus 2 boats is less than £150 so it's perhaps easier for me than most but my point is we all have to juggle life around and compromises are made. If you enjoy something you stick with it and find a way.
My sailing has massively changed over the years but I am more than happy playing around at my local club even if we don't have massive fleets or huge numbers to compete against and one in a blue moon I'll sail somewhere else. I love sailing (any boat) and as long as I'm on the water once a week I'm happy.

Well, Mr Welly, I for one will miss your pink (lilac surely?) Solo. In a fleet where white or varnished wood seem to be the only options, I think you should have been an honorary handicap boat!