Mustang Tuesday Sailing at Fleetwood Model Yacht Club

We are now up to 6 skippers in number. This week we had the unbeatable John P., also Mike who only usually only sails in a blue moon so I'm told, and the gentle as anybody you'd like to know Ian.

For some very good reason most of the buoys had been removed after last weekend's Dragon party, so we had to chuck in a portable little one to add to the remaining three. Normally the set in stone Mustang course is always sailed, but again not so for the second week. A triangle course was set, leaving all marks to Starboard, and on the last one, take it to Port and finish on a run.

Now that can sometimes leave my head spinning, buoy to port or boat to port... shall we just say take the first three in a clockwise direction and the last one anticlockwise (and this confusion is from someone with an IQ of over a 150).

It started to drizzle very lightly, so we opted for just one lap to see how we'd go.

John was winning most of the races but then Jim snatched a couple, even though he had been stuck to a buoy on the first race. Yours truly came fourth overall in the end, and believe it or not didn't take on board a single drop of water. I'm told in heavy winds the hull is under more stress and fine hairline cracks can open up, or it's just that water is swooshing over the deck and getting in around my radio board that's not properly waterproofed would be more like it.

We were all done and dusted within an hour. Not much walking involved for us sick, lame or lazy - just enough for a gentle sail midweek on a Tuesday afternoon. Some would say hardly worth getting out of bed for, but for others just the tonic, and hope we see Mike again very soon with his boat 'Foxy Lady' for another outing as it is still very early in the season.

With the schools being off for a fortnight over Easter I'll be able to get down to the lake again no problem and I work split shifts anyway. Remember if you're in the area and fancy a potter on the lake, you are welcome to have a go with my boat. I've actually got two now in case I didn't tell you.

There are a few folk out there that would love to just dip their feet in water for a try. This is the ideal opportunity with less stress and very little rules, just politeness. I've been to some very serious sailing regattas where I not only see an aura around people (a gift inherited from my granddad) but I actually see steam coming out of their ears from the heated debate to whoever was in the wrong or who was in the right to tack at how many boat lengths, on and on goes the discussion (I have been known to tell a couple of white porkies).