Contender Open at Shoreham Sailing Club

Shoreham Contender Open © Ivan Walsh

To probably misquote Frank Bethwaite, 'If in doubt, sail towards the wind...'. As I'm only on Chapter 3 of Higher Performance Sailing, perhaps evaluating exactly where the wind if from is covered in Chapter 4....

The fleet launched and headed out of Shoreham towards the west, which would have been east if north was south and the wind was from the northwest if it wasn't from the southeast. The wind was equally as confused. It was heartening to see the Committee boat on station, and the OOD reading Bethwaite and being on Chapter 5.

Blue skies, blue sea, clear water, steady force 4 breeze... well, 3 out of 4 is a decent pass rate! The fastest part of the sailing was being towed in 5 hours later, having completed only one race.

To probably misquote Marcelo Bielsa, 'The act of dealing with adversity is character building'.

Content with the excellent character developments of yesterday, the fleet again set sail on Sunday morning, fortified by double caffeine coffee (hydration of paramount importance) and a 'full English' (the importance of nutrition must be observed), including black pudding for extra iron.

The second race on Sunday starts during the Shoreham Contender Open - photo © Warwick Baker / www.warwickpics.com

This time we headed east, which would have been west, if south was north and the breeze had made up it's mind which direction it was going to blow from...

Noticing that the OOD was now on Chapter 6 of Bethwaite, we were filled with the confidence that was floating on last night's alcohol consumption. Apparently, 'every day is a school day'...and I've now learned that the preparatory signal and the wind are attached reciprocally... as one is raised, the other is diminished.

Two ' interesting' races were held before the inevitable return tow home, taking in the Brighton sights of West Pier, Hove Lagoon, and New Beach.

Shoreham Contender Open - photo © Ivan Walsh

Well done to Ed Presley who has obviously read Chapter 7, to Stuart Jones (who is on Chapter 8), and overall winner Graham Wilcox (half way through Chapter 9).

Thank you to SSC for running an excellent event in difficult conditions, and especially the bar staff who had a direct input on my mental well-being.

Post script... I'm just starting Chapter 6... you have been warned!

Overall Results: