Hamble Winter Series 2005

Week 1 - No wind!

Week - 2

With only 4 regulars to-day was always going to be a struggle in quite a fresh 15 knot breeze, so why were we surprised when we were 4th at the first mark?We seemed to be always 0.3 of a knot down on speed upwind , but decided that it was a long race , and if we just sailed "tidy " it would all come right in the end. Which by and large it did.
Light was pointing higher and going faster upwind and we had a fine old tussle with her that was finally resolved at the penultimate windward mark where she was fractionally short of the lay and pinned underneath us ( good call there Barney!). We rounded and left her to tack twice whilst we sped off down tide , sufficiently far ahead to sail outrageously conservatively and still win. Well sailed everyone - no major mistakes is pretty fair for a new crew.
Next time we will try harder and aim to take all the 332's who start ahead of us as well as winning.

Weeks 3 and 4 - Jolly Hols

Week 5

What a nice sail! Brilliant sunshine , a fresh and shifty Northerly wind , a superb course and of course , an immaculate crew bolstered by Ben taking a break from uni. Shame about the skippers start and the first beat , but we managed to go into a crowded leeward mark 4th and emerge 1st . There were some issues as to which boat to cover as the opposition split tacks in the very shifty wind , but a magnificent 4th beat saw us get well clear . There WAS a small issue with the kite going up sideways - but it was spirited away and another appeared magically in its place well before the teasing started in earnest - and to be fair the next hoist saw the kite pop open ( the right way up) before we had cleared the mark. Two 1sts and two DNS , with the rest of the fleet sharing the honours , so a win is just about possible.

Week 6

Cold , sunny , a Northerly reaching 8 knots in the "gusts" and BIG tides - this made for a race with loadsa snakes and ladders. We won the start ( about time I hear you say) but hit a ladder on the 1st beat by failing to cross and cover With Alacrity. Therafter she refused to be drawn into a tacking or gybing duel , and every bit of separation we achieved worsened our position. In the end the breeze fell and the tide built and we were lucky to scrape across the line in the time limit. 2 nd place - and an overall win still just a possibility.

Week 7

Maths never was my strongest subject. Not only was I wildly optimistic in my  assessment we could 
win the series despite two  "no starts"  (only one  discard allowed it seems) , but we managed
 to turn up on Sunday with 10  crew.  Well , it was a nice day and we had plenty of food for us all 
whilst waiting  for the wind . When it came, we rocketed round the course 
well clear of the  Sigma fleet , had loadsa fun getting through the fleets ahead , took the gun  and retired cos
 we were one over the limit - Moral victory and all that .    
So thats it for racing this year =- dont forget the dinner on 21/1/06 - i  will contact you soon about that - 
and there is the  merest possibility of a  late trip to France as the boat is not coming out til Febuary. 
Let me know  if you would like to be informed about it. Thankyou all for a brilliant  seasons sailing and we 
look forward to talking to you all soon about 2006.    
Oh , be warned . Bowgirl Bryony gave me a stern talking to that whatever  regatta we next sailed , she 
wanted to win. None of this "just competing"  lark or moral victories - nothing less than a win would do .