Blogs

My race started in inauspicious circumstances. Whilst climbing aboard Juno I managed to drop my sleeping bag in the sea. It was quickly recovered and hung across the boom in the hope that it would dry. My second error was not to don my oilskins before the start.

Saturday 30 July was Juno's last chance for fine tuning before the big race, the Fastnet, in 2 weeks time.  The RORC channel race started at the RYS line in Cowes at 0900. The forecast for the weekend was for  variable and light winds, a complete change from the majority of sailing this year, and early Saturday morning saw winds of about 3 to 4 knots from the east

Last Saturday, the 25 June I competed on board Juno in the Round the Island Race and immediately (well, after a short break for a couple of glasses of fizzy wine and strawberries) travelled from Port Hamble to Hamble Point to join Michael Forbes Smith on Aeolus, a chartered HR 36. There would be four of us on board, the other two being Adrian Waller and Julie Rosenberg.

The day started very early with rain and strong winds. We only had to get from Cowes Yacht Haven to the start line but even in that short space it was very clear that the wind was very lively and of course, there were lots and lots of boats to contend with. It was great to be back out on the water with Mike but I knew it would be challenging with me skippering Arvika and him taking a more passive role! I had confidence in my crew though as they were Kathy Mason’s Fast Cruise team.

My main, well only, objective for the start was to be on a starboard tack, so we made our way to the top of the line and made a reasonable but not heroic start. With a westerly we only managed to stay on that tack for a while and then had the adrenalin-fuelled tack back out. This pattern was repeated down to the Needles.