What a weekend that was – Weymouth – always a good outing. A good
forecast (with a slight doubt for Sunday) ensuring that all enjoyed the
‘Magnum’ weekend!
11 advance entries, with many more on the line, had a close
reach past Old Harry and a fetch to Anvil in a decreasing westerly breeze. Then
for a beat to leave ‘Arish Mell’ to port. Going out made gains so too did going
in, don’t ask me why. Those that made both decisions correctly were the winners
– simple.
By ‘Arish Mell’ decisions about retirement were rife and
radio ‘chit chat’ filled the air. “Don’t think of it as a rusty old passing
mark”, I thought; “think of it as a piece of shiny silverware!” Still some
retired within spitting distance of the buoy. Only a couple of the ‘big boys’
made it all the way to Weymouth.
The next day there was much ‘heated chat’ about the
procedure; no matter I always thought that if no one in class finished the
whole course then the time taken at Arish was used for results. This suited me
fine as Ken Morgan (my only competition) had no chance - even with Ken’s
legionary determination - of making Weymouth in the extremely light breeze.
Saturday saw an impromptu ‘drinks party’ aboard Neil Vardy’s
Esprit. This caught a few out and watered down the RV, no matter those that
went along enjoyed great hospitality and ‘Champagne’. The adjacent Dutch couple
providing piles of garlic bread too!
For Sunday a fresh southerly made spinnaker decisions
difficult. A couple of Class 4 boats (Solmate and Ear To Absurdity) carried
them well in Class 3, as did Shebeen in Two. Esprit failed, but provided
entertainment and gave ground to Amethyst in One. Whilst Dream On relaxed with
no competition in Four.
We decided that Ken Morgan’s Shebeen would be difficult to
beat as they held the kite well – and on course – so we white sailed. Meanwhile
Happy held the kite too, but went off to view the Jurassic Coast.
Both dropped spinnakers and close-reached out to get better tide off St
Aldhelm’s. We straight-lined it and came out in front – Race On!! Spinnaker up,
12 knots – YIPPEE!! Now for the gybe - what no volunteers? Down it came, gybed,
up it went again and all was well. Not quite, the closer to the wind we came
the fresher it became. Number Two was reached without too much trouble, then
the line to number 3 was only a degree or so higher. No one had told the wind
gods though and we were flattened. Jib up, down with kite, don’t waste the
chance of a big shiny silver cup…. Fortunately, even if Ken had noticed our fun
he didn’t prepare himself and, Shebeen headed off to Cherbourg wasting valuable seconds. We
finished 4 and a half minutes ahead of Shebeen with (not so) Happy behind. Was
it enough? At the time of writing I don’t know - see the results.
Weymouth to Poole
in under three hours – fantastic! Very many thanks to Andrew Pearce for his
sponsorship!!
John Withers
