The first Wednesday race was run in wind ranging between 14 and 27kts at around 100degrees. The strong ebb meant that the boats had to be out of the water by 3.15pm. Fi set a windward leeward course of Our Kid and Stan’s. Whether she was serious that we could do 5 laps in an hour and a bit we weren’t sure! In the end we completed two.

Ten boats started the race in some meaty gusts. Some boats headed for the channel, but it was the boats from the left that arrived first at the windward mark with Pete and Jo leading from Mervyn and Ron. Getting to Our Kid in second place was the best bit of Mervyn and Ron’s race as they then hit the mark, and when doing their turn laid the boat flat for a few seconds. Having checked that the keel was still firmly attached to the new boat, they set off downwind having lost a few places.

Spinnakers went up and a wild run to Stan’s ensued; classic FF racing as we planed in bright sunshine with everyone trying to remember how to keep the boat underneath the spinnaker and how to gybe in strong winds. On 3934 we caught a great gust and moved through the fleet to third position behind Pete and Jo, and Ian and Mike. At Stan’s, Mervyn and Ron got a wineglass in their spinnaker and sailed a fair way beyond the buoy before it was sorted.

On the next beat the first two boats held their position, while Geof and Alan caught us, and we cross tacked a couple of times. By pinching up on the ebb tide we rounded Our Kid just in front of them.

Unfortunately Mervyn and Ron’s race wasn’t improving. Being a little behind the fleet they tried the North Channel route to Our Kid for a change but wisely didn’t want to risk their lovely new keel by bouncing across the sandbank which was emerging very quickly as the water drained away. The decided to retire.

On the second run Geof and Alan went low and initially got away from us, then we caught another great gust and pulled well in front. Meanwhile Pete and Jo were powering along as leaders; Ian and Mike couldn’t close them down.

On the second lap there was a bit of drama on 3901 as Peter and Trevor gybed and found that their pedestal had become detached from the floor of the boat - apparently a failure of the epoxy used to glue it down. Hopefully an easy fix.

No one seemed upset when the S flag was displayed. For us, two laps in those conditions, so early in the season, was enough.
My apologies that I had no idea on the position changing or other dramas in the rest of the fleet.

The gremlins then struck 3934 as we tried to bring down the main in the marina. Thanks to all who assisted by rolling the boat over so we could free the halyard.

Overall it was a really exciting but mercifully short race, which reminded us just how good the Flying Fifteen is to race in a breeze. Thanks to Fi, Alan and Chris for their fine race management.