Unfortunately we only had 3 ½ boats take the line for what was a blustery race 3 of the summer series. Black Mark, Legend and White Knuckles with the half being Mike from Monkey business who was sailing with them.
With the wind blowing between 10 and 20 and coming roughly from the south east we were set course 66 which was a great choice for the day giving us basically a couple of windward leeward legs (26, MYC1, 26, MYC1, 26)in the middle with a reach and a fetch there and back.
The fleet made a great start with everyone on the line and at speed for the reach down to Wilsonians where they turned right and onto a beat/fetch down to Gillingham. I don’t know who has been scrubbing off and when but I suspect WK was paying the price for too much weed as they slowly dropped back from this point on but BM showing only a moderate amount of slime on their white anti fouling lead L on the way to 26 for the first time.
In fact they led the first two thirds of the race with a good spinnaker leg down to MYC 1. They then did a great job of dodging the tide and picking the shifts on the way back up to 26. L crossed them once to take the lead for a short period but it was BM that was in charge. On the next run L came back at them a bit and at MYC1 for the second time it was still very close.
This time it was L’s turn to get the wind right with a big left hand shift settling in just as they had gone left and into the tide. It meant that although they were plugging more tide than BM the extra height would pay off half way up the beat were they managed to get across and in front of BM to take the lead. Keeping on the left also helped L as they approached 26 for the 3rd time so held onto the lead as the fleet headed back home.
Nearer the end of the race BM came back at L on the run/reach / fetch / beat that comprised the final leg along heart break reach to the line but L managed to hold on for win, but once again it was a really great race with no one able to relax at any point.
It was one of those days that I wouldn’t have wanted to have been in a dinghy with the puffs, gusts and big shifts making the sailing a challenge at times but in the well mannered Squib it was a joy to race in.
Ian and Hannah on Legend
To see their video of the race click here