We motored downriver against the tide for the Windward/Leeward starts in good spirits, bacon sandwiches consumed.
It was frisky with lots of individual grey clouds in all directions. It looked like we were in for an afternoon of gusty weather, as proved to be the case, with the fleet of 5 boats all using No2s. A shortish course was set heading back upriver with the start near MYA1.
The first race exposed our lack of upwind performance which was to continue all day with boats sailing straight past us. Captain Kirk started muttering about this in race 1 and by race 3 we had to “politely” tell him to stop out of concern for his health. We did well downwind but the race was lost (4th) with White Noise leading Watersong and Musical home, with Bluetack behind us.
White noise was in contention for the lead in race 2 when her main halyard snapped, giving us hope, but Watersong swooped in to take this and the next two races, we managed 3rd.
In race 3 we found ourselves as leeward boat by the committee boat just before the start in a three-into-one sandwich with Watersong and Bluetack, with minor bumps all round. They both did their turns so we thought we were “in”, but they both managed to sail past again upwind and we were last (4th).
This was where we had to make our medical intervention with the skipper.
We approached the last race in a more philosophical mood and managed a 2nd. The Captain’s hat flew overboard on the finish line which was recovered with some nifty crew work in one pass (we’ve had practice at this before).
On the way home we put Mr Knowles on the helm giving Captain Kirk the chance to enjoy life close-hauled on the foredeck, during which we encountered our biggest white water wave of the day over the bow. We enjoyed finally passing Watersong, who were motoring back.
Overall it was an exciting day’s sailing, packed with close action, despite our “mixed” results. Thistle also looked like they were going to join us for race 2 but suffered a broken boom.
Commiserations to both White Noise and Thistle for their misfortunes.