It was with an air of excitement and anticipation that Playing Around docked out of Universal. Again joined by Sarah and with the taste of success from the Morgan Cup still fresh, we were up for another great race. With SW F3 building and veering to NW F5 forecast, we were fully expecting one.
A strong mid-line start led to some engaging tactical action off Cowes Green with Roger showing his “persuasive” side carving a line through the fleet. Some big gains and some equal losses led to us rounding Needles Fairway in a steady mid fleet position but within reach of the usual IRC1 front runners. A couple of boats were seen heading off towards Poole but the bulk of the fleet set course for Casquettes.
As night fell, a fair crossing was enjoyed, even with a minor 0.01Nm CPA moment followed by a rather urgent alter to starb’d! 2 well timed tacks saw us pull out a lead on the surrounding IRC1 fleet and we passed Alderney in what we felt to be a strong position. We were waiting for the expected veer and spirits were high as we hoisted the a-sail and Playing Around stretched her legs, closely chased by the Sailing Logic reflexes, Puma and Jaguar - a sight we would become accustomed to seeing!
As dawn broke, off the north shore of Guernsey, it became apparent that all wasn’t going to go to plan. The wind shut off completely and with a foul tide, down went the hook in 58m. Puma was in sight and Jags was so close we tried a new tactic – the bread roll lob! Hours passed and save a 20 minute ghost along (resulting in yet another kedging) all was quiet. We even watched a couple of boats turn tail and head for home. As the afternoon passed we finally got a little breeze and finally managed to creep around the island. Picking up a breeze line we were joined by Puma and yet again the North vs Hydes a-sail race was on. Stay sail set, we just had the legs but it was clear this was going to be a duel to St Malo….
That is, until the breeze died again. Yawn. A VHF conference ensued with the other Logic boats and it was decided to give it “1 more hour”…
Drifting with the tide, your author took to the skies in true America’s Cup breeze spotting style – and after recovering for the anatomically altering harness position - spotted breeze ½ mile away to port. Relaying this to a passing French 2 hander (ok – I told them it was to starb’d but hey...) they drifted off, closely followed by Puma popping her kite. That was all we needed. After approximately 6 hours of being becalmed - we were off.
A-sail up again and some super concentration on trimming & helm saw us pull out an increasing lead, one which was held until St Malo. After a minor confusion between a boat that had finished and the finish line we heard the gun – much to the relief of all!
On went the phones and to our disappointment we saw that our expected reasonable performance was rewarded with a 15th. We later found out that the boats we saw heading west the previous day had picked up the NW’ly and ridden it all the way to St Malo – beating us by 5 hours. This pack was mainly made up of French boats so the speculation is that the French gribs perhaps had the edge in this instance.
With the bars closed and a crew keen to get to work on Monday, we decided St Malo wasn’t going to happen. After transferring Graham to Puma and a minor altercation with an unlit mark, a long cruise back followed, ably skippered by Iain. After we gave up trying to reach the Alderney race, a short stop in St Peter’s Port, Guernsey, saw both Playing Around and her crew well re-fuelled (thanks Phil!). There were lessons a-plenty on the way home, from the plotter, to helming (!) and even short handed kite work.
All in all, a rewarding, if slightly frustrating weekend. We sailed a good race in our breeze and with the RB&I fast approaching – it was great to get some more extended sea time.
Next stop – the Channel Race. Bring it on.
