eastcoastbernie
Well-Known Member
Just back from Burnham and there are hundreds of posts to catch up on so apologies if the following has been reported elsewhere.
Despite being scared $hitless we picked up a fourth in our first race which I thought was going to be the pinnacle of our achievement in the week. So much celebrating.
Second race it blew rather and we seemed to be overtaking boats, which should have been much faster than us, on the beat. Amazed and elated to discover we had won the race!
Third race it blew again and the conditions were similar to the previous day. Halfway down the last beat my poor out working jib tore across into two pieces. Crew rushed forward to bow to hank on replacement jib. Two minutes later the echo sounder packed up as we were zipping towards the river bank. Oops!
Ashamed to say I felt like retiring, but with encouragement from crew we battled on. At end of race packed up boat and set off in search of sailmaker. All closed for Bank Holiday weekend. Got phone call from Patrick to say we had won the race! What's more, we had won the Bank Holiday series!
Collected a trophy for the series win, a couple of engraved tankards for 'best newcomer' in the series, six engraved glasses for the two wins and two bragging flags.
Found sailmaker in yacht club bar and persuaded him to do repairs to my headsails overnight for race following day. He sewed up the working jib, restitched some dodgy seams then overhauled the 'spare' jib, including replacing bulky leech line tensioners which were catching on the shrouds every time we tacked. Amazed and delighted with the £60 bill. Thanks Lonton & Gray!
More celebrating.
After our successes, the race committee nobbled our handicap, but to be fair, they nobbled some of the others too. Winds got lighter and we struggled to repeat our early successes.
Lighter winds meant use of the genoa which also developed a tear during a race. Johnny Windrush to the rescue with a beautifully stitched repair - you should have been a surgeon Johnny.
On the last day, Saturday, we attended the final prizegiving. Brian (Moondancer) won the series and took away more trophies than he could carry. We collected another couple of trophies, one for runners up in the midweek series, and another for 'best newcomer' in the handicap fleet. Oh, and we got another glass and another brag flag for a third place.
More celebrating.
So, all in all, a very successful campaign. Millions thanks to all those who gave their all whilst crewing for me and a big pat on the back to dear old Beyond Reason who performed valiantly inspite of being 27 years old handicapped with tatty old sails and a clueless helmswoman. What a week!
Despite being scared $hitless we picked up a fourth in our first race which I thought was going to be the pinnacle of our achievement in the week. So much celebrating.
Second race it blew rather and we seemed to be overtaking boats, which should have been much faster than us, on the beat. Amazed and elated to discover we had won the race!
Third race it blew again and the conditions were similar to the previous day. Halfway down the last beat my poor out working jib tore across into two pieces. Crew rushed forward to bow to hank on replacement jib. Two minutes later the echo sounder packed up as we were zipping towards the river bank. Oops!
Ashamed to say I felt like retiring, but with encouragement from crew we battled on. At end of race packed up boat and set off in search of sailmaker. All closed for Bank Holiday weekend. Got phone call from Patrick to say we had won the race! What's more, we had won the Bank Holiday series!
Collected a trophy for the series win, a couple of engraved tankards for 'best newcomer' in the series, six engraved glasses for the two wins and two bragging flags.
Found sailmaker in yacht club bar and persuaded him to do repairs to my headsails overnight for race following day. He sewed up the working jib, restitched some dodgy seams then overhauled the 'spare' jib, including replacing bulky leech line tensioners which were catching on the shrouds every time we tacked. Amazed and delighted with the £60 bill. Thanks Lonton & Gray!
More celebrating.
After our successes, the race committee nobbled our handicap, but to be fair, they nobbled some of the others too. Winds got lighter and we struggled to repeat our early successes.
Lighter winds meant use of the genoa which also developed a tear during a race. Johnny Windrush to the rescue with a beautifully stitched repair - you should have been a surgeon Johnny.
On the last day, Saturday, we attended the final prizegiving. Brian (Moondancer) won the series and took away more trophies than he could carry. We collected another couple of trophies, one for runners up in the midweek series, and another for 'best newcomer' in the handicap fleet. Oh, and we got another glass and another brag flag for a third place.
More celebrating.
So, all in all, a very successful campaign. Millions thanks to all those who gave their all whilst crewing for me and a big pat on the back to dear old Beyond Reason who performed valiantly inspite of being 27 years old handicapped with tatty old sails and a clueless helmswoman. What a week!
