Ostar - a low-key start

snowleopard

snowleopard

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None of the crowds on the clifftops that we saw for the STAR last year, a total of less than 100 boats in Plymouth sound to see them off. I think it has got back to its roots and is once again an event for the competitors.

Good luck to them.
 
It seems to have been deliberately low key as Robin Price, Western Morning News sailing correspondent, did not cover it in today's paper.Instead he gave an interview to another reporter from his position as the Royal Western's representative.
There was a lot of competition in Plymouth from a half marathon being run through the city streets that morning.
 
Re: Ostar - a fine fleet

I was at the start in a press RIB and thought the fleet made a fine spectacle. I also felt there were more than 100 spectator boats - saw you Snowleopard (by the way, did you come up to Cargreen in the evening, take one look and scarper?)

The fleet was a great mix which represented perfectly the spirit of the original race - a blend of cutting edge and ordinary cruisers. This was the first time the Open 40s had raced as a class. There was the first of a brand new one-design 40, the Pogo 40, which looked very sexy and was going like a train in the hands of Patrice Carpentier. Seventeen have been ordered and they can be fitted out for cruising!

At the other end of the fleet it was great to see Peter Crowther in his Swan 38, Peter Keig in his Roberts 38, Paul Heiney in his Biscay 36 and Mervyn Wheatley in his 16-ton Formosa 42. But my favourite was Stephen Gratton who had a brand new Contessa 32 built last year specially to take part in this race and subsequently to go on a world cruise with himself and his wife. A close second was Bart Boozman who had built his own 30 footer to suit his personal dimensions! He is 6ft 8in tall and headroom in the deck saloon is 6ft 8.5in. The boat was pug-ugly but he lives aboard and has sailed her 60,000 miles so what do I know?

I also visited the Rally Portugal fleet who left Plymouth at 0900 the same day. Boats ranged in size from an Elan 31 to a Discovery 55. Another fine bunch of yachtsmen with overdeveloped drinking genes!
 
Re: Ostar - a fine fleet

No offence to Cargreen - we sailed up there and motored back to kill time waiting for the tide to cover our very drying mooring. A good days sailing all told. Exactly the same conditions as when I started 29 years ago, light winds and a beat. Within 48 hours it was F6 on the nose last time - maybe they'll be luckier.

It does seem a shame that the rules prohibit boats like Jester which have proved themselves a lot more seaworthy than many a bigger boat.
 
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