Ramsgate to Burnham

[PaulRainbow]

I remember Ipswich when it was ok (note i only said ok) about 25 years ago. It is now a _hit hole with two many of those poor unfortunates who came here by boat ( i suppose i ought to feel a bond with them because they are sailors who have done a cross channel passage) It does not feel like the town i grew up in any more and that is why all the retailers have pulled out.

Racist ?

 

[johnalison]

I was only joking about you being the only boat in the race, and winning all the time must have taken the smile off all the other competitors when they saw you turn up at the start.

My racing successes over the years are not so many that I can afford not to crow about the few that I did win. I think that on my third regatta I fell to third but in my fourth and last year my colleague who was in charge and aware of my experience took the precaution of giving me the the most derelict of the six craft, with a mainsail creased like the Himalayas. After getting easily through a heat I faced him in the final and on a long leg noticed that I had the chance to lee-bow round the corner by just pinching up a bit. This was something I had only read about, since most of my sailing had been on a reservoir, but in the event it worked like a charm and my slow old boat just walked away from the others. My colleague, not really a friend, came up to me after the race with “How did you do that?”, at which I smiled and declined to answer.