After three months with no J24 racing it was back to sailing school for the six J’s that made the start line on Saturday. The weather was chilly, with a N. breeze of 10-16 knots and only a small chop. Soliase arrived after a long sail from St. George’s boatyard, Papillon sailed out from Somerset and the remainder arrived from Hamilton. Jezebell only just made the start line after all the engines that Nick Bell owns failed.
The racing was all a bit of a blur - mistakes were severely punished by quickly going backwards, and there were plenty of mistakes to go around. Some of the whoppers were - Joe getting out of bed after a late night; Jezebell laying two crew out cold with the boom - both Australians though so no worries!; Sadiiqi having a fit of tacks at the windward mark; Siren banging a corner and going backwards 1/4 mile. Erin made the fewest errors and had a stellar day with a 1-1-1; Siren were going fast downwind; and Solaise and Sadiiqi were often in the mix. Papillon struggled with the jib up - it was cold but not that windy! And after Dave Perry’s rules seminar, chapter and verse was being quoted across the water.
With a minimum of faffage the R/C got three races off and us back to the bar for soup of the day by 3:30.
