Weymouth
Sailing
Club

As long as you have time to prepare (and especially when you don't!), heavy conditions are a very good time to practise sail-shortening routines, and Sunday's race provided a suitable challenge for everyone, with the wind going from a steady 25 knots to over 40 knots under the cloud when it came.

On 'Foxed2' we looked back as we went downhill to K and wondered whether shaking the reef out had been such a good idea. Those who set spinnakers earned the respect of the others - at a price, as 'Rumrunner' discovered, her increasingly alarming death-roll turning, with the inevitability of Greek tragedy, into a Chinese gybe!

Justin's picture looking back up the course gives a good idea of what we could see coming; anyone with offshore experience knows how fierce such a squall can be, especially in the unstable conditions we have been experiencing lately. At the leeward mark everyone headed inshore with a natural homing instinct: the beat back up the bay turned into mere attrition as the wind steadily increased, driving a stinging rain which made it difficult to look ahead. 'Foxed2' was the only casualty; the clew slug came out of the slot on the boom with that bang that you know means trouble, and the outhaul then parted with a similarly dramatic noise, leaving the sail flapping demonically before it was recovered.

In the middle of the bedlam, the race officer's decision to continue racing came as a surprise, though the signal to abandon which rapidly followed didn't! It was, however, unfortunate for all those who had braved the conditions that they ended up suffering in vain, as no result was forthcoming from the first round - on a positive note, though, for those lucky folk for whom discretion had been the better part of valour (ie they sensibly stayed in bed!) this still leaves a level playing field for the series. Hopefully we can start putting points on the board next Sunday - there are now only four racing days to Christmas (unless you also sail a dinghy, of course)!

Steve Fraser