The roll of honour for this year's Channel crossing has to be headed by 'Suspicion', the J24 which has already one of the highest turnouts for racing in the club, and which made it in fine fettle to Cherbourg, with owner Simon saying that he had enjoyed the wind over tide conditions off the Cotentin because it reminded him of sailing a dinghy again!
The glorious weather made everything enjoyable – the sail across; parties on board, at which YCC president Jean Le Carpentier arrived to welcome us on behalf of the yacht club, and port manager Magali Hamon appeared on her way to rowing to make sure we had enough berths; visits to Normandie Wine and the Chateau de Tourlaville, at which members were able to sample different aspects of French culture; the music festival which kept us all up very late; and last, but by no means least the barbecue at St Martin's Bay, to which some of us sailed on YCC club boats to join in the swimming and great food and camaraderie, while David Lees' 'Nutcracker' joined us before setting off directly from the bay for home! A shame the party aboard 'Sirius' had to wait for the tide in Alderney before arriving back at St Martin's as everyone was leaving...
There will be other perspectives of the weekend posted soon, I hope.
A big thank-you to our friends at the Cherbourg Yacht Club for again inviting us over for such a memorable experience.
Steve Fraser
Cruiser Class Captain
