After all the bad weather, it was something of a relief to find myself on Friday once again heading for France, though the forecast was correct that the (at times) promising NE breeze died slowly away after midday, and I arrived off the Passe de l'Est at Cherbourg after a pleasant passage mostly motorsailing but with an interlude of actual sailing in the middle. As the sun went down I was glad to be in the marina with my new convector heater working well, and the prospect of a pleasant weekend ahead catching up with friends here.
Sure enough in the morning, Bernard and Thierry were supervising the lift out of Bernard's boat, and the promise of a fine weekend meant that those a bit ahead of the game appeared preparing for training in the rade in this year's weapon of choice, the J70, two of which are up and running. We were not going to join the Grand Surprise training, as Thierry's boat is on the hard for two weeks, so we settled for lunch together at the Yacht Club, while the likes of Alexis Loison, Bruno James, Christian Potier and Hugues Dorries braved the chill breeze filling in, together with the youngsters from the Ecole de Voile preparing for their regatta at Le Havre on Sunday.
And, of course, looming large as an event this year is the Transmanche Weymouth race, for which entries are already coming in - no great surprise given the snappy flyer which has been sent out. The spinnakers in the rade yesterday were the sign that another eventful season is about to start; on Thursday evening there's a meeting at the CNC, the 'other' club to chat about the programme, and the first race is only a fortnight later.....
And Napoleon's back on his podium after his clean-up, looking very splendid in his original bronze colour!
Steve Fraser
'Aliya'
