Day 3 in the RS 400 house and the dinghy park is still with the quiet serenity of the calm after the storm, and that's just because the Swedish party of the night before was such a rip-roaring success. The signal to launch was given early which meant a significant portion of the time on the water was spent drifting about. The wait was somewhat alleviated by the amusement to be had from watching Mr J George slumped in the back of 1344 mumbling incoherently into the thwart. Rumour has it that the words "Riva bar" "Sweden" and "Sumbuca" were all that could be understood.
Once the race officer had decided that there was some racing to be had the conditions had settled to a slightly shifty F2/3, the 200 start highlighted the enormous pin end bias which was promptly corrected for the 400 start. This led to some confusion with little consensus as the correct side to start. Jim and Jon went for a strong position towards the pin side of middle with the body of the fleet around the middle of the line. Captain Calamity struck again as James George decided that a broken mainsheet shackle was the appropriate excuse to cover for his shocking second row start.
The first beat unfolded quickly with the realisation that the cliffs were not going to be a defining factor and Jim and Jon came in hard from the left to lead the fleet into the windward mark. A final flurry of tacks into the windward mark had Stewart and Sarah Robertson in close second with the History boys panting along behind.
The History boys compounded their slightly flustered state by making a truly shocking decision to attempt to head for the cliffs and sailed straight into a hole. Jim and Stewart traded gybes downwind but seeing 1066's error did not venture as far to the left of the course.
The rest of the race was sailed in fading conditions as the wind lost strength and became more shifty. Positions remained relatively static at the front of the fleet for the remainder of the race with the final downwind leg being defined by a large shift and drop in wind strength to almost zero. Fortunately for the leading boats this came as they were crossing the finish line but the rest of the fleet was somewhat caught out by being too far right as a result of the shift. A number of the tailing boats freaked themselves out with the belief that the gate must be sailed through and not sailed past on the correct side which meant the order was somewhat shaken up and a lot of post race chat whilst drifting around again involved whether one should or shouldn't sail through the gate.
As conditions totally died off the fleet decided to vote with its feet and start to sail in without the consent of the race officer. When this was finally given the usual paddling race home began.
Here's hoping Thursday blows its socks off!!
Richard Graham-Enock
