Sailing News

Strong Winds Frustrate Sailors

For the fourth Saturday in succession, fierce winds were experienced on the south coast. The howling easterly blew in constantly around the 22 knot mark with the odd gust up to 30. This weather pattern is unusual so early in the sailing season and many skippers are reluctant to put to sea as they are concerned about safety to crew and potential damage to their yachts. However a couple of the most experienced skippers at the club decided to give it a go on Saturday.

Division 2 skippers Stephen Brown in Mary Maitland and Bob Giles having his first outing for the season with Footloose faced the starter for a harbour course event.

Div 1 skipper, Harold Keay, took out Shagabull for a training run. On one particular spinnaker leg, they clocked over 15 knots which is fairly quick for the old boat.

Brown won the start over Giles with both yachts having reduced sail area. Mary Maitland pulled away to establish a good lead to the first mark. Giles had Footloose beginning to get into stride when unfortunately he was dunked over the side. The octogenarian called it a day, leaving Brown to sail on alone.

Club officials in the start box instigated the mercy rule and shortened the course for Brown who was going to get the points anyway. Brown is the only skipper to sail and complete the four races so far this season and, with a regular crew, is going to be hard to beat if, and when, the weather improves.

Picture: Mary Maitland bounced her way around the harbour giving Brown a hollow victory.

Race Day photos

To see more of Des' race day photos, including contributions by others, please visit this link.

Casual Adventurer blog

Club member Richard Hodgson writes to PRSC from the World Cruising Club's ARC+ rally, which is preparing to take sailors across the Atlantic from Gran Canaria to the Caribbean via the Cape Verde archipelago. 

For official event updates, visit this link.

Richard's 16 November instalment begins: 

"Sunday, sailing day, a hive of activity, filling fresh water tanks, pre loading the Yankee 2 head sail. It’s a high-cut, clew type sail. Last minute weather briefings. This wasn’t looking good. 11.00 o’clock arrives sooner than you'd like. The yacht engine started, lines cast off and she moves slowly from the dock. It's here and now, the adventure has really begun.

We tack back and forth more for crew training as the clock ticks down. We're told it's a rally and not a race, but if you cross the line early it’s a three-hour time penalty. Yachts rush back and forth until the canon sets us off. We waited until 1.20pm to cross the line as the jam of yachts head for open ocean..."

To read more, request membership of Richard's closed Facebook group where he blogs about the rally, here.

Richard Hodgson, from the ARC+ Rally