Wednesday 16th July
On a beautiful sunny evening the wind blew from the west F3-4 and with an ebb tide running strongly just off springs. Puffin strayed over the line at the start, giving Anthea the chance to lead the YOD fleet followed by Blandina, Pimpernel and eventually Francesca, who had kicker trouble and was late to the line. The fleet sped down the beat with the tide underneath them until they reached Black Rock. Here this week’s lesson was being taught: Water at the Mark. With almost everyone arriving at the same time there was a bit of a kerfuffle, letting Puffin catch up and move to the front. Anthea, still well placed was second Y on the run past the pier but with Blandina hot on her heels. The boats gybed to get out to 9 then ran off up Bouldnor Bay. At the end Puffin, Anthea and Blandina finished in that order. Pimpernel retired with equipment failure. Francesca, having nearly been sliced in two by a Class One, who performed a spectacular crash gybe, also retired having missed a mark and also with equipment failure.
Sunday 20th July
On a hot and sultry morning, seven YOD’s came to the line, including Katinka for the first time this year. The programme promised a committee boat start and two windward leeward races. However, this was not to be, as the wind was in a capricious mood blowing wheezily from the North / North East. A start was made, but only Puffin and Genista managed to round the windward mark before the wind dropped completely. For the next hour there was much kedging practice and the occasional very unusual sight of boats trying to get to the windward mark under spinnaker, as the wind had little flurries from all directions. Finally, just after the time limit, the sea breeze came through just in time to get people back to their moorings in time for lunch.