The weekend's weather took a turn away from sun and blue skies and back to the seasonal grey dank. Driving home from Saturday night's gig in Thornbury was an adventure, with fog so thick I could barely see the road in front of me.
Sunday was murky, a damp feel to the air but not punishingly chill, so long as you kept moving. South of south east, the wind averaged about 3 knots, the very occasional gusts topping out at around 6.
Uncharacteristically, I got to the Club early, and Alex and I were rigged, changed and on the water in good time for the start of the first race. The light winds caught me out though, and I found myself too far behind the line as our starting numbers dropped, so we were an inexcusable twenty seconds or so late to the start.
The boat sailed well, however. Just enough wind to fly the kite made for an interesting sail. The sail handling with respect to the hoists, gybes and drops still needs to be smoother, as does the boat handling; our roll-tacks often left something to be desired. But these are all points easily improved with practice and familiarity.
After the two races finished, with us acquitting ourselves with a 6th and 5th out of the eleven boats that raced, we went ashore for lunch, then with the lake to ourselves other than a single RIB with her crew under instruction, Alex and I went back out for a couple of hours of kite practice. The winds stayed light, but that meant the conditions both highlighted our mistakes and forgave of them.
I vetoed Alex's suggestion for a capsize drill on the way back in, with the excuse that I didn't want to put away the sails wet, and pointed suggestion we save it for warmer weather.
The video above was shot during the first race by my friend Simon. We're the second double hander in the approach to the mark, with the bell insignia on our mainsail, sail number 13862. Unlike the Scorpion ahead of us, the camera doesn't follow long enough to catch our own spinnaker hoist. Probably just as well, I'm not sure our technique is camera ready!
It always impresses me as to how little wind you actually need to make a boat move.
With the significantly slower handicap of the GP14 compared to the Albacore, we're spending much more time racing in amongst the pack, competing for rights and room at almost every mark rounding. I'm quite enjoying the change.
That's the winter's Chilli Dogs series over now. No racing at the Club next Sunday, which is probably just as well as it's Mother's Day. Then the official sailing season starts the Sunday after. Typically, I have a gig that afternoon so will have to miss it. The band's diary again seems to be getting out of control, despite my best efforts to contain it.
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