Wind at Last!

Today, it was windy enough to enjoy sailing. It was a bout time I think, because I was getting sick and tired of the rain and lack of wind. In the morning the wind was not that great but it picked up in the afternoon.

On the first race it well pear shaped from the beginning. I went out and sailed towards the committee boat. Once I arrived there I realised that, that wasn’t the committee boat! The committee boat was further down the lake and by the minute I arrived, the race had started already. Actually I sailed straight towards the line, crossed the line and then turned back because I had to cross towards the opposite direction. I was, once again, at least 30 to 60 seconds late! As you can imagine I wasn’t happy and as soon as the first boats started finishing, I dropped out, because there was no point.

On the second race things were better. I started in time, but I was the only one starting! No other Laser started the race. A few seconds later, I saw another Laser who was going towards the line and he started together with the RS200s. That means 3 minutes later than me and he had sailed passed me before the middle of the first lap. I stayed close to him for most part of the race. On the last lap, I made some mistakes and was left lagging behind. This time I finished though.

Later in the afternoon, we had the New Members Club meeting. Initially someone said we would sail, but later on someone else said we could follow a presentation on crewing “What makes a good crew”. We also saw a dry/wet demonstration (dry because it was on land, wet because it was raining), on sail setting/trimming and use of spinnaker. It was quite good and I got a better understanding on trimming the sails. I definitely have a few things I need to change, in order to improve.

At the end of the demonstration, there was a quite strong wind, so I went out again for about half an hour. That was good! I really enjoyed it. I have to admit that I was more afraid of capsizing than I thought. I found myself letting the sail out rather than heeling more to the side. I don’t know if I was more afraid of the cold water or the embarrassment. Maybe it’s that fact that I am not in my 20’s any more! Anyway, we’ll see how it goes.

In the evening I stayed at the bar for a beer and a chat. Someone gave me an idea for a “poor man’s wind indicator” for the Laser. I will work on it and keep you posted.

No sailing next Wednesday. I’ll be on a boating holiday in the Norfolk Broads. Not in a sail boat but in a motor cruiser. We went last year and it was really nice. I hope it’s going to be the same. Next Sunday I will be sailing again at the Welsh Harp.