Winsome back in the race
August 5, 2008
This has been a victorious day for Winsome so this note has been added after a couple of victory drinks on behalf of the crew, skipper and mighty Aeolus….After a rainy morning, we prepared for starting under perfect english summer condition: 10 knots of wind and delicious fresh rainy sky. Conditions fit to wash away the reminder of yesterday’s backdraw and to focus on our task of today; getting Winsome back in the race. Wind and tide pushed us over the starting line in front of the Royal Yacht Squadron. After a moderate start behind our immediate concurrents we hoisted the spinnaker as first boat in the fleet. Winsome’s example was followed by many other boats, however we rounded the first mark in twelfth position. A huge advantage was taken over the rest of the fleet by taking a long beat upwind over the Ryde Middle Bank, which made us round the upwind mark in fourth position. Thanks to the eleven tons of the old lady we managed to get around the mark without an extra tack. A few competitors on our tail had to bite the dust and turn around to make the mark. Winsome’s crew started to smell her stable (‘old Dutch saying’) and thanks to attentive spinnaker trim and keen boat handling we managed to keep a favourable position for the last part of the race. At an 80-thy degrees wind angle we made a reach under spinnaker one to the single last mark, that we rounded as third. A critical angle that could only be sailed by Winsome under spinnaker giving us an advantage over the three leading boats. Basically the last part was an upwind beat finishing with a smart tack around the alpha buoy rewarding us with a gun shot and resulting in a first place on rating at Tuesday’s race. Gun shot powder and champagne for the winners! Winsome still has a good chance but it will be tough to beat strong competitors like Salvo and Excitable. Ciao, Francois and Pieter J.
Post by Harry Heijst | August 5, 2008 |
Winsome: have a lucky day
AS one who is contemplating buying a circa- 1970s Swan, I am watching your performance with keen interest. Well done and keep it up!
Winsome,
gefeliciteerd met de tweede plaats
Bo en Kees Joosse