Recovery time

May 19, 2016

After our disastrous Cervantes Trophy, we had to lick our wounds and treat them.

Last weekend Sarai and I went to Cowes for a short break and to check on WINSOME. Forecasts showed; sunny, but cold, only 8 degrees celcius.

First we took the 2007 Main to Sailcare. We compared the torn 2014 Main with the heavily used and many times repaired 2007 Main. We concluded, that although the 2014 Main had lots of airtime -including the windy 2014 Rolex Middle Sea Race-, it still looked much better then the 2007 one. Gerry was confident that he could do a strong repair, maybe even hiding it under the second batten pocket. Work in progress.

Later Sarai and I took LUNA to Lymington, where we met Robin Milledge. Before the Cervantes race, divers had discovered cracks along the attachment of the keel. WINSOME was taken to Berthon afterwards to check on these cracks. After a thorough inspection, including cutting away a lot of plaster in the area where the keel is attached, Robin and the other experts at Berthon are convinced that there is no structural failure. To quote Harry; ‘her bottom will be prepared in America’s Cup style.’ (I do hope these foils will be able to carry 11 tons…..)

While repairs on the Main, WINSOME and LUNA (detached GARMIN processor) were being done, Sarai and I had a nice time on the Isle of Wight. The forecasted sun was present, but the 8 degrees were 25. A pleasant surprise! We rented a car en drove around the Island, enjoyed Monkey Haven….

At a wine farm  we saw chicks born that same day…

Hiked along the River Yar…
And of course explored the cozy local pubs

Although being a 40+ year old model, WINSOME is now being used on both the Round the Island Race and the Cowes Week newsletters. As older models are very precise on their looks, we are very precise on WINSOME’s.

Cheers,

Boj and Sarai.