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Alderneyhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/jogoffshoreyachtracing/sets/72157624147888785/ from Fiona on Only Just http://www.youtube.com/user/jogracinguk#g/u Report from Moondog, Class 5 It all worked out right in the end The crew of my brother Peter, Robin Lawton and I were looking forward to the race given the forecast of northerly winds predominating although with a few dreaded variables thrown in, light and probably decent conditions for us. Our start in the back eddy off the beach was reasonable with the kite up and just about showing signs of life as we crept over the line in the close company of many others trying to elude the strong adverse tide in little wind. We did well in the drift past Egypt Point but then came to a halt as we lost the back eddy. By then a few of the fleet had decided to reach up across the current and head for the mainland shore presumably in search of a bit of wind and the easier trip against the tide along the mainland shore. Getting nowhere we decided to follow suit as there appeared to be something out there in the middle, not enough to stem the tide completely but enough to get to the other side somewhere West of Royal Thames. Part way across we saw the Harbour Master bearing down on us, blues and twos going and shouting something inaudible on the tannoy, followed by a very large container ship. In the spirit of ‘Let’s not get mown down tonight ‘ we started the engine and motored rapidly SW further away from West Bramble for a couple of minutes and by then the ship had started its turn and was easily clearing us. We then sailed back to the engine start position before continuing racing. Somehow the spinnaker was working in whichever direction we went. We continued to reach across the tide but before reaching the shallows the wind filled in from the South West and it was white sails from there for the beat to the Needles. Rounding Lepe Spit we set about catching Xara, which to our surprise, we managed fairly quickly. Ahead we could see Girolle, Whistler and a rapidly disappearing Longue Pierre. On the beat to the Needles we felt we had gained a bit of distance on Girolle and Whistler but very little, still good for us as they rate higher. Round Bridge about midnight with sheets eased. About 1 am the wind started to free so it was spinnaker time again. We stayed on the optimum downwind angle until we were steering over 240 degrees then gybed to get back to a closer bearing to that needed. Once dawn broke we could not make out any of our fleet and were surprised at how few ships we encountered crossing the shipping lanes. The approach to Alderney was somewhat taxing, whichever gybe we were on felt poor but in the end settled to make sure we were uptide of the harbour entrance for the last few miles in. We spotted Whistler behind us so that raised our spirits then heard Girolle on the radio giving her finishing time. Some quick calculations and we reckoned we just had time to get in and beat her on corrected. We crossed the line just before midday with the wonderful assist of Peter Chartres giving us the call as we crossed the finishing line and we were inside our target time to beat Girolle. We did a nifty buoy pickup without resorting to starting the engine and then saw Longue Pierre looking tidy, all sails stowed and no one on board. This gave us the impression of her having finished a lot earlier than us so we hoped for a podium finish and a possible second place. It was a real pleasure to find out later that we had managed a win with a reasonable margin of 10 minutes. Saturday evening was a good time to chat to fellow competitors and relax having had a nice kip during the afternoon although we did have to walk up to St Annes later for a bite to eat and watch the first half of a disappointing performance by England. Our trip back on Sunday was pretty quick, motored to mid channel then a South Westerly kicked in giving us a great ride to the Needles and then back to Cowes via Calshot to drop off Robin. A great weekend with a wonderful result, weather wasn’t bad either. Andy Pickett Report from J Fever, Class 3 Report from Girolle - Class 5 (double handed) Girolle was racing double-handed again, this time with son Giles as crew who had been persuaded to do a guest appearance (he's more used to sailing Farr 40's in the Med these days). My lady wife Helen didn't want to do this race as we've had one or two uncomfortable nights in Alderney harbour, so ducked out. Race preparation consisted of studying the various weather forecasts and fitting a new stereo. The weather forecasts were largely accurate as they predicted varying winds from several directions, which is generally what happened. In the end the stereo was not required during the race as we were otherwise occupied. Prior to the start we picked up a mooring buoy off Cowes where we had a quick pre-race dinner. I wasn't at all sure that Class 5 was going to start on time as the wind was so light but start it did. We had made the early decision to go for the mainland shore as soon as we could. This proved a little more difficult than anticipated with the strong flood tide: the first problem was to get over the line. The initial attempt saw us being swept backwards on the tide. After a couple of gybes we were clear and, with the spinnaker up, made a break for Lepe beach. Whistler and Longue Pierre also went for the same tactic. However, just as we approached Lepe the wind suddenly starting blowing the other way and what was a run turned into a beat. After a quick (panic?) kite drop we were off again. We crossed tacks with Whistler up as far as Lymington. By then it was getting dark and we lost sight of them. By the time we got to Hurst a good few faster boats were coming through, either class 4 or class 3. At Bridge we felt distinctly under powered under main and headsail so hoisted the asymmetric. We headed south and a bit east before the wind went round allowing us to point towards Alderney. As the wind veered more we peeled to the big symmetric spinnaker. Although many boats gybed early we held on until shortly before slack water, going for the lee bow effect on the big spring tides. The night sail was one of the best we have had: there was a good breeze in the right direction, there were lots of stars to light the sky, it was actually quite warm and we had a reasonably flat sea. The night passed very quickly: we managed to get about an hours sleep each but were otherwise kept busy sailing the boat, making cups of tea and keeping an eye on the surrounding fleet. Approaching Alderney we saw S X Girl to the West and later crossed gybes a couple of times with J-Fever who we (just) managed to keep behind us as we went over the finish line. Once in the harbour we were greeted with a friendly “well done” from one of the Longue Pierre crew, so we guessed that we weren't far behind them.There weren't that many boats in the harbour, we were the second Class 5 boat home. After mooring and tidying up it was time for a quick beer and a spot of lunch before getting some much needed sleep. We joined the other JOG sailors in the Alderney Sailing Club for our normal social get together. The results showed we got third place, which we were very happy with. After pre-dinner drinks we went to Bumps for an excellent meal along with crews of Only Just and Cougar. Thank-you to the race committee for an excellent race and thank-you to Alderney Sailing Club and Document Technology for their hospitality. Also, thank-you to the chef in Bumps who had the nous to look in the address book of the phone that someone left in his restaurant, call the entry marked "Home", speak to my wife who then called my son who then told the owner of the phone (who was then back on his boat) what he'd done. It kept the water taxi busy...... Tim Arriving with plenty of time for the start the wind was not looking too promising for the fleet. The tide was strong, the wind was weak and we had a long way to go. Phil Hagen used his influence with the weather gods and managed to negotiate a small increase in pressure to about 10kts, which was enough to get us all away providing we tacked along the shallows. Cerulean crossed the start later than we would have hoped, however we had a long way to go and plenty of pizza to see us through. As is our usual pattern we struggled to find form in the first 30 minutes and made little ground on the fleet. Cerulean is a light airs boat so being slow out of the blocks in light conditions was frustrating. We finally got our trim right about half way to the Needles, got lucky with some pressure further offshore, which more than compensated for the last of the adverse tide, and were back amongst the bulk of the fleet by Hurst. Once we reached Bridge buoy we decided to hoist out A3 reaching kite to get some power and accepted we’d have to sail further east than the fleet. We were banking on the wind gradually veering as forecast, which would lift us back into the fleet - which was exactly what it did. By about 02:00 we had the wind at 90 degrees and moved to our big kite which we held until we crossed the finish line. Knowing the bulk of the race would be in a strong east flowing tide we biased our course to the west - as did the rest of the fleet. Visibility was excellent and we made steady progress through the fleet. The light airs forced us to make frequent gybes as we sailed hot angles in very shifty winds. We saw both sides of the symmetric spinnaker fleet several times through the night. By daylight we were well placed and could see Tearaway Too slightly aft of the beam but further east. A close bunch of symmetrical boats (Cougar, S X Girl, Lickety Split and Substitute) looked like they were having a great race further to the west. They had a better approach than us, albeit a few miles behind, so we gybed back to join them in making better use of the building east flowing tide. As best we could tell we were at the front of the fleet but as the wind was filling from behind probably not as much as we needed. We crossed the line as first boat into Alderney (a first for us), grabbed a mooring buoy and watched the rest of the fleet start to arrive. After handicap correction we dropped to 5th - congratulations to S X Girl who won IRC 3 on corrected time as a double-handed crew. We grabbed a quick lunch ashore then headed home to make sure we'd be through Hurst before the tide turned against us. A close hauled spinnaker run had us back at the Bridge buoy just after 10pm and on the pontoon by 1am for a much needed rest. Our only disappointment was we’d forgotten the tv aerial, the stereo was playing up and the new bbq had the wrong fitting - so our dreams of listening to the football with a bbq mid-channel came no nothing. I've posted 4 videos to YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/jogracinguk#g/u covering Classes 3 & 4. Due to the fading light (and the need to occasionally steer) I was only able to grab pre-start footage. Thank you to the race committee, fellow competitors and my crew. Anthony Report from Cougar, Class 3 We came up to get a good angle for the East going tide and it appeared to pay dividends for us, is it just us or does anyone else spend hours working out handicap's and how long we need to win or lose by? We managed to creep in just in front of Lickety Split and SX Girl who both had sailed a very good race. Floating Voter were already in and it was soon time to enjoy the rewards of a good night. Dinner ashore with Only Just and Girolle (I even have my own dietician on Only Just who worries about my health) in Bumps was fantastic. It was a great weekend, well done to SX Girl who continues to sail well and as ever to the Race Team a big thank you from Cougar.
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