Blowy NW, very shifty.
Classic welsh wetness greeted us this morning. This is more like the welsh weather that i remember from Swansea Uni days. The beer hasn't changed much since those days either - they put something funny in it to make your head go wobbly you know, and both Liz and I were still wobblinng this morning. Managed to lose one glove on the slipway which I found, but by then I had lost the other one! So it was a Michael Jackson impression from me today.
So it was with that auspicious beginning that we wobbled into our good ship Kong for Race 4...
Today was a one-race day, with a gate start and we were first boat out the gate allowing us to take advantage of the shifty conditions. 3rd around the windward mark - lovely. But it was a long race and a tricky one. Places were traded on every leg, we did well on some and were overtaken on others. Unfortunately for us our last beat was our worst, tacking on the shifts up the middle while boats that went up either side did better. We finished 11th.
Next Restronguet boat was Dave & Betty in their purplink (not quite purple, not quite pink) boat Water Spider
Jamie's sister Lindsay crewed for him today, both beaming with smiles throughout the race. Guy and Katie enjoyed a paticularly good final beat among the back half of the fleet, pushing their boat 'Fate' (F8)hard to overtake a good bunch. The poor old girl needs some emergency TLC though after a couple of planks popped, so much was the strain.
Tomorrow is the marathon race for one of the most prestigious prizes in sailing history - the Sir Ralph Gore Trophy. A mimimum of 3 hours or 13 miles, whichever comes first.
Cheers for now,
Ben
