Archive for the ‘Sailing’ Category

Last night we completed the final race in the summer series. Mystere came 1st making a total of 3 consecutive wins. Our toughest competition have missed 2 races so victory is not as sweet as it could have been… it is sweet though! Our prize for winning last night was a beer and our prize for winning the series was a Fat Face jumper and a shield. We also received a polo shirt as our prize for coming 3rd in championship week.

The sail was very good and we seem to be going quicker in places that we didn’t think we could. I am sure a lot of the benefit is down to the extra ballast of a new pseudo-crewmember. Sorry Brooks… thats a compliment though!! Now to decide if we want to go to France. Thge decision must be made by lunchtime today!

Sometimes the wather can be very frustrating. A couple of months ago, I was due to sail to St Malo in a race called the ‘Dinard Race’. Unfortunately, the weather was really bad and our small boat just wasn’t suitable for a F7 passage.

This week-end I am due to be racing to France again… to Carteret on Saturady, to Dielette on Sunday then back to Guernsey on Monday. What is really getting me down is the weather report… Saturday is due to be Heavy rain, Overcast and F3 - F5! I think I will need to keep a close eye on the report. Perhaps even cross my fingers even though it has never helped before!

I am now testing the image file upload part of the site and am using this picture of ‘H’ on the bow of mystere to check that it is working. The system seems to be quite capable but I am having some difficulty getting it to do what I want! I think I will have to look at alternative methods for getting pics in!!

My final result that I am happy with as you see it now was done manually with a custom css class. I think I will have to learn about writing a plugin!

I would also like to maintain the nautical theme and try out a trackback to Gringod because he has an interesting post about Mystere and Summer Points series which we are currently winning!

I have just returned from a week in France. It was a good trip on Mystere even though the weather was a bit dull for most of the time. I will try to get some photos online when I have had a chance to sort them out. I will post a link here when completed! I will probably write up a brief travelogue when I have some time aswell. Oh well… back to work!

Mystere now has her new sails. She looks very nice dressed up in her racing best!! I am flying to Brussels tomorrow for one night for work. I am then on holiday for a week! Can’t wait!!

Went for a most intensive sail last night… very tired today… I did not think it possible to tack and gybe a boat that many times in the Russel!!!

Next a gripe… I went to the coffee machine to find it full of decaffeinated… for gods sake…. what is the point????

Here is Dave with one of our Mainsails. I thought this was a great picture as it really shows the size. They just dont seem this big when on the boat! After the Dresdner we have some cleaning up to do but the next 6 weeks are absolutely chock full of races. Lets hope the new sails arrive in time.

Amazingly, we have about 2 important races every week right up into August. The aim in this period is to get us sailing more consistently. We are now getting the boat moving fast enough however we need to become ‘Old Salts’ and learn the tides, marks and tactics that work in our local waters. Unlike our usual selves, we have started to pre-pre-plan for the Dinard race in 3 weeks time. We won this race on Alvine II last year so we would like to try and do well on Mystere!!

Also, for anyone that is interested, I am working on a tour of our boat so that you can have a virtual look around. Keep checking back here as it wont be too long before it is finished.

What a week-end, on Saturday morning at 9.30 we started the ‘Dresdner Channel Island Yacht Race’ with 105 other boats. I was helming, Dave was Spinnaker trimmer, Helen was trimming the spinnaker pole, Aidy was the resident oddjobber/boom sitter and Karen was the squirrel (Person that opens the forehatch to recover sails). Mystere, our 25 foot MG Spring completed the race in 3h 48M 24S, very quick for a 26 mile race. After the hectic start and a single collision with 3 other boats all at once, we stayed well up in the fleet and had no problems allowing us to maintain a consistent speed. We came 11th, a fantastic result and the highest Mystere has ever achieved.
The other benefit of a quick race is the shopping that can be done in the afternoon… Helen made full advantage but did not find the one item she was looking for.

The evening saw us have a great meal in a pasta restaurant Dave had chosen. Next it was to the yacht club for the presentation and a lot of drinks and lots of cheering!! The evening ended with a visit to a nearby nightclub where more alcohol was consumed. I was able to go in wearing shorts and boat shoes… Dave and Aidy had to go back to the boat to get changed… that will teach them not to push in!!

After breakfast on Sunday there was time for relaxing in the sun. The plan was to leave at around 3PM as the tides would be in our favour. The crossing back took a little longer than the race but it was very nice. If the sails hadn’t hidden the sun it would have been even nicer.

Today I am very tired and can barely concentrate enough to write this. As there a number of other big races coming up, the boat needs to be cared for. Some hull polishing is required and the interior needs a spruce up!! No rest for the busy!!

Dave and I had to empty the boat out over the last couple of days as it was weighed for an IRC certificate (Will give the boat a handicap like in golf) last night. We both now have very full cars and a very light boat. In fact, Mystere rose by about 2 inches from the water. We are racing on Thursday evening so we are hoping that she will be quicker. Unfortunately the new sails will not be arriving till next week… this is very unfortunate as it is the ‘Dresdner Channel Island Yacht Race’ on Saturday. This is from Guernsey to Jersey this year and is a highlight of the racing calendar… usually over 100 boats take part and I have to helm as I am entering the ‘Young Helm’ category.
On another note… my website keeps going up and down. This is due to a hardware fault on the webserver. I hope that bargainhost sort this out quickly as it is very frustrating!

Nice weather yesterday… the day started with a yacht race which was made interesting by the complete lack of any wind. After an hour of slowly drifting in the general direction we intended, we decided to call it a day and instead head over to Herm for the afternoon. We pulled back into the marina to drop off a crewmember. Helen has an exam this morning and she needed to study for it… good luck ‘H’!!! Myself, Dave and Aidy went off with swimming shorts, a towel and a beer ready for an adventure that would get a little chilly!!! When we arrived in Herm, Dave pumped up the dinghy so that we could get to shore for our lunch… the excitement started when the dinghy would not stay inflated due to the nice tear in its underside. After discussing all possible options, it was decided that we had to swim to shore in the freezing water!! We finally arrive at the BBQ and have an hour waiting for food… at least we dried off and warmed up. We headed back to the boat which we could now wade out to. We try out the new waterproof case for the IXUS camera… didn’t leak so that was successful. Dave sets up a swing from the rigging and the boat gets a clean around the waterline.

Another weekend gone by and another red face for me… not embarrassment as some might think but once again the sun and wind out on the sea has taken its toll on my sensitive skin! Saturday saw Mystere and crew take part in the ‘Round Guernsey Yacht Race’. We took about 6.5 hours to sail around which was quite good considering we were in the smallest boat and we had some adventures… the most memorable was a chinese gybe where we had Mystere lying flat on the water, this was about 4 hours before the end and resulted in my boot filling up with water and squelching for the rest of the day. We submitted, our time but do not have a result yet. I don’t think that we have done very well but we learnt a lot which can only benefit us in the next races.

Sunday saw a relaxing day where I managed to have lie-in. I was aching from 5.5 hours at the helm on Saturday and my face was still burning. We decided at about lunchtime to go to Herm for lunch… this resulted in a very big rush to get ready and to the boat before the tide went out!! When we got there it was very nice but all of Sunday saw a cold chill on the wind which was a shame. Still, sitting below decks with a beer and a couple of magazines was perfect relaxation for me!

What a great week-end. I am now another year older! Thanks to everyone that sent me cards a gifts… Aunt Angie and Co, Grandad Dave (Cool e-Card!) and of course Dad and Jane! Closer to home I need to thank… Parents for sandals and money, ‘H’ for a bag full of cool things, Dave for a leatherman, Aidy & Karen for wine… not forgetting my Grandad that gave me some money then borrowed it back to go for a pint!!
Yesterday 9 of us went to Herm on Mystere. People got wet in the dinghy and some of us even went swimming.. it really was that nice… if a little cold in the sea still!! Today I am looking a tiny bit red but no more than usual when I have been out in the sun!!

I am currently experimenting with my James Bond Camera that Helen bought me, it is a small camera that takes pictures, video, audio, stores data and has a time lapse mode… quite good fun! Watch out.. I might catch you out doing things you shouldn’t be!!

Later today I expect to be completing my final dive in Havelet. I will then have upgraded myself from PADI Scuba Diver to the PADI Open Water qualification. I am looking forward to getting this done! I hope to go diving in Spain in September where the water is likely to be much warmer!!!!

Just had a great week-end. Early starts on both mornings meant maximum use of the days. Extra sleep could have been had on Saturday as the planned 9AM Scuba dive in Havelet bay was canceled at the last minute… never mind… shopping with ‘H’ it was then!! I bought a new lens for my Canon using money that I had for my birthday. Now being fully kitted… I really must get some pics online. The camera works really well except that I am having some small problems with focussing, I hope that these issues are solved easily as I would hate to be without for another extended period!

We completed our first race on Mystere this Sunday. We were very happy with our 8th position out of 10! In fact when you consider that we thought we were doing a completely different race and didn’t know the course it was a result that we even got to the finish! The way I look at it though… It was a nice day, we finished a race, we didn’t break the boat and we weren’t last… what more could you want?? The new set of sails will be quite nice but they wont be here for a month or so!!

It is now Tuesday and we have had a bank holiday!! What a week-end… it started last Friday lunchtime when my new camera arrived by DHL… at last… it was ordered on 17th March!!! I had the lens for it on about the 20th march so it was nice to finally get my hands on it… I wrote an article about it ages ago… its here if you are interested. The week-end was also great, the Aquasail.net website was progressed, a day in Herm, seeds planted for the vegetable garden and my friends left for a 3 year trip around the world on their yacht Spinalonga, their story is going to be recorded on the Aquasail site at http://spinalonga.aquasail.net. I have written a short story from Helen’s notes about the trip to Herm so Have a look here… it was a really nice sail.