Barts Bash

Neither Ciao Bella nor myself are really ones for racing, I think the phrase is built for comfort, not for speed :)  However I did succumb to pressure and agreed to take part in the 'Barts Bash' record attempt.

My track around the course... Don't laugh :)

The club had joined forces with Lilliput sailing club to put on a couple of races.. One for Cruisers and one for Dinghies. The course for cruisers was set in the bay and was one lap of a simple triangular course to keep it easy for those of us unaccustomed racing.
The weather was just enough to keep it interesting NE F4 occasionally more.  The race control was on channel 37A.. which was great except I use this channel so infrequently that I'd forgotten how to select it. I spent a good 10mins hove too trying to find it... ne'er mind.    This meant two things, One, I'd have to follow others across the line as I could hear the start sequence, and two, I'd have to finish as I could let them know if I wanted to retire.

A good turn out 

I made a reasonable start and soon settled down to see which boats I would actually be competing with.  The first mark turned out to be a bit of a farce as I kept misjudging it.    I had full sail for most of the course but had to furl about 1/3 of the Genoa as I got closer to the beach. The wind here was gusty and the direction was changeable, Ciao Bella was easily over powered and would round up on occasion.   I got overhauled by a shrimper and a Contessa 26 here and ended up some distance behind.

I'd loaded the marks into my hand held GPS which turned out to be a smart move.. The Shrimper and Contessa trotted off in just slightly the wrong direction forcing them to harden up to make the next mark.  The Contessa lost ground but made it round where as the Shrimper missed the mark and had to come back to round it.   I was back past the Shrimper and chasing the contessa.  Ciao Bella is pretty good down wind and I started to make ground on the Contessa.    The Contessa was heading in slightly the wrong direction again and we ended up round the last mark side by side.

Ciao Bella and Shahin crossing the finish line.

The day was about more than having a race and back at the club there was a good atmosphere, BBQ on the go, the bar was open and there were a few other activities to keep the kids and none sailors amused.  On reflection, I don't see myself competing weekly in the club races but it might be fun to do a few more..

Results for EDSC here:  Barts Bash results for EDSC   Ciao Bella and Shadowfax  (An Alacrity) were both listed as  Hurley 22's so results should be even better :)

Pictures where unashamedly stolen from the EDSC Facebook page