MOSTLY HARMLESS
This was a strange season in many ways. The original plan included a Fastnet campaign, with Natalie using the excuse of exams to avoid committing to qualifying races. Tom smashed up his shoulder very thoroughly on a ski slope at Christmas and wasn’t fit enough to race double handed until the end of April, so sailed the JOG Nab Tower race fully crewed. We bailed out of the Cervantes Trophy because one of the prospective Fastnet crew was laid low by mal de mer. A slog to windward for the Myth of Malham reminded Tom why the Fastnet, with two thirds of the course typically to windward, wouldn’t be that much fun in a J105, besides which, with 18 Irish Sea crossings under his belt, he’d already got the tee shirt. Nonetheless, with Natalie’s exams over, we did the RORC race to Dieppe in mid June and once again sailed the Round the Island Race with guests who had bid for their berths in a Versus Arthritis charity auction.
Otherwise, Tom and Natalie did plenty of double handed racing with JOG and Royal Southampton, with some decent results but not quite good enough to win either series. The highlight of the season was winning the double handed class, admittedly from a small entry, in Cowes Week and also picking up the Commodores’ Challenge Cup, for the highest placed former commodore of a British or American yacht club in the regatta.
