Despite the late start to the 2020 season, it felt as though Mostly Harmless had done a lot of sailing by the end, even if Covid-19 restrictions means that she had gone no further east than the Owers or west than the Poole Historic Wreck Buoy and never had to use the navigation lights.
It would have been nice to have closed the season with the same form that we had shown from emerging from lockdown until early September but it was not to be.
It seems that a lot of winch grinding and pulling on sheets and halyards has overstressed Tom’s shoulder and upper arm, thoroughly smashed up in a skiing accident at Christmas 2018, leaving them prone to fatigue and pain.* The outcome is revealed in the retirements shown in the results of the final events in the Junior Offshore Group and Royal Southampton YC events in late September and October. Natalie, a veteran of multiple operations on her own shoulder and now studying for an MSc in physiotherapy, has now advised exercises for the winter to make sure we are in good shape for the 2021 season.
Photos above are from the RSYC Autumn Double on 10th October, and were taken by RSYC’s Dave Martin before we took the decision to call it a day.
Photos below by Rick Tomlinson are from the JOG Final Wrap on 19th September, before Tom’s shoulder said it wouldn’t take any more abuse.
* the accounts of the races since late August, starting with the JOG Home Ports Regatta, suggest that we should have spotted the problem sooner