The JOG weekend races to Poole and back have been among our favourite races since the 1990s, marking the transition from the summer to the autumn season.
With a light wind, down-tide start, we played it safe on the start-line before carving our way through the fleet by sailing hotter angles and were leading Classs 2 by the time we got to Hurst. But the wind turned inside out at Bridge Buoy and, allowing two J109s to get through us, and leaving a huge gap behind us. Despite our best efforts, we were unable to recover the lead and finished ten minutes behind Jedi (skippered by William Tahourdin, a former Mostly Harmless crew member) and Mojo Risin’, with the rest of the fleet out of sight way behind us.
The outlook for breeze for the race back to Cowes on Sunday was very light, with a big question about the fleet being able to cope with the ebb tide at Hurst and getting home at a sensible time. With the AP flag flying on the committee boat, we turned the engine and autohelm on for a leisurely motor back to the Hamble.