Lots of things got in the way of our programme on Mostly Harmles during the summer: an operation, a grandparent trip to New York, a cycling holiday in Albania, the competing attraction of Tom’s Waszp – and a shortage of appealing events in August since Cowes Week stopped offering a double handed IRC class start.
But we were back in action for the annual September trip to Poole with JOG. The start was a challenge, with the wind dying away almost completely and a downtide start on springs. Despite due caution, approaching the start-line maybe fifteen seconds late, we had to switch on the engine for a few seconds in order to avoid the tide carrying Mostly Harmless onto Gurnard Buoy (the outer end of the line). We duly declared this, anticipating a penalty, but were generously treated by the race committee (possibly because we gained no advantage other than avoid potential damage, and were out of the chocolates at the finish and out of contention for a top place in the series overall).
At least we were able to continue with the race, and arrived at Bembridge Ledge Buoy in contact with the class leaders. With a northerly breeze coming over the Island, the passage from Dunnose Point to St Catherine’s promised to be interesting. We spotted evidence of a katabatic wind inshore and an absence of wind out to sea and felt very smug as we snuck up inside the rest of fleet who thought that they would do better away from shore and by St Cats were leading Class 2. The wind then filled in properly from the west, putting a double handed J105 at a slight disadvantage against stiffer, fully crewed boats with better potential upwind speed. We finally crossed the line close to Poole Bar in 6th, but less than 6 minutes on corrected time behind the winner.
We were very sorry for the Race Officer on Sunday morning, as we headed out to the start of the race back to Cowes in glassy conditions. The wind was forecast to increase at some point during the morning but the fleet needed to reach the Hurst Narrows before the tide started to ebb out of the Solent. The VHF traffic among the fleet suggested that everyone was happy when racing was abandonned, even if the promised wind arrived within minutes of the decision being taken.