Our Summer series was not our most successful, however we did win the last race, the Autumn series has been a lot more successful, There are a few reasons for this turnaround in performance. A change in the hull cleaning procedure, with the driver spending more time on the rust blooms on the cast iron section of the keep. The next time G-whizz  is out of the water the keel will be subject to some major remedial  freatment. The second reason for turnaround is the absence of the Elan 37 “KoKo” with the skipper out of action after an orthopedic operation and the North shore 38 “Aetos” off the race course waiting on a new mast to arrive. These two boats are generally faster than us, our result are boosted by their absence.

There have been some suprise results with an extremely competitive race in winds in the 20 knots area,  finishing ahead of all the bigger boats, and the performance of Saoirse a Dehler 38  running away from the fleet in light air, we would generally expect to be most competitive in light air while the heavier boats generally handle the heavier air better.

This series we have had some terrific battles with Chris Stannard and his Jeanneau 39i “Worlds Apart”  on many occasions spending a lot of the race only a few meters apart and finishing with seconds of each other.

The picture above is us drifting out of Humbug in the company of Words Apart and French Connection, it also reminds us that we should concentrate a bit more on trimming the headsail. The photo to the right shows the same three boats chasing Saoirse, who just insisted on sailing into the distance.