Shameless Sponsorship Plug

[Graham Bridle]

I am not usually given to such activity, but on the weekend of 19th July 6 eejits will be sailing across the English Channel in lasers to raise money for The Brain Tumour Charity.

Somehow, I seem to be one of them.

If you think it sounds easy, it probably is, except for these bloody ships going up and down it all day http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/

Anyway, if you feel you can help with such a worthy charity you can at www.justgiving.com/michael-hare - a generic page for all of us, or I will be putting  form under your nose at Weymouth or just reply her and pledge and I'll catch you somewhere.

Or, you could just bung me a sympathy fiver for sitting in a laser for 30 odd miles, I can feel the bruises on my arse already.

[BenR]

I'll give you a quid a mile if you make it! I will need pictorial evidence (not of the bruises) of you on the beach in France with a genuine French man with a moustache and a beret (on you or him).

[Tim Noyce]

...whilst tromboning a baguette.

[simon_jones]

Is tromboning a baguette legal?

[Tim Noyce]

Probs not. Too much red tape these days!

[Graham Bridle]

I've taken that as a commitment Ben, cheers !

[phil_kirk]

It's a shame that the French don't allow you to do a return trip.  Their regulations forbid small dinghy type vessels from Setting off from their shores. Possibly to stop eccentric French solo sailor manabees to sail to England in a bath tub.

The Wayfarer Association were doing a similar trip this year.
It's a shame it is such a short trip. 
Get some foam padding for the side decks. 

Assuming you don't have a drift you should be able to do it in 6 hours or less.

I think my longest in a dinghy is 14 hours but that had tea making facilities.

[Graham Bridle]

The date for this has been brought forward now to tomorrow.... I have a commitment from Ben and Clive and some of you have kindly donated on the Just Giving site, a reminder that this is at http://www.justgiving.com/michael-hare

I'm the only non-regular Laser sailor doing this so it would be nice to see a little bit more Cherub activity on the list, go on, go on, go on.

[Graham Bridle]

French man, with moustache (and beard) - baguette and big garlic thingy. Apparently berets are sooo last year !

[Tim Noyce]

Yes Graham, this is truely awesome! I'm making a donation! Congrats 

[BenR]

Fantastic Graham, the garlic more than makes up for the beret. How long did it take?

[Will_Lee]

How is your derriere?

[simon_jones]

Well done el presidente. Donation made!

[Phil Alderson]

Fantastic Graham, the garlic more than makes up for the beret. How long did it take?

[Graham Bridle]

Sorry, been a bit busy. We set off from Folkestone in about 12kts and bright sunshine but with a nasty looking cloud system in front, when we hit that (about 1/3 of the way) then it got more blustery probably 16-20kts. Predominately it was a fetch/beam reach on port tack.

We reached the beach at Sangatte in 3hrs 55 mins, apparently thats 30 miles. I sincerely hope I never have to sail a laser again, especially on port tack.

It would be interesting in a Cherub, if you could get some more west in the breeze to get the kite up you'd easily do it in sub 2.5 hours, however the waves in the middle are pretty large and coming at you broadside, and occasionally you need to hang around a bit waiting for ships to pass.

Big Thank You for the Cherub fleets sponsorship, its been noted and much appreciated.