No problem - great to have everyone there.
(Stu and Neal were signed in by us (risky!) and Graham and Eddie were signed in by the Locoists)
Racing report:
Rain, not much wind, and poor visibility greeted us at Whitstable on Sun 16th Nove 2008. However it soon cleared up and a Northerly force 3 set in. The start was an all-in handicap affair with tornados and mirors sharing the line with 4 cherubs and a similar number of Musto Skiffs and a 29er.
It was a running start with a foul tide inshore and a fair tide offshore. Cherubs went for hanging back and then engaging the warp drive. At the bottom this tactic had worked as in front of Antidote were one musto skiff and two cats only, with the assembled multitudes of all sorts behind busy being slowed down by each other. Loco tipped it in while dodging a Laser 2000 (if your are reading this, L2000 sailors, they are v sorry), and two mustos acheived synchonised swimmability on the gybe. Suicide also swam on this leg but I don't know the details.
There was then a beat with decisions to make: Offshore for worse sea but more breeze or inshore among the windjammers (cats) with windbends around the shore too (possibly). We chose to stick reasonably close to Simon Reynolds as he knows his onions. Another stbd rounding onto a short white-water-reach to a bear-away buoy at the top of the run again completed the lap. There were 3 or four laps- I don't remember, sorry!
Each lap the breeze would go down a bit, but Antidote would act with honours, pointing a bit lower but outpacing the Musto uphill and downhill going about the same speed but doing a lower angle in the fading breeze. The first white water reach (two sail reach) was seriously fast, the second one had moments of fastness, but the next one was when Simon cruised by to leeward, his longer hull and singlehander's lighter displacement carrying him fast past us. We didn't catch him again despite our best efforts.
Loco and Scumbag had an excellent battle all round the course with Loco coming out on top in the end. Suicide got round but I know no more.
Getting ashore after our post race blast in less wind (good) but more shoredump (bad) was a real study in how friendly the sailors at Whitstable are: As we wobbled, boardless and almost rudderless between the groynes we were met by two Musto sailors, one of whom we had never even met before, and the Locoists who caught the boat and (get this) gave us a hand lifting the boat out. We returned the favour by catching the Mustos as they came in. They were even accepting of us carrying their boats and putting them some of them on the wrong trolleys (sorry).
This is a very friendly club - and a very cherub friendly club too. This is a good thing because when I looked up I noticed there were tipped over cherubs filling the beach space in our groyne area, with Musto Skiff sailors pulling their boats through the gaps or derigging as if Cherubs were the most natural thing to find tipped over on the beach at your club.
After this it was packing up before the sun went down and before we all became human-icicle hybrids.
In the bar Simon Reynolds gave us a really useful debrief about each leg of the course - much appreciated!
