Another end of the sailing season and another great rally - my 101st sailing trip and 23rd time as skipper.  This year there were about 70 people and 9 yachts taking part in a weekend of sailing, eating, drinking and making-merry.  I had a boat full of great friends without much sailing experience so we turned it into a bit of a training weekend instead of participating in the racing.

 

After dinner in the Castle, when eveyone else headed off to parties on various boats we decided to go and 'make' our outfits for the next night's debauchery.  You've never seen grown adults having so much fun with paint pens!  I think the photos bear testiment to the professionalism with which the task was undertaken (?).  for the record, the table below summarises who was on board, our sailing nicknames and our flag letters (plus descriptions).

 

Oz	Ginger Skipper	X	Stop carrying out your intentions and watch for my signals
Vicky	Fish Feeder	D	... I am maneuvering with difficulty
Angela	Maritime Matron	V	I require assistance
Alan	Galley Slave	U	You are running into danger
Martyn	Bilge Rat	O	Man overboard
Richard	Leading Light	K	I wish to communicate with you
Roland	Spare Spinnaker Pole	Z	I require a tug
Jacqui	Ballast & Buoyancy	B	I am carrying dangerous goods

 

Before even leaving our mooring on Saturday morning, Angela (my very able mate) and I had been through the different parts of the boat with the crew, practised getting sails in and out and done a safety brief.  With the wind forecast to be in-between Force 5 and 8 for the whole weekend I'll admit it made me slightly nervous, but everyone focussed on what needed doing and we had an awesome time.

 

Taking it in turns on the helm and practising various manouevres, I think we did more tacks than I've done in the past 3 years of sailing.  After a great day on the water (and an interesting parking manouevre on a boat which really didn't like steering in astern) it was time to get dressed-up and head to the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club for dinner.  I'll let the photos speak for themselves ....

 

Sunday proved to be a much more relaxing day than forecast with a pleasant downwind sail back to Haslar and the end of a fantastic weekend.  Roll-on next year.