Myth - results

Well, we did pretty well! We came 7th in our class - IRC3 and 38th overall.

For the whole series therefore, we're 5th in IRC3 and joint 23rd overall. Although still technically "provisional" it's been a while since the race, so I guess it's reasonably firm.

See you all on Sat 13th June for the De Guingand Bowl race. Thanks to those of you who commented and - don't forget - we can read the blog during the race, so feel free to comment. But no "outside assistance" please!

And don't forget the IDOR - Nick is skippering the CSORC entry and running that blog - http://csorc-idor.blogspot.com - I've jumped ship for that one!
Trev

Homebound

21:53:00 we crossed the line - Hurrah! More relief than joy, after what was probably the most frustrating race any of us have ever competed in.
Nine tired crew are now plodding up the Solent in the drizzle, finishing off the almond slices.
Thanks to all our viewers and hope you will join us on the next leg of our campaign - the RORC De Guingand Bowl on 13-14 June'
Trevor Drew

The final leg

Mon 20:06hrs We're finally on our way to the finish line. Our strategy to make a westing by going north seems to have paid off and we"re now under spinnaker, heading across Christchurch Bay, with 12 miles to go to the finish line. The wind, true to form, frustrated us to the very end, rendering us becalmed once again off St Alban's Ledge. But it finally decided it had played with us enough and has sent us on our way.
TD

Coastal creep

The wind offshore couldn't prevent an inexorable slide back to the southwest, once the tide turned. So we headed north and are now creaping along the coast, aided by a sea breeze, approaching the overfalls at Anvil Point.

A new line in helming helmets

We are a little concerned by this recent sartorial addition to sailing attire, produced by the not so well known Russian manufacturer, "Mustovich"
Chris has now justly earned the nickname of "Thumper" ...

Fetching the Bill

Mon 1023 Made good progress down from the Eddystone back to Prawle Point on a fine spinnaker reach. Grommit watch took over, only to fall into another wind hole at Start Point Grrr... After a torrid four hours of going nowhere (see photo), Wallace watch took over, to be blessed immediately with a strong Northerly, backing West that took us all the way to our current position, just east of Portland Bill.

Another day, another sunset

Round at last

Sun 1815 Finally. George takes us round the Eddystone!

Nearly there

Eddystone doesn't rock

Well, we didn't make it. Right up to the last minute, we thought we might. We got tantalisingly close to the lighthouse - about half a mile - but the wind dropped and the tide turned. We're now drifting, in the company of about a dozen fellow unfortunates. We even sacrificed George's soul to the wind gods, but it clearly wasn't appetising enough. And, to rub salt into it, as we were approaching, we saw Richard (CSORC Treasurer) sailing the other way, having successfully got around. Time for dinner!
TD

The lucky one

The lucky one who made it around before the tide turned.

Approaching the Eddystone

Sun 1530 Well, this race is keeping us guessing, at every mile. We're now about 2 miles from the lighthouse, in 2 knots of wind with the tide about to turn. And, evenif we do get beyond it, do we risk turning south, in such a fickle, light wind, with the light on our lee? Watch this space!
TD

Becalmed again - this time off Salcombe

Myth of Malham - Sunday Morning

Sunset off Portland

Sat 2045 The wind gods have NOT been kind ... Still off Portland Bill. In 3 knots of wind, doing about 0.3 backwards. But we're enjoying a spectacular sunset over Weymouth. Tide changes in a couple of hours and hopefully more wind ...

Trevor Drew

Approaching the Bill

Sat 1815hrs. Our poor Sigma 38' doesn't like light airs! We struggled in 3 knots while the lighter boats went past us. We were at the mercy of the tide and, by the time the sea breeze finally kicked in, were committed to a route closer in than planned. But it might work out ok, because at least we're out of the worst of the foul tide that's just starting to flow.

Trevor Drew

Pooh sticks at the Needles ...

After a reasonable start, we made a wise choice of the no. 2 spinnaker which, though the wind was light, enabled us to point higher than many other. We found ourselves third in the fleet at Yarmouth, but were seriously headed and lost a few places getting the spinny down.


As we cleared Hurst narrows, the wind died and we're currently totally becalmed, gently pirouetting towards our destination! If this carries on, we'll be kedging in Lyme Bay....

Trevor Drew

RORC Myth of Malham

The crew are aboard and off to Cowes for dinner. Early race start tomorrow.

Getting ready for the Myth

The downloaded weather seems to give us a SE for tomorrow morning, so might be a spinnaker start - quite a challenge for the crew, as they didn't get much practice on the Cervantes - just put it up at the Needles and took it down off Le Havre. And, for the second half of the race, a friendly, backing wind to the North seems to favour our return too! But light winds over Saturday night may bring the tide into play in a big way, so kedging might be a possibility. We will have to spend some time figuring out the race tactics carefully. This is going to be a pretty interesting race!
Trevor Drew

RORC Cervantes 2009

Crew: Trevor Drew (Skipper), Phil Armitage (First Mate & Watch Leader), Tracey Hindmarsh (Watch Leader), Brian Ash, Phil Bartlett (PJ), Chris Benson, Keith Richie, John Storey, & George Tetley.

We set off from Ocean Village on Friday evening, for Cowes, to be ready for the 0750 first gun. In CSORC tradition, the names of the two watches were decided in the pub, with “Wallace” and “Grommit” carrying the vote.
The start line, off the Royal Yacht Squadron, was quite a busy one, with over 100 boats in the four classes and the big boys, including two TP52s, lurking for position at the outer end, for their later start. Our Sigma 38’ was one of four in IRC3 class setting off at 08:00. The forecast was for light westerly wind, veering northwest and reducing in strength. The shortest of the three courses was therefore chosen, in deference to the forecast light winds. We had such a good start I was a little concerned we’d over-cooked it (note to self – not a “round the cans” race!) but there was no second gun, so we were OK and held our own on the beat towards the Needles. Things got more confused as the later, faster classes caught up with us as we rounded the Needles Fairway buoy. We had readied the spinnaker pole and, despite the relatively gentle breeze, I had decided on the heavier kite, as I felt it would behave and cope better with the increased pressure of the beam reach. The fleet separated after the mark, with the majority of the fleet taking a more southerly route. As usual, we found ourselves in the minority! But, since both Phil and I had calculated similar courses, taking the neap tides into account, we stuck to our guns.
The long, long spinnaker run continued for many hours, but the anticipated veer we hoped would match our heading didn’t materialise to the extent we hoped. As the apparent wind moved forward, so our concern over the merits of the kite over the No1 genoa increased. A brief experiment, however, demonstrated our original choice was the right one, with over a knot benefit with the spinnaker. Our night-time approach to the second mark of the course, the A5 Racon westerly cardinal off Le Havre, was a little further off than we planned, and the spinnaker came down. Our approach to the finish near the entrance to Le Havre was uneventful, with the strobe of the Committee vessel clearly visible among the plethora of lights of the Seine entrance. We crossed the line at 0134, rounded the outer mark and set off for home. A little rain during the night of our return failed to dampen the pleasure of a very enjoyable race and our provisional result, 12th of 26 in IRC3, 34th overall in IRC and fastest of the Sigma 38s, was a very satisfying one!

Trevor Drew