And then it started snowing
And the wind dropped to nothing
And we stood in the wetbar for hours hoping it might just snap out of it, but it just carried on snowing
So we all went home.
And, predictably, by the time I was at home eating my lunch at about the time the afternoon race normally starts, it had stopped snowing, there was a little bit of wind and the sun came out.
So basically, it had snowed at precisely the right moment and for just long enough to screw up my day's sailing, and then stopped.
AAAAAARGH!
I found out later that one pair of blokes had stayed and gone sailing, and Nick was one of them:
Me and Paul wish a few more people had stuck it out as the sailing this
afternoon was alright in the end - we've certainly raced in less wind
and it wasn't too cold out there. There were times when I couldn't see
the luff of the kite for the blinding sunshine!
So four solos and one lonely Fireball went out to play. The committee had clearly listened to feedback from last week and sensibly set just five marks for the course - X, N, T, J and OL. We had a cracking start, full speed across the line, slightly after the gun went but we were in first place. Good power up the beat, I was even sitting up on the side tank but not quite clipped in. First at X we bore away and set the kite. It was a reasonably fast reach to N where we gybed again. Couldn't keep the kite flying as it was pretty tight to T so down it came. Gybed at T and set the kite again but it was a slow run next to the dam wall down to J. Some Fireballers might have headed up to sail higher and faster and possibly overtake but as we were the only ones out there we just went straight to the mark.
So four solos and one lonely Fireball went out to play. The committee had clearly listened to feedback from last week and sensibly set just five marks for the course - X, N, T, J and OL. We had a cracking start, full speed across the line, slightly after the gun went but we were in first place. Good power up the beat, I was even sitting up on the side tank but not quite clipped in. First at X we bore away and set the kite. It was a reasonably fast reach to N where we gybed again. Couldn't keep the kite flying as it was pretty tight to T so down it came. Gybed at T and set the kite again but it was a slow run next to the dam wall down to J. Some Fireballers might have headed up to sail higher and faster and possibly overtake but as we were the only ones out there we just went straight to the mark.
Heading up round J we kept the kite flying and
with Paul on the leeward side now was my only chance to trapeze. Kite
down and close hauled round OL back to X. Second lap the pressure had
dropped and I was on the other side of the boat now, nowhere near the
windward side. Our new jib tell tale on the trailing edge was keeping
Paul happy - our slot looked to be working even though the pressure was
light. As the sun came out we were hoping for some thermal effects but
they never quite switched on.
Lap two was a repeat of lap one except we
dropped the kite before going round N. Some more experienced Fireballers
may have been able to fly their kites on the tight reach from N to T but
as we were the only ones out there we'll never know.
Lap three it was
getting almost tropical with the sun but the thermal wind never
materialised. The wind must have shifted though as on (what turned out to
be) the last lap, having dropped the kite again at N, Paul reckoned we
could fly it to T. Up went the kite and as long as I pinned it in it
flew. Not too sure we were going much faster though. Kept the kite up as
we gybed around T and ran it straight down to J where we didn't need to
head up too much as the hooter from the race box told it was finish
next. As we came in, sensibly dropping the main before approaching the
slipway under jib alone we were puzzled to see the Solos all get finish
guns and continue sailing for another lap. Boat put away and as we
signed off the race committee told us that the Solos were making the most
of the abandoned race from this morning by getting in as much sailing
as they could.
After showers and walking down back to the cars we were
surprised to see that the Solos were still out. Yes it's not long before
the clocks change and we start doing two races in the afternoon......