IOM Autumn Race 4: 24th Sept 2019

What a day, arrived early in my drysuit to relay mark 4 which Dick had cleaned and reweighted after it broke loose at the weekend. Suffered abuse from John Bennett who “suggested” that I should move it nearer to where we stand to make it easier to go round, that was very much into the deeper water and out of my depth. By the time the mark was laid it was blowing 25 knots and the heavens had opened. I was grateful to be in my drysuit.
At this point the car park divided into two, the sailors prepared to brave the conditions and the sane group believing the conditions were too extreme. However at 10, a glimmer of blue sky appeared in the distance, the wind started to moderate and the “sailors” started to rig. The rain started to subside which encouraged all to rig apart from Robin who had left his boat at home.
We eventually sailed in a moderate southerly that gradually died throughout the morning, though it held up sufficiently for us to get 8 races, finishing a little early before the next black clouds came across.
I discovered that I should have listened to John Bennett’s advice, I managed to miss completely or hit mark 4 in 4 of the races, and in the races I managed to negotiate mark 4, I managed to get hooked on mark 5 – not even a mark of the course.
Martin Hart sailed with inspiration, winning 5 races – his hand writing was showing signs of improvement as the morning went on writing up the results. Dick and John M also won races.