Helensburgh open meeting

Sadly only two 12s showed up for the third Scottish travellers. There proved just enough wind to get down to the racing area a mile to two miles away from the club, but then it died completely with just the odd wisp to occasionally get peoples hopes up. Eventually one by one people eventually got fed up with trying not to wonder what the strange coloured foam was made of and counting jelly fish (there were a lot of big red ones.) and started to make there way in by what ever means possible, one of the Streakers drifted a shore and walked back, the laser 2000s used there inspection hatches as covers, but most just rocked and pumped. The committee boat eventually accepted the inevitable and after about 4 hours on the water gave it up as a bad job and set about picking up all the stragglers.

There was a fine and very well organised barbeque on Saturday night although for once we had to pay for the drink!

Sunday morning dawned fine and around 8 a gentle breeze started to fill in. Just after 10 we set off for the racing area for an eleven start, but just as we got to the committee boat the wind died again and we went back to admiring the brown scum and counting jelly fish. Suddenly the committee boat hooted and raised a flag which I later found out meant follow this boat or something like that and disappeared off over the horizon, leaving us paddling, rocking, and pumping in its wake. It had of course spotted some wind on the horizon and decided to make use of it.

We eventually caught up coming into the gentle breeze a few hundred yards short of the committee boat and the trailing boats were towed up, but by the time the course was set up the wind had died again so it was back to counting jelly fish. By this time my crew had come to the decision that there was nowhere comfortable to lie down in a national 12. At least the sun was shinning and the sea looked blue……in places.

At last some wind came and a course was set up and we got a start but the wind died again before everybody could finish one poor Topper was timed out. Eventually the wind came back again and we were able to get in two more races in a light but steady breeze, Agent Orange was obviously going much better up wind than Otterzell despite being overtaken by a Solo on the down wind leg (where do they get that handicap from) and won all three races. We finally made it back ashore after nearly six hours on the water.

Overall results