I am Sailing - First race down!!

Apologies for the lateness of this update oh and lack of nautical terms (Im still learning)....but we did it, it was full on, hard work and Im covered in bruises but we completed our first race as a crew!!!

Saturday morning got off to a bit of a shaky start as the cafe we were meeting in for brekkie was closed, luckily this was not the only cafe in Gosport, instead of a pulled pork burger I had a full hearty english breakfast in Ashton's which was so so good....

Yum Yum!!

Breakfast was also an opportunity for me to meet my fellow crewmen for the first time....

A bit later than scheduled we headed out around 10.15ish for a practice run but alas there was no wind, we managed to run through a few points but decided to stop for a quick pint and some lunch on the Island around 12.30ish. Slightly disheartened we debriefed over a pint and discussed what the next plan of action would be.

Time for Beer and a debrief

lovely day for fishing

Determined not to be beaten by the lack of weather (which bee tee dubs would have been perfect for fishing), we headed back out after lunch and ran through some tacking, we even managed to get the spinnaker up for a little while (and felt awesome).

I was completely pooped by the time I got home on Saturday night, I had spent most of the day feeling a bit like a spare part, not knowing what to do and where to be at certain points. However Sunday was a whole different ball game....








Sunday morning began with a Costa Coffee and bacon and egg sarnie (yum) followed by an hour wait for the race to start as once again the wind was being shy. However this wait meant we had time for a quick crew photo:

my selfies were rubbish so here's one taken by a professional...

and some snacks....monster munch and honeycombe Club biscuits!!

Finally the race was underway, we were doing it we were actually in our first race. It was so exciting and although there wasn't much weather from mine point of view this meant I could be eased into the whole thing.

Several "Ready about!"s, some fab tactical maneuvers and 1hr 38 minutes later we had finished our first race and come first in our class (iirc). To celebrate we decided we would attempt to put up the spinaker again and proudly show off Jemmana's colours, now this was an experience and a half and so interesting to watch:

Finally the "Competent Crew" book given to me, all those months ago, is starting to make some kind of sense. I've still a lot to learn but Im very much looking forward to our next race on Saturday...sorry what was that? 2 RACES?!? Why dont mind if I do :-)

Oh and Ive emailed TK Snax to make sure they are open this week, you'll be relieved to know they are!!