My congratulations to the organisers for putting on such a great event. A lovely reception, seamless organisation, a good PRO and a prizegiving in the lounge of a lovely clubhouse. What more could we ask? Well the corporation fo the wind would have been nice.
I have sailed at Emsworth when the wind is in the South and you could not find a better venue. Unfortunately the wind decided to come from the NW which was almost offshore from our base. However Jonathan Clark, our PRO worked some magic to give us excellent racing all day, although none of us found it good for our heart rates. Those who had watches that recorded such stuff were showing 90 beats per minute when retiring to the confines of the clubhouse 20 minutes after racing. I would love to know what the rates were during racing.
Too say the wind was fickle was an understatement but coming from a pond where we experience similar conditions on a regular basis, it was a home from home.
My results were steady and it was nice not to watch Colin Goodman winning again (from Chelmsford), no offence Colin but there was stiff competition from Dave Green,Dorian Crease, a brace of Priestley's and David Lindsay as well as a the top skippers from Emsworth.
It was a funny day. I posted steady results in the morning, won the race after lunch and then proceeded on a suicide mission for 2 races ending up in the B fleet and finished with a second. After the disaster in the second race in the afternoon someone said to me (no names) as I headed for the B fleet "Well you have F....d this one up. So nice to get positive support from ones competitors, though factually he was correct, however it was said in jest. I hope?
All in all one of the most stressful days sailing I have experienced but a very positive day and good to hang in there for the win. After one race I had to sit down and close my eyes for a few minutes to calm down. Never done that before.
Great day out and can't wait for next years event. Join us if you can.
Thank you Emsworth Team
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