Back at the barn

Island Barn was the first Solo open I ever sailed - about a year ago now. So it was good to get back there this weekend.  It was fabulous weather - warn and sunny with medium breeze. They take a lot of photos at Island Barn which is great for us competitors - here's one of me rounding the leeward mark.

I even met a couple of sailors who said they read my blog - always a bit of a shock for me 🙂🤯 It was great to get the chance to speak to some of you in person - I met Peter Halliday, Tim Medcalf, Mike Barnes and even had a brief chat with winner Mike Dray (in the foreground below). Tim had only had his Solo a few days, so to finish 7th with virtually no practice in the boat was a real achievement.

It was a very friendly event - we were almost too nice to each other on the water. I absolutely nailed the start in the last race - one of those times when all the other boats seem to move away and leave you a lovely big gap to sail into. Sadly the race team were too busy to get a photo of that - you will just have to take my word for it 😉.

I was 6th this year (full results here) - a good improvement on last year's 10th and I did at least get a sight of the leading four boats at times. I find I learn such a lot at these events, partly from the sailing and partly from talking to the other sailors. My results improved a lot after the open at Chichester this year. Although I didn't do so well at Chichester, my rig setup, gybing and starting are a lot better since then.

It was interesting to do a longer upwind leg on more open water than Frensham. My very upright mast setup felt a bit too extreme and I have raked it back a little since then in the hope it will feel a bit more responsive in the gusts. Other than that the boat went well - I learnt to chock the mast hard at Chichester and the boat certainly felt quicker upwind at Island Barn.

Next up for me - assuming decent weather - is Papercourt on October 22nd. It is a similar size to Frensham and not far away at all. I am not confident enough yet to do the big events like the Inlands or EOS - maybe next year. 😎⛵