1974 Citroen upstages Little Dragon



1974 Citroen DS 23 Safari

Lewis and Teresa Bail

Little Dragon was seriously upstaged by Martin's new pride and joy - his dream Citroen. Some members of the BRSC positively drooled over it (a boat is a "she". Is a classic car a "he" or "she"?). I realised it was pretty special when I was driven to the Harwood Hilton in great comfort for dinner. All eyes were on us as we pulled up. I said "yeah", rather bored, when Martin raved on about the hydraulics but when I saw the front and back rise when the engine started I realised it was quite some car.

Lewis, Martin and Theresa were meant to be spending the weekend at Harwood to sail on Little Dragon and despite the best efforts of the Citroen to divert attention we did get afloat on both Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday Martin and Lewis joined me as crew on the last club championship races for the season. It blew SE around 15 knots so we had our work cut out. Yamba recorded 15 knots gusting 22 knots at 2.30 pm. Our first start was shocking. We were still on shore at the 5 min signal but never mind we caught up (taking a few short cuts on the way). Yes I did own up to the course "variation" when I signed off.

To atone for the debacle of the first start I achieved one of my best ever starts on the second race. I followed Chris Cook who approached the line on port. It was scary seeing the rest of the fleet hurtling towards us on starboard. However he went about onto starboard in the nick of time and I followed suit. I reckon I may have been one of the leaders for a hundred metres or so.

The last race of the season coincided with the Commodore's closing season picnic. So we all enjoyed a complimentary sausage sizzle and a very welcome feast when we got back from racing. My thanks to Commodore Hariet and all the committee who work so hard from August to the end of March to make the BRSC such a wonderful club.

Well over 2 metres length for Martin and Teresa to sleep in the Citroen so Lewis gets the tent



After Martin and Teresa's first night sleeping in the Citroen and Lewis enjoying having the tent all to himself they woke up ready for more sailing. As the forecast was as much or more wind than the day before Lewis, Teresa and I decided to set sail soon after breakfast while there was still a gentle breeze. It was the first time Teresa has been aboard and she seemed to enjoy herself and Lewis enjoyed being promoted to first mate in recognition of the steep learning curve he went through the day before while we were racing.

Then it was back to the shore, a second brew of strong coffee and a change of crew. This time Martin and Lewis came out with me and the wind was getting stronger all the time. It seemed prudent to reef. I had briefed Lewis before racing the day before how to use the whisker pole to goosewing the jib. We never got the chance while racing but Lewis insisted that we gave it a go despite the gusty conditions. Lewis and Martin  revelled in the strong breeze and just wanted to see how much they could make the boat heel while they were at the helm. They worked out that I made sure that I kept hold of the main sheet at all time. I described its function to these car buffs as enabling me to depower Little Dragon instantly like taking the foot off the accelerator.