Bridge to Breakers 2018

Start of race 3 on Sunday

 I had planned to race and had my regular crew all lined up but she got sick at the last minute and none of my other crews were available. So for the first time I was crewless. Luckily Norman volunteered to crew as he wasn't able to sail his Nacra 14 that day, many thanks and an open invitation to come again. We decided not to race but to sail down the river as spectator fleet. The weather looked like rain and a thunderstorm was forecast. There was a lively breeze but not sufficient for me to decide to reef when we set off.

This is a Nacra 14 like the one Norman sails

I quickly found out that Norman's experience has been entirely on his Nacra and he had never sailed a monohull. I was amazed that he was concerned when we heeled (not very far) and he asked how far we could heel before we capsized. I knew that Norman was accustomed to using a trapeze on his Nacra, which I really admired in a fellow 70+ sailor. He discovered that sailing Little Dragon is very different to sailing a Nacra. I can't imagine myself - at least not since I was very much younger - using a trapeze. I am so comfortable with Little Dragon but Norman was out of his comfort zone. It certainly would have been even more the case if the situation had been reversed.

I learnt to sail from a very young age on the Thames Estuary in an Essex One Design, see the photo below. In many ways EODs are similar to Little Dragon and perhaps that is why I immediately felt at home when 50 years later I became the proud owner of my Farr 5.

My parents owned Essex One Design No 8 Chanty- same length as Little Dragon - 5.1 m

The forecast storm approached fast. The faster boats had just finished and were safely ashore. The tailenders, mainly the Corsairs, were still way down river near the prawn farm. Luckily for them dinghies from the prawn farm towed them ashore and they sheltered out of the heavy hailstorm. We were lucky, we managed to get ashore about 3 minutes before the hail, thunder and lightning. It all ended up fine - no injuries to sailors and only very minor damage to boats.

Despite our new clubhouse still being under construction we managed to provide our usual Sunday morning BBQ for everyone. All in all it was a successful regatta and the conditions were excellent for racing on the Sunday.

Harriet and Lee  dab hands at breakfast BBQ