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As mentioned below, after the IRC-nationals I went with a couple of friends of the Sanguma crew up the river to look and listen to The Police closing the Isle of Wight Festival.

On invitation by Pete and Kat we left the PV and stopped to pick up some classic English stuffed newspaper for supper (Fish ‘n Chips) which fed us on the way up the river Medina towards Newport. We found a great spot when we got to the festival area when we could moor next to a boat that had been watching the entire weekend and was anchored in such a way it was fully ready for tidal changes. When we arrived quite a large crowd had already formed on the water in addition to the 60,000 people who were actually on the festival terrain. In a very relaxed atmosphere the festival was winding down as the sun went down whilst the tension among the crowd was increasing in anticipation of The Police.

When it had become almost fully dark all attention was focused on the stage and The Police made their entrance. The kicked off whit some great songs and it was great fun watching and hearing it all. However before they had played all of their hits they left the stage and this strange feeling among the crowd was noticeable. Everyone knew they would return for an encore and when they did they upped their level even more. With just Roxanne left they thanked everyone and left the stage again only to return once more and absolutely blow the crowd away with a great live version of the song. I’ve put some photos up, unfortunately my battery ran out and shots of the great fireworks show that marked the end of the festival are missing as are photos of the ride up the river as that was dinner time.

Pete and Kat thanks very much again for the invitation and Fred and Laura thank you for letting me stay another night after getting back to Hamble at one in the morning.

Ciao!

What started as a leisurely walk in Cowes ended as three days of helping friends out in the GBR-yard preparing boats for the UK IRC nationals. Three days of being outside, getting a meal (and sometimes a drink other than water) and learning about the different parts of what it takes to get a custom build boat ready for racing.
Some rigging, some maintenance, a bit of building and even stepping a mast were all tasks I’ve been doing throughout last week. It was actually good fun and really quite interesting to see several boats in different states after their build and launch earlier in the season (one only a couple of weeks earlier). And everyone was very appreciative of the extra pair of hands that made sure they could finish the jobs in time.
The best fun was preparing a quarter tonner for this weeks quarter ton cup. These small classic race yachts are where a lot of great sailors competed in two decades ago. The current class champion had found a sistership to his winning boat of last year under a palm tree somewhere sunny and decided he wanted to race it this year without spending any money on gear. With the original mast breaking in half at the first attempt to step the rig the pressure was on to get the loaned rig to fit and stay up on the boat. Halyards had to be spliced to each other and the angle grinder was needed to fit the mast through the deck but on Thursday night the rig was in and the Monday morning start looked like a possibility. Throughout the weekend spare minutes were used to get the rig straightened and the rest of the boat sorted with a large number of spectators everytime. When I left Cowes on Sunday night a mainsail and a jib had been hoisted and most controls were there and working. This week I’ll keep checking out the quarter ton cup results to see if the boat has made it past the first start, the paintjob is very promising however I’ve just realised I have failed to take photos of the boat…

Then the racing itself. With Jump Juice being cancelled for the nationals and commodores’ cup through various reasons I found myself without a boat on Monday. However numerous people were quick to get in touch and tried to find me a good boat for the weekend. Although quite a bit of effort was put into it by them (of which I was and am very appreciative) Sanguma also still needed a crewmember.
The entire weekend was dominated by light and fluky breeze which did not made things easier. Combined with not the best job North Sails has ever done on a jib (the two overlapping genoas were a bit wrong) sailing wise it was quite tough for the little boat. But the Sanguma crew hung in there and gave it their best and it was all good fun on board.

There was however one downside to the weekend and from what I have heard and read this is a general feeling. The race committee was not at their best. As they had opted for one fleet the race course had to be able to accommodate everything from a 68footer with 4,5 metre draft to the 20-and-a-bit footers. The startline was too long to be controllable and during the starting procedure the RC commented on the positioning of boats with a wealth of racing experience which is in my opinion really odd for a national championship. The courses themselves were really long and in many peoples’ opinions did not suit the conditions and boats. Almost three hours of windward-leeward racing does not result in three races per day. It will be interesting if the comments will be used when in two weeks time the RORC runs the Commodores’ Cup…

Still this could not ruin the weekend and with one of the builders of the Russian Volvo70 on board the postponement on Sunday gave a nice opportunity to have a peak at the boat:
After the racing of the weekend I went up the Medina (river from Cowes inland on the Isle of Wight) to see and hear The Police performing at the Isle of WIght Festival, more on that later…

Ciao!