Just to catch up....

The last 4 of 5 months have been very busy with little time for sailing but I have managed a couple more open meetings and participated in some club sailing at Midland Sailing Club.

So just to catch up, I participated at Nottingham SC open in September with Rosie Lynn crewing for me. We did well, often finding our way into 2nd place in the race but couldn't quite translate our efforts into finishing as well. Our overall result was 4th.

My last open was at Ogston SC in October where my daughter Jo crewed for me. We struggled on the first days racing to get anywhere near a good performance (6th , 7th and 9th). However during the second day's racing I began to find my form half way through the penultimate race and we got a couple of good results (5th and 3rd). I forget the final position but it wasn't too bad.

Club racing at Midland is 'different'. They run a pursuit race of sorts, which provides a 'scratch' result, with timings taken for computing finishing positions for the handicap fleet (and each fleet is obviously easier to workout). So I'm the only one racing an Albacore and have created a bit of a stir because the boat is deceptively fast. Nobody expected it to be so quick. Its already been called a handicap bandit (They don't have streakers at Midland or they would already know what a handicap bandit looks like!).

Acushla is currently tucked up in the Club shed, stripped of her fittings and ready for some TLC. Some hull surgery is required and some minor work in the cockpit but otherwise she is in good condition. My biggest concern is a crack that goes all the way through and a soft spot and that's the bit that needs major work. Next week I hope to explore the  problem.

Hopefully all will be well and by Spring she will be ready for the 2014 season.