2009 Parhelion Autumn Series

The Parhelion yacht racing series is run by the Portsmouth Sailing Club, with races in the Eastern Solent, off Portsmouth and in Hayling bay.

One More Knot's skipper reports each race in the series, blow by blow. Some of the other crews and skippers contribute too ... just to give a balanced view!

Portsmouth Sailing Club's Autumn Parhelion Race Series
One More Knot : 2009 Winners

Autumn Parhelion 2009 dates:


2009 Autumn Parhelion Series - Club Fleet Standings

Rank Boat Name Class Sail No Helm TCF R1
3 Oct		 R2
3 Oct		 R3
10 Oct		 R4
10 Oct		 R5
17 Oct		 R6
17 Oct		 R7
24 Oct		 R8
31 Oct		 R9
31 Oct		 R10
7 Nov		 R11
7 Nov		 Total
Club Fleet - Sailed: 11    Discards: 4
1 One More Knot Elan 333 7563T Phil Duff 0.970 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 4 2 1 1 7
2 Just In Time Omega 36 4230T Tony Bennett 0.965 5 4 2 3 2 2 3 1 3 3 2 15
3 Ellisa Beneteau 411 1115L Eric Whitelaw 0.970 2 2 4 4 3 1 2 2 4 4 4 16
4 Symphony Elan 340 1456L Roy Pearce 0.980 4 3 3 2 5 4 4 3 5 2 3 20
5 Easy Tiger II Beneteau First 33.7 6655 Chris Fife-Shaw 0.975 3 5 DNF 5 4 5 5 5 6 6 5 32
6 Scallywag GK 24 215 Andy Taylor + Jeremy Miles 0.845 DNF DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC 6 1 11 DNC 56
7 Muscadet de Hault Contessa 32 5500 Peter Maughan 0.880 DNC DNC DNC DNC 6 6 DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC 67
8 Solo Sigma 38 8286 Mike Jakes 0.985 DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC 7 7 DNC DNC 69
9 Sea Nymph II Starlight 35 5754 Andy Taylor 0.913? DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNF DNC DNC DNC DNC 77
9 Stargift Westerly Fulmar 9.7 1230 Alistair Cairns 0.920 DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC 77

Results courtesy of Portsmouth Sailing Club

Race Results

Race Date Class Pos No in Class TCF OTW Time OTW gap to 1st/2nd Corrected gap to 1st/2nd Crew
Parhelion race 1 3/10/09 1 6 0.970 0:56:01 -05:34 -05:24 Phil, Glenn, Phil B, Kevan, Joe, Bob
Parhelion race 2 3/10/09 1 5 0.970 0:43:19 -02:21 -02:17 Phil, Glenn, Phil B, Kevan, Joe, Bob
Parhelion race 3 10/10/09 1 5 0.970 1:34:22 -02:37 -02:03 Phil, Glenn, Phil B, Kevan, Joe, Jane, Andy, Martin L
Parhelion race 4 10/10/09 1 5 0.970 1:06:53 +00:16 -00:24 Phil, Glenn, Phil B, Kevan, Joe, Jane, Andy, Martin L
Parhelion race 5 17/10/09 1 6 0.970 1:37:56 -06:00 -05:18 Phil, Glenn, Phil B, Kevan, Joe, Bob, George
Parhelion race 6 17/10/09 3 6 0.970 1:27:59 +00:27 +00:27 Phil, Glenn, Phil B, Kevan, Joe, Bob, George
Parhelion race 7 24/10/09 1 6 0.970 2:45:22 -03:15 -03:09 Phil, Glenn, Kevan, Andy S, Ben
Parhelion race 8 31/10/09 4 7 0.970 1:27:26 +02:38 +02:59 Phil, Glenn, Phil B, Martin L, Darrell
Parhelion race 9 31/10/09 2 7 0.970 0:43:38 -04:33 +01:36 Phil, Glenn, Phil B, Martin L, Darrell
Parhelion race 10 7/11/09 1 6 0.970 0:45:16 -02:15 -02:39 Phil, Glenn, Phil B, Joe, Darrell, Kevan, Jane, Andy
Parhelion race 11 7/11/09 1 5 0.970 1:29:37 -06:59 -06:17 Phil, Glenn, Phil B, Joe, Darrell, Kevan, Jane, Andy

Race Reports

Appeal to skippers, crews and race officials, spectators, etc.

Please help me out with:

Autumn Races 1 & 2

Crew: Phil, Glenn, Phil B, Kevan Quinn, Joe, Bob

One More Knot had only just been put back in the water following some maintenance work. So with fresh antifouling, a new propshaft seal (to stop the leak) and unexpectedly a new P bracket (because of some galvanic corrosion), we knew she was squeaky clean underneath. But, as no-one had been back on board Phil and Glenn got down to the boat a bit earlier on Friday to do some last minute preparations. This included removing the dinghy, an engine test, a hidden beer search (sadly no surprise finds) and the consumption of some of the residual beer (drinking the boat fast).

The crew met in the "Crew's Mess" for brekky where we discussed crew positions. One More Knot newcomer Bob was allocated mainsheet, Joe in the pit, Phil B at the wet end, Glenn and Kevan on jibs and general cockpit tasks while Phil would be at the helm as usual. The breeze had filled in overnight and had already been showing a F4/F5 in the berth. The likelihood was for at least a force more on the water. So discussion moved onto spinnaker tactics. Big blue only stood a chance if it stayed light, but if it was heavier we had the option of the red kite for deep downwind, or the asymmetric for slighty more reachy courses. If it was really windy and the kite was still needed, then the asymmetric would be the way to go because it is more controllable and less rolly.

Back on board, we untied the string and headed out at 9am. Because of the wind strength, we deferred hoisting the main until we were outside. The wind speed was typically between 14 and 19 knots just off the Haslar wall, so we elected for 1 reef in the main to go with the #3. Once out sailed a couple of beats and broad reaches to tune the sails. It was windier further offshore.

Race 1

As the fleet gathered in the proximity of the committee boat at Gleeds, we heard the radio crackle into life. After deciphering and asking for repeats (it's noisy on board, plus plenty of chaos in the pre-start melee) we established that both classes would be starting together. The course for the first race was Darling Associates (to port), Bob Kemp (windward mark, to port), Gleeds (leeward mark, to port), Darling Associates (to port) and finally the gate to finish.

In preparation for the start we reached away from the committee boat and then tacked with 3 minutes to go. We feathered our way back in, lining up to leeward of the rest of the fleet. We thought we had plenty of time, but in the event ended up being a fraction later than we expected. Phil had expected to be able to charge down the line in the last minute to start mid way along. However, at the 1 minute gun, we sheeted in but failed to accelerate as quickly as we would have liked. Maybe our expectations were wrong (1st day of the new series). In the event we squeezed the fleet up toward the transom of the committee boat and dropped into line just astern of Symphony. At the gun the fleet was at the committee boat so we hardened up and started to poke our nose between Symphony and the committee boat. At least we would have clean air.

Wooaaa ... Symphony luffed up to avoid the yacht in front of her. Our small gap was closing fast, so Phil threw the helm across and our bow dropped astern of Symphony's transom by inches. We dipped under a couple of boats to cross the line in some new found space. We saw that Ellisa had started mid line, where we had intended to be. Despite the complications and crossing the line last, we were only just behind, but as least we had clear air.

One More Knot quickly found her groove and settled in for progress at between 4.4 and 5.2 knots VMG. Patience showed some good progress and we soon overhauled Ellisa, passing several boat lengths to windward. Meanwhile, Symhpony had been mixing it and had consequently lost out. We followed Wild Blue (Elan 333, IRC class). She was able to point a bit higher, but our performance was such that the gap only opened slowly. Meanwhile, we were building a comfortable gap over the rest of club class.

After rounding Darling Associates, we continued on a fine reach towards Bob Kemp. Initially we eased the sheets a fraction, going for better speed, following the IRC boats. However, the GPS showed that we weren't quite making the mark, so we were able to harden up in plenty of time. The IRC boats ahead had also given us a clue and we think some of them may have needed to tack to get around. We rounded the windward mark at about 36 minutes 20 seconds. We made a note! Only one boat in the IRC fleet hoisted their kite, as the wind was now well over 20 knots. We could see that we had a good lead over the rest of the club fleet who appeared to be sailing in a pack (hopefully slowing each other ... shame). Meanwhile we were sailing back downwind toward Gleeds. Looking back, the first of the rest rounded the windward mark at about 40 minutes race time. That put us approximately 10% ahead. We sailed as deep as we could with the jib still pulling, achieving 7 knots VMG against the tide. In the event, we flipped the jib to goosewinged for a while to run further downwind to drop to Gleeds.

We had thought (but weren't certain) that we had heard that the race had been shortened and followed the IRC boats around the course. Being busy and windy on board, it was difficult to access the VHF without compromising performance. We rounded Gleeds and crossed the line. We didn't hear the gun although that is understandable being well to windward, so we continued sailing back towards the next mark. Ellisa followed next, rounding the marking and crossing the line. Subsequently, we got further confirmaton that the race had been shorthened on the radio. We performed a minor running repair to the mainsheet traveller and then headed back to the committee boat. Symphony approached the line, but went to cross without rounding the mark. The OOD instructed Symphony that they need to round, so Symphony made a late change of course. Just In Time approached the line and crossed from windward and then did a loop around Gleeds leaving the mark to Starboard! Despite calls from the committee to Just In Time, Just In Time did not respond. Confusion reigns!

Race 2

The wind had been picking up and there was now a strong wind against tide situation. The wind was now a solid F6, gusting F7. The faster tide was in the deep water but it was more exposed. The course for the second race was designed by the OOD to allow the boats to stay out of the worst of the chop. So with the start at Gleeds, then onto RNC/RAYC (windward mark, just the near side of Gilkicker point) then a reach along the Halsar wall to Decent Cuppa, followed by a run to Naomi House. Finally another beat to the KB Boatparks (2nd windward mark, near Decent Cuppa) before returning to a gate finish at Gleeds.

Once again a combined start, but this time One More Knot made a great start and the majority of the fleet seemed to get caught up and were slower to start. With 1 minute to go, we approached the line just astern of Wild Blue (Elan 333, IRC). We wanted to accelerate, but were concerned that if we went to windward, they would push us over. So we dropped to leeward and accelerated. It was their turn to look worried because we could have pushed them up, but it served no purpose and we gave them plenty of room. As the seconds counted down, the 2 Elan's hardened up to hit the line at near full chat. We had an uneventful beat, choosing the deeper water looking for the tidal push to windward. We hadn't anticipated the severity of the chop, but we still showed decent VMG. We trimmed the sails (still full #3 and 1 reef in the main) and kept the heading very fine to keep her on her feet. We soon opened up a gap over the rest of the club fleet. Once again, Ellisa was the closest of the rest. We were more in touch with the IRC fleet. However, we significantly overstood the first mark, as did Ellisa. This gave Symphony (Elan 340) a chance to close the gap from her poor start.

At the windward mark, One More Knot led Ellisa by about 20 boat lengths. Symphony rounded only a few boat lengths behind. Ellisa unfurled some more jib to increase her sail area for the downwind legs. She looked big and fast!

On rounding Decent Cuppa, we needed to gybe in the big winds. We ended up rounding up a bit, but no harm done. It was back to sailing as deep as we could with the jib pulling. The tide was setting us away from the leeward mark, so we transitioned to goosewinged for part of the trip. We managed to pick up a long surf that maxed out at 10.7 knots. Looking back, we could see that the other boats didn't appear to have their jibs working very well.

The final two legs were a procession, with One More Knot finishing a couple of minutes ahead of Ellissa. Symphony was next and a long way back was Just In Time.

For One More Knot, it had been a good day. We are yet to see the results, but it felt like 2 easy wins. Analysis in the clubhouse suggested that there was more excitement further back in the fleet. Plus, the other boats elected to reef their headsails by furling. But that creates a snowball effect, the furling spoiling the headsail, meaning that you can't point, so you are more beam on and subject to the vicious gusts. Whether I'm right or wrong, something worked for us today! Well sailed crew.

The View from Symphony

Today is the start of the Autumn Series with two races scheduled and it's going to be tough! Forecast is for strong westerlies and proves to be right. That, with near spring west going tide will make for uncomfortable sailing. We put two reefs in the main and decide to not fully unfurl our 106% headsail for the windward legs. Phil has detailed the courses in his report so I won't repeat them.

Race 1

We start close to the committee boat, having squeezed into a gap between it and Easy Tiger. Immediately we have to luff to avoid them and hence lose a lot of our boat speed and give Phil on OMK a nasty surprise! We eventually settle down for the beat to the windward mark. Four tacks and we are approaching Gilkicker; the boat is not going particularly well, we see OMK steadily drawing away. The partially furled jib is not setting well, despite the cars being as far forward as possible, the foot is tight and the leach is to loose and flapping in its upper part. In fact we see Scallywag, GK24, not far away from us and going very well. Two more tacks and we are past Gilkicker and approaching the windward mark on starboard. Close by we have Easy Tiger, also on starboard but they are not going to make the mark. OMK has already passed the mark some distance ahead of us. As we close the mark on starboard we see Scallywag coming in on port. There is a collision between us which is subject to a protest hearing and therefore I'll make no further comment on the incident. Having sorted ourselves out and passed the mark on the correct side we set off for Bob Kemps which we make in one tack. Having rounded that mark we make for Gleeds which is now the finish as the race has been shortened there for the club class. Jib is unfurled and we sail the leg trying to get the jib to pull, we head up a bit to achieve this and put in a gybe about two thirds of the way there. Ahead of us we have OMK, already finished and then Ellisa and Easy Tiger. Nearing the committee boat we are instructed over the radio that we have to finish by rounding Gleeds to port and coming back through the line rather than going straight through it as was our intention. After some discussion with the race officer we comply!

Race 2

This time we have a truly dreadful start, as we attempt to tack the boat round for our timed run in to the start we finish up head to wind and stationary. After what seems an age the boat is eventually moving again and reaching into the start. We finally get there about 90 seconds after the rest of the fleet had started. We set off on starboard, tacking when we think we can lay the mark, we are spot on and sail straight there. We see that OMK and Ellisa have both overstood RNC by a good deal which enables us to close the gap quite considerably. We now have only the two of them ahead on the reach to Decent Cuppa. There we gybe and broad reach to Naomi. We harden up as we round Naomi and shortly after tack onto port. During this tack Martin, our navigator, decides to try to leave the boat by slipping and going between the deck and the lower starboard life lines. Grabbing a stanchion he maintains contact with the boat and other crew members help him back on board, wet but other wise unharmed. We now beat to KB Boat and then sail the final leg to the finish, behind OMK and Ellisa.

Summary

An eventful day! A collision and a man partially overboard are obviously things we could have done without. We still have a lot to learn about sailing the Elan 340, particularly in strong winds. Reading Phil's report for these two races is giving us something to think about, particularly about using the headsail partially furled. Thinking back a good few years it took a long time to learn how to sail in strong winds with Rhapsody the MG C27 that preceded Symphony.

After the Race

We get picked up by the PSC rib and taken to the club. There we find Rick with a protest form ready for us. We fill this in and hand it to the race committee. Over a beer or two we exchange stories of the day with the crews of OMK and Ellisa. There is also a discussion on handicaps. We are eventually joined by the crew of Scallywag who are duly handed their protest form to fill in. The crew of Symphony were pleased to hear that none of the crew of Scallywag was hurt in the collision.

Races 3 and 4

Crew: Phil, Glenn, Joe, Phil B, Martin L, Kevan, Jane, Andy

We'd been watching Windfinder all week and the forecast had dropped to between 8 and 10 knots (although we've worked out this is usually the bottom end of what we experience on the water). At 7:30, there wasn't a breath on the pontoon. It was looking like a bit of a challange for a big crew, 8 on board today.

The crew of OMK looked like they were taking over in the In the Crew's Mess. Team tatics over brekky put Martin (OMK's rigger) on the mainsheet. Kev on nav and Andy in the cockpit with Glenn. Joe in the pit again, with dad Phil B at the sharp end. Jane was destined for the rail for most of the event, with Phil hiding behind the wheel as usual.

Back on the pontoon there was now a hint of breeze. Last weeks #3 was changed to the #2 in preparation. Once out of the harbour we were delighted to find about 12 knots WNW, which eventually peaked at 21 knots during the days racing. The tide was an easterly, which would be building during the racing, giving us a wind with tide situation.

On the water, Martin suggested a hint more main halyard, which we tried to good effect. He also noticed a broken mainsail slide!

Race 3

The committee boat was out near Gleeds (surprise). The first course was set with a long long beat to Browndown, which would be left to port. Then a broad reach across the main channel to Bob Kemp (gybe mark) and another long broad reach to a laid leeward mark a few hundered metres to leeward of the start line, which was also to be the finish at Gleeds.

The startline had a strong bias to the pin, with the committee boat at the starboard end of the line. We watched with interest as a large IRC fleet fought for the same 10m of space near the pin on their start. As we approached for our start, there was also a clustering of yachts near the pin. One More Knot started about half way down the line, with Symphony and then Just In Time to windward near the pin. Everyone's start seemed decent, and One More Knot quickly came upto speed. Our VMG was showing 4.4 to 5.1 knots despite the tide. Good speeds for us. The fleet really wanted to be out of the tide under the Halsar wall. Patiently, we waited while those above us tacked off. We were quite relaxed as our windward performance was good. Our turn came and we made sure our line was well above those of Symphony and Just In Time. Ellisa meanwhile stayed on starboard out into the deep water channel (and stronger adverse tide).

Just In Time went for her quite common low and fast routine to get into the wall quickly. In became apparent that One More Knot could point higher than Symphony, the big crew helping to keep us upright in 14 - 18 knots. As we closed on the wall, Just In Time went in the closest and tacked first, followed by Symphony. One More Knot saw them tack and also discovered the breeze was slightly weaker closer in so we too tacked.

The three boats were in a line, with Just In Time being closest to the wall (with the least wind and tide) through Symphony to One More Knot. Easy Tiger seemed to be tracking One More Knot, while Ellisa was out in the tide playing King Canute.

As we approached Gilkicker, the crew were both observing our fleet, which we were now clearly leading and also the tactics of the IRC fleet ahead for clues. At Gilkicker, after 20 minutes of racing we overtook one of the IRC back markers. After rounding the headland some way off to avoid the vicious tide on the sand bar close in, we continued to head into Stoke's bay. Looking back, it looked like Just In Time had got round before Symphony, both of which went close inshore. We struggled to identify Elissa amonst the other boats out in the Solent, toast!

Looking forward, we had new problems. Just ahead, the Sunsail fleet were milling around in anticipation of a race start. Fortunately, there weren't under order yet, but we were concerned as we approached from leeward. We had all the rights we needed, but couldn't bank on them even observing our approach. We managed to negotiate their fleet, needing only to duck one boat. It was with some relief when we were able to see that the whole Sunsail fleet was to leeward of us, knowing that the rest our competitors still had the same problem to contend with. Phew ...

But next up, on our windward obstacle course was the Lee On Solent laser fleet. They were obviously in their pre-start sequence and we were aiming for the middle of their start line on port. Probably not the best thing when surrounded by about 200 lasers.

We tacked off and went outside their pin where we discovered that the adverse tide was indeed stronger. Annoyingly, as we transited their line, they started!! Initially the fleet all tacked onto port and ran away from the tide. We followed suit, but were somewhat further out in the tide. Eventually, they tacked back toward their mark. We left it as late as we dared and tacked underneath their leaders.

One of the laser drivers, who was to leeward of us hailed that they were racing to 'that' mark. I think we'd figured out that the big bright orange floating thingy was something to do with their course. I pointed out that we to were racing too. On board, I also pointed out that we were at the head of out fleet and he wasn't.

We sailed to leeward of the laser's windward mark as their leaser rounded it. Phew again. Clear of that lot.

The tide was now significantly stronger and we could see that we weren't going to lay the mark. Just In Time had remained close inshore and somehow tacked through the last third of the laser fleet on port! However, her reward allowed her to stay out of the tide for longer.

As we approached the mark, we could already see that we were going to need to double tack to get around it. It was a balancing act of where to go for the tack. Too soon and the angles would be difficult to judge. Too late and no time to prep the spinnaker pole. Of course there wre also a couple of fishing boats to avoid too.

We had called for the big blue symmetric spinnaker to be readied. We round the mark and Phil used the GPS to line up with the next mark. We now had 2 knots of tide and the windex showed the apparent on the beam. This would probably be too high for this kite, so instead of the call to hoist, we called for the asymmetric.

Some frantic activity around the boat ensued, while we continued at about 6.5 knots under white sails. Eventually, the asymmetric was blooded for the first time in racing conditions and the speed built to 7.2 knots. Looking back we saw that the others had also needed extra tacks to get around the mark and that we had a lead of about 3.5 mins. Their kites were deployed and they set about getting after us.

We had a painless gybe at Bob Kemp and continued on our way back toward Gleeds. The course was a bit deeper than optimum for this kite but we perevered anyway. We had the feeling that the other boats were closing the gap down slighty. However, we had a good lead and decided not to do anything radical. On approaching the lewward mark we unfurled the jib and sheeted it in ready for the short beat. The kite was dropped efficiently behind the sails.

One More Knot hardened up and then tacked across the line to claim line honours and a victory for the 3rd time in 3 races. Yippee !!!

Just In Time pipped Symphony to 2nd place. The rest of the fleet were quite spread out.

Race 4

The second race had a beat to windward to Darling Associates (just past the Gilkicker headland) to port, then a run back to Gleeds (to port), another beat to RNC/RAYC (to port, just this side of Gilkicker) and finally a run back to the line.

Our start for the second race was closer to the pin end of the line but once again we had to wait for Just In Time to tack and then Symphony to tack. Symphony had got a better start than us, so we just settled in to trying to get the VMG good. Once our turn to tack arrived, we just made sure that we were above the lines of the other boats. The race for the wall began again!

One More Knot was able to out point Symphony, while Just In Time seemed to be a little off the pace off this one. On OMK we watched Symphony tack and then tacked ourselves. They were slightly closer to the wall, but we were in a fraction better wind.

Symphony tacked near RNC and it looked like they had the spinnaker on deck. Onboard, we looked at each other can confirm our understanding of the course, i.e. the windward mark was Darling Associates. It looked like Symphony had got mixed up and possibly thought that the needed to round RNC/RAYC. However, to our relief they tacked back along the Haslar wall towards Gilkicker. Eventually, we tacked and we crossed 20 seconds in front of Symphony. Ellisa had been tracking OMK for the start of the race, but started to fall back.

OMK continued the tack in towards the beach. Phil was looking for the layline (presumably painted dayglo pink in the water). Conscious of the tide, he warned the crew about the late tack near the beach. We had the obligatory jokes about picking up an ice cream. A couple of boat lengths from the beach, we tacked. After monitoring our course for a few moments, it became apparent that we were making the mark and the signal was passed to the foredeck. The pole was raised in anticipation. Meanwhile, Symphony crossed behind us and hung on a bit longer, overstanding the mark slightly.

One More Knot led around the windward mark and hoisted big blue. However, our heading was out across the main channel, so we went into an immediate gybe. However, things didn't go quite to plan. The pole was in danger of stabbing the foredeck, but the crew eventually recovered the situation and completed the gybe. Behind us, Symphony had performed a sweet gybe set.

The two yachts raced neck and neck back to gleeds. Symhpony had the legs on One More Knot by a small amount and edged ahead. One More Knot came across at sat on Symphony's transom to deny her the opportunity to get away.

At the leeward mark, the two yachts were separated by nearly a foot! Both yachts left the drop to the last minute and rounded the mark tightly. On the way out, the gap was just as small as it was on the way in.

Phil asked the crew to hike out and to go into pointing mode. Slowly at first, One More Knot extracated herself from Symphony's dirty air. Once clear we were able to outpoint and start to overhaul Symphony. Symphony tacked and the yachts were lining up for a port / starboard moment. The guys on Symphony exercised their vocal chords. On OMK Phil was sure the 1st 2/3rds of the boat would be ok. It was the last bit we weren't sure about. So we elected to tack underneath and showed Symphony our transom. We accelerated as Symphony closed on our windward quarter. It was back into pointing mode to give ourselves the freedom to tack again when we chose.

Once again One More Knot was in the lead, and led around the final mark. However, on the final run, OMK hoisted the kite and gybed chased closely by Symphony. As soon as we gybed, we realised that we probably shouldn't have. The breeze near the headland was playing tricks.

On the final run towards the line, we were once again neck and neck with Symphony. We could see that their speed would mean that they would get to the line first. However, we pointed out to the crew that we could still win the race if we could keep the gap small enough. We realised that we were running by the lee and flipped the main back without gybing the kite. A bit unconventional, but it upped our speed a bit.

Symphony took the line honours and the horn sounded. Immediately both Phil and Glenn start counting ... one elephant, two elephant .... We agreed, a herd of 15 elephants! That should be close enough for a win. The offical results show that we were 16 elephants behind on the water, but still 1st once the handicap had done its deed.

The View from Symphony

Today is the second day of racing in this year's Autumn Series and we are hoping for less excitement than last week! Forecast is for westerly force 4. During the week Scallywag withdrew their protest against us and stated they would not contest our protest against them. Therefore a protest hearing into last week's collision between Symphony and Scallywag was not necessary.

Race 3

The first leg was a beat to Browndown. The line had a bias towards the pin end so along with everyone else we started on starboard at that end. Just behind us we had JIT who soon tacked onto port, we immediately did the same and headed into the Haslar shore. JIT was sailing slightly higher and faster as we had fairly poor boat speed, this meant we had to tack away for a while and then tack back to continue in toward the shore. Ahead we had OMK going really well. To avoid the worst of the adverse tide we skirted around Gilkicker, avoiding the patch of shallow water to the south east of the point. We seemed to gain a little on JIT but OMK was ahead by a good margin. The decision as to when to stop hugging the shore and when to start out towards Browndown was somewhat confused by the need to sail through a Sunsail fleet engaged in pre-start manoeuvring and then to avoid dinghy racing fleets in Stokes Bay. Our decision was to go through the Sunsail boats and tack out before the dinghy fleet. This meant that we had to put in an extra tack upon approaching the mark. We were only just behind JIT. Their spinnaker went up and ours nearly did! The hoist was delayed while Richard, foredeck man, disentangled the sheets and guys from the lifelines which they were the wrong side of. After a sterling effort the kite was up and we were off in pursuit of JIT. It was then a gybe at Bob Kemps and down to a leeward laid mark just past the committee boat. During these two legs we were averaging 8 to 9 knots over the ground but not gaining significantly on JIT. We rounded the leeward mark just behind them and finished with a short beat to the line, crossing just behind JIT but a long way behind OMK.

Race 4

This time we had a really good start, crossing the line first. We would have been nearer to the gun but were puzzled by the absence of the rest of the fleet who were still some way back. We were soon engaged in a duel with OMK on the beat to the windward mark, Darling Associates. For this race we had better boat speed when closehauled, probably resulting from setting the sails differently. We depowered the main slightly thus enabling us to keep the jib telltales flying rather than having to point higher with consequent loss of boat speed. The tactic worked as we kept up with OMK and reached the mark only just behind them and some way ahead of JIT. OMK hoisted their spinnaker with a bear-away set while we went for a gybe set. We seemed to be doing well and when we started to converge after OMK had gybed, we realised that we would be first at Gleeds. Nearing the mark we unfurled the jib and dropped the spinnaker and were first round taking care not to leave a gap for OMK to get into. The next leg was a beat to RNC and OMK's slightly better boat speed meant they were first to round; again OMK hoisted their spinnaker with a bear-away set while we went for a gybe set. It was a dead down wind leg to the finish so we had to put in a gybe about half way along the leg. Again our slightly better downwind speed enabled us to get past OMK and finish just ahead of them, thus depriving Phil of his fourth consecutive line honours finish in the series. Summary A super day's sailing, with good courses and an improvement on last week's performance. It was particularly good to get line honours in the second race, even if we were still beaten by OMK on handicap.

After the Race

We were picked up by the PSC rib and taken to the club arriving somewhat wet due to going through some rather big wake on the way across. There, over a beer or two, we exchanged stories of the day with the crew of OMK and got to see the results, a third and a second, which means we are now third in the overall placing on equal points with Ellisa. It was a pity that more of the club fleet did not make it to the clubhouse but nice to see one crew from the IRC fleet there.

Races 5 and 6

Crew: Phil, Glenn, Joe, Phil B, Kevan, Bob, George

As usual, the team met up in the crews mess. Earlier in the week, we had been struggling for numbers. However, by race day they had been bolstered to a full complement. We've now discovered that 7 on board seems to be the fast way around the race track. The forecast from Windfinder was for a northerly at 10-12 knots. As it turned out, we initially had 15+, but at times it dropped to just 4 knots. The tide had a very large range and was effectively running west throughout the race area.

Race 5

Course: Start at Bob Kemp, then a beat to Darling Associates, followed be a reach to the west around the Gilkicker fort before round RNC/RAYC. Next was a run back south across the main channel to North Sturbridge, followed by another reach back to the start line, rounding Bob Kemp. The course was effectively a rectangle and two laps were to be completed.

Both the club fleet and IRC fleet were to start together. Meanwhile, there was stress at the helm of OMK. The beloved handheld GPS plotter thought it was yesterday, and as a consequence couldn't find an satellites. Not only would this change Phil's normal tactical input, but it would also mean no race plots for the web site ,,, disaster! The situation persisted throughout the day. It has now been added to the jobs list as something else to be fixed.

Back to the racing. At the start we made efforts to stay to the east of the line, with a strong westerly running tide sweeping along the line. The pin was at the starboard end and we eyed it up as the place to be. However, in the melee, and without the help of the GPS, we were late by about 30 seconds. However we crossed closest to the pin of the whole fleet.

A couple of boats ahead managed to tack onto port and cross our bows. Port was clearly the favoured tack because of the lee bow effect. We waited until we had crossed their tracks before tacking to maintain clear air. However, at the same moment that we tacked, we were instantly covered by one of the IRC boats. Undeterred, we persevered.

Looking around we identified our club class opposition. Symphony was ahead, already on port, but to leeward. Ellisa was ahead, still on starboard but to windward. We thought Just In Time was off with Ellisa too. Not our greatest start, so we just settled in, trying to find clear air and tweaking the boat up to speed. We managed to stay near the tail end of the leading pack of IRC boats.

As we crossed the main channel, slowly One More Knot both out pointed and overtook Symphony. For some reason, they still hadn't got her going up wind properly yet (much to our relief). Ellisa had stayed on starboard too long, effectively over standing the mark and paying the price. The early port tackers in the fleet needed a short tack onto starboard to make the mark. Those that had held onto starboard found themselves easing the sheets as they approached the mark, a self-confession to over standing. On One More Knot, we elected to leave our tack quite late in order to avoid over standing. At the windward mark, One More Knot led the rest of club by a couple of minutes.

The reach to the next mark was frustrating. At the beginning. near Darling Associates that we had just rounded, there was a good breeze (headland effect). As we approached the headland, the tide built to over 2 knots and the breeze dropped to 6 knots in the lee of the fort. Of course, the gap on the water closed significantly. However, we were able to open it up again as we were the first to exit the lee.

At RNC/RAYC, we had already prepared the pole and snuck a corner of the kite out. In the final boat length, we hoisted the kite, and then rounded the mark. The kite filled as we bore away and we followed the leading IRC boats off to the east.

There was a very strong tide pushing us back west. The wind was failling for a while. Behind us, Ellisa was closest, then Symphony and Just In Time. Some of the other boats gybed to aim more directly at North Sturbridge.

We continued a long way before electing to gybe. Looking back we could see the rest of our fleet. Most had allowed their tracks to go further to the West and had to come back east to make the mark. As we approached, we were cautious of the tide and allowed a good margin. A couple of the IRC boats had attempted to carry their kites of towards the next mark, Bob Kemp. At George's instigation we thought we'd have a go too.

So the pole was pushed forward and dropped really low. To our surprise, we managed to hang in there. Our course was slightly low of the next mark, but we could fix that later. We gained ground on the IRC yachts that had dropped their kites. The apparent was well forward of the beam.

It didn't take long to get to Bob Kemp at over 9 knots over the ground. Behind us, we saw that Ellisa had dropped their kite and Symphony attempted our efforts for a short while.

The second lap was a bit of a procession. Once again the gaps closed up at Gilkicker. We hadn't really noticed Just In Time, but she was now obviously in the mix with the boats behind. At the start of the run, we had a bit of a tussle with an IRC boat and took action to avoid getting trapped.

Once the kite was hoisted, we set off on our way again. The tide was stronger and the wind weaker. We needed to play angles to keep the boat speed up. It became apparent to us that not making the mark was a real possibility! However, by heading up into the tide we managed to keep the boat speed up and the transit of the mark against the shore showed that we were making. Eventually, ahead of us Wild Blue (another Elan 333, IRC) gybed and headed off towards the mark. We held on a bit longer as we could already see that they were struggling to get around.

We too gybed and headed of towards the mark. As we approached, we could see the frightening 3 knots of tide on the huge cardinal buoy. Worse, we weren't sure if we were going to make it. We too bore away onto a dead run in an attempt to get around. It wasn't working. So with only a few boat lengths to go, Phil took the brave decision to put the head of the boat towards the mark. The pressure in the kite increased and the boat accelerated forwards slightly. The gap was closing rapidly and it was still marginal. The bow went past the mark. But we still need to get the back of the boat around. It was touch and go, but a spin of the wheel at the appropriate time left us a 3 feet gap. Phew. Everyone could breathe again.

We dropped the pole forwards again and charged off towards the line at Bob Kemp. As far as I recall, we were the only boat to carry our kite on the leg. We couldn't quite make the line with the kite up, so we dropped it a couple of hundred metres short and finished under white sails. Exactly 6 minutes later, Just In Time crossed the line to claim second, followed over a minute later by Easy Tiger II and then Ellisa. After the handicap adjustments, One More Knot won by 5 mins 18 seconds from Just In Time. Ellisa was close enough to claim 3rd followed by Easy Tiger, then Symphony and Muscadet de Havelet.

Race 6

Course: It seemed like an eastern Solent tour against the tide! Starting at Bob Kemp, with a beat to Darling Associates (just west of the Gilkicker headland), then a run to North Sturbridge (left to starboard this time), back up to RNC/RAYC just east of Gilkicker. Then a broad reach to Mary Rose, south of Spitsand fort, and then to the finish at Naomi House just off the main channel to Portsmouth Harbour entrance. The course this time was like an big M, with a tail to the finish.

Pre start, the plan was to cross the line near the pin again but with a combined fleet it was getting exciting. There was a strong tide pushing down the line from the pin to the Committee boat sitting at the port end. We loitered up tide, but left it a bit late to get the power on. We were in dirty air underneath a number of other boats a struggled to get any boat speed.

The gun went and Ellisa had a blinder. Talking to their crew in the bar, they were nervous about being over. Symphony and Just In Time also had decent starts. Meanwhile, near the back of the fleet, and some 90 seconds later One More Knot eventually crossed the line. However, the one thing to our credit was that we were the closest boat to the pin and we had already tacked onto port for the lee bow effect.

We attempted to get our boat speed up and start to point. We knew we were playing catchup, there was no miracle cure. Looking across the fleet, we could see that Ellisa had hung onto starboard for quite a while. As the fleet converged, One More Knot and Ellisa were quite close. One More Knot rounded the mark and a slick bear away set saw us heading off towards the north cardinal again. Behind us,Ellisa had a spinnaker hourglass. It took them a while to sort it out. Just In Time and Symphony were right up with Ellisa too, but we had opened up a bit of a lead. We were now with the IRC pack. Given our lead, we didn't want to take any risks. We positioned ourselves to leeward of the IRC fleet to avoid being pushed up. We still had clear air as we were at the tail of the pack.

At North Sturbridge, the tide was still running hard. There was a very real danger of rounding the mark and being washed back onto it. This time we elected to keep the kite until we were abeam of the mark. A slick drop and then we continued to reach under white sails for a couple of boat lengths before daring to harden up. We were all relieved to see us pass through the line of the tide washing back onto the mark.

The next beat was a procession, with One More Knot leading the rest of the club fleet by over 3 minutes. One the way up, we debated which spinnaker to use. On the face of it, it should be the big symmetric. But of course then there was the tide, so we would need to head up. But the tide in the main solent channel was now easing significantly. After changing our minds about 3 times, we went for the asymmetric.

At the mark, we had another slick hoist and set off. We were just in front of Gauntlet of Tamar (Sigma 38, IRC) and just behind Electron V (X-332, IRC ). The others were using conventional kites. We were able to defend our slot by hardening up. One we had some space we dropped back downwind, but on several occasions we needed to defend from Gauntlet. At Mary Rose, we dropped the kite and set off towards the finish. The tide running west was now only 0.3 knots, but the tide was ebbing hard out of the harbour.

We set off on our way towards Naomi House in light airs. It looked like Ellisa were next to Mary Rose, but hot on her heels was Just In Time. Just In Time tacked first and appeared to do a number on Ellisa. These other boats were still over 3 minutes behind.

As we edged towards the finish the strength of the tide was building. We put a tack in and needed to duck a couple of cruising boats. We had also managed to avoid the Sunsail fleet with their spinnakers and the Victories. As soon as we had tacked, we looked up to see that Ellisa and Just In Time had significantly closed the gap. They had good sized bow waves, but we were struggling to get going. They soon approach and we tacked back onto Starboard. We cross tacked with Just In Time and forced her to tack. Ellisa managed to get away. We hung onto our tack for longer than the other boats, sailing parallel to the finish line. The other boats tacked in towards the line but the tide was getting stronger and washed them down tide. It looked like Ellisa was nearly there Eventually, we called another tack and headed for the line. Ellisa had to put in a short double tack to get across the line first to claim line honours. Just In Time was much closer, but George was calling that she would be washed down tide. Just In Time tacked and headed up above the mark just as One More Knot was arriving at the line on port. We were conscious that we may need to tack to avoid her but as both boats got to the line they tacked to cross together. One More Knot finished 3 seconds ahead of Just In Time on the water, but we give her about 18 seconds an hour. The race was 1 hour 20 minutes so we were toast. More interestingly, would the handicap difference allow Just In Time to claim a win over Ellisa?

We had to wait for the results to see how it unwound. Ellisa claimed their first win of the series (congratulations) by just 4 seconds from Just In Time. One More Knot was 2nd on the water but 3rd on corrected.

As far as the series is concerned, One More Knot's run of 5 consecutive wins has now ended. But with 6 races run, we have a discard. So we are still on perfect points. There are still 5 races to go, with 7 to count for the series (4 discards). Ellisa now have 1 win and a string of 2nds, so no room for complacency yet. Just In Time also have a number of 2nds and could be contenders with a string of wins. Symphony hasn't started this series as well as we are accustomed to, so if they are going to be in the mix at the end of the series, they'd better get going now! New comer Easy Tiger 2 is rapidly coming onto the pace, already taking the odd point off established crews. It's hard to comment on Muscadet's performance because she is slower than the other yachts. However, despite the light airs, her corrected times were not too far adrift of the fleet.

The View from Symphony

Or if you prefer, Phil's title suggestion: "The View from the Back"

Today we have light northerly winds and a big spring tide. The committee boat came on the radio and told us they were at Bob Kemps.

Race 5

Both fleets were to start together and it was clear before the start that we would want to get onto port tack as soon as possible to lee bow the strong tidal stream. We got a good start just to leeward of White Cloud, they tacked onto port when clear of the line and we followed immediately and had good clean air for the start of the beat to Darling Associates. It was fairly soon apparent that we just didn't have the boat speed and we were not pointing well. OMK was soon drawing away from us as was Ellisa. We needed to put in a couple of tacks about 3 cables from the mark and also noticed that several boats had overstood quite considerably. Rounding the mark ahead of JIT and Easy Tiger we skirted round Gilkicker and ran into a patch of light wind. Ahead we could see the rest of the fleet was also experiencing the same problem. JIT and Easy Tiger narrowed the gap and I think JIT rounded RNC just ahead of us. We had prepared for a gybe set of the spinnaker at the mark and on nearing it realised that we were wrong. However the hoist went ok and we soon gybed onto port. We held this until nearing N Sturbridge just behind JIT and ahead of Easy Tiger and some considerable distance ahead of Muscadet. There we gybed and set course for Bob Kemps and the end of the first lap. We had seen boats in front, among them OMK, carrying spinnakers but decided to drop ours when it started to be difficult to manage. Behind us Easy Tiger did the same. The beat to the windward mark again showed our lack of upwind speed and some experimenting with car positions on the headsail only improved things by a small amount. Rounding Gilkicker for the second time we decided to keep further out as again we could see boats ahead struggling to get to RNC. This didn't really help as it seemed that the inshore boats fared better. This time we went for a bear away set at RNC and again headed out to N Sturbridge. Deciding when to gybe for the mark was going to be difficult and this was confirmed by seeing Ellisa, ahead of us, getting it wrong. We rounded Sturbridge with its impressive bow wave in the very strong tide and again dropped the spinnaker for the final leg to the finish. We crossed the line 5th on the water, 10 minutes behind OMK, 3 minutes behind JIT and around one and a half minutes behind Easy Tiger and Ellisa. However we did finish far enough ahead of Muscadet to keep our 5th place on corrected time.

Race 6

This time we had another quite good start, tacking onto port as soon as we were able. This time we seemed to have slightly better speed and arrived at Darling Associates in a long line of boats rounding and all hoisting spinnakers with a bear away set as they came round. We arrived at Sturbridge at the end of the downwind leg slightly ahead of JIT. Judging the rounding was difficult in the very strong tide, there being a great danger of being swept back onto the buoy if one got it wrong. We dropped the spinnaker and went round, very frightening to see how much tide there was. Once round, we saw that JIT only just managed to keep clear as they rounded. Then followed a beat to RNC, again tide and big wind variations near Gilkicker played a big part in how one fared against the rest of the fleet. We lost out a lot to JIT and Ellisa but rounded RNC just ahead of Easy Tiger. For this leg we had decided to use our asymmetric spinnaker as it had looked to be a quite tight reach. It was the wrong decision as it turned out, as once we were settled we saw that Easy Tiger behind was using their symmetric and were rapidly closing the gap on us. It was important not to let them pass so a judicious bit of heading up as they attempted to pass kept them to leeward and hence unable to get by us. This continued to Mary Rose where the spinnaker was dropped ready for the final leg to the finish at Naomi. We rounded the buoy and shortly after tacked onto starboard. Nearing Gleeds we experienced an enormous wind shift and tacked back on to port. Ahead we saw OMK much nearer than last time we saw them. However further over towards the harbour entrance we saw that Ellisa and JIT had made tremendous gains and were coming into the finish, either ahead of OMK or fractionally behind. We crossed the line, 4th on the water and just far enough ahead of Easy Tiger to keep that place by 14s on corrected time.

After the Race

We were picked up by the PSC rib and taken to the club. There we exchanged stories of the day with the crew of OMK and Ellisa and got to see the results, a 5th and a 4th, which means we are now 4th in the overall placing, 3 points behind JIT.

All in all it was a fairly disappointing day in terms of getting the boat to go and our results. We were not helped by the light winds which rarely exceeded 12 knots and were considerably lighter for much of the time. As we only carry a 106% headsail we were considerably underpowered at times, we reckon that we need at least 10 knots to be able to match the rest of the fleet upwind. Also we have a suspicion that there is considerable growth on the bottom, as Symphony has not been out of the water since being launched in June last year.

Race 7

Crew: Phil, Glenn, Kevan, Andy S, Ben

This was the Long Race in the series, so only one race for the day but then dropping into Royal Victoria Yacht Club in Wootton Creek for a spot of lunch and a pint.

As usual, it was brekky in the Crew's Mess. There was quite some excitment despite the drizzle. So far, in the Parhelion Autumn Series One More Knot had chalked up 5 wins and a 3rd. If the series ran to conclusion, there would be 7 races to count from 11. With 4 discards there were plenty of possibilities for how the series would turn out. Mathematically, it was still possible for One More Knot, Ellisa, Just In Time or Symphony to win the series. After much thinking and checking, we had worked out that the only way we could secure the series this week was by winning. A second would guarantee us at least 2nd in the series with further races giving us the opportunity to improve. Heady heights for the crew of One More Knot, we'd only ever managed 3rd place in the series.

We had nicknamed the breakfast baps "Winning baps" because we had changed our routine breakfast. With our improved results we have all manner of pre-race superstitions that can't be changed.

In turned out that Andy had a Queen CD in the car including "Champions". We thought it would be a laugh to turn up at the RVYC with this blaring out on the stereo. However, we also realised that it would be tempting fate. Fortunately, Andy had left his car key on the boat, so we didn't take it with us.

Back to the serious racing business, we hadn't won yet. The roles for today were Andy S on main, Ben (normally George's bowman on Concerto) on Bow, Kev on Nav and pit, Glenn on Jibs sheets & guys and Phil hiding at the back. We had a debate about which headsail. Outside it was still light, but Windfinder forecast that the wind would pickup to 21 knots. After chucking the ideas about for a bit we elected to stick with the #2 and see how it went. If necessary, we could change headsail on a downwind leg.

On the pontoon it was still blowing only 12 knots or so. So with the #2 we set off to discover the committee boat location. We put up the full main inside the harbour and once clear of the entrance unfurled the jib. Outside the harbour there was a bit more breeze, maybe 15 knots but we were still ok in our configuration. However as we sailed south to the committee boat's location further offshore the wind picked up further. At times the boat was becoming a bit of a handful in the gusts and with the wind forecast to increase Phil called for a headsail change down to the #3. This turned out to be a good call.

Course: Start at Gleeds, North Sturbridge, Gleeds, Bob Kemp, Burgess Salmon, N Ryde Middle, Motherbank, Darling Associates and finish at Craft Insure. A late windshift meant that the course became slightly offset, which given what subsequently happened to the increasing wind was probably a blessing in disguise. The tide was a strong east going stream at the start dropping to slack by the finish.

The line had a strong port bias to the Gleeds pin end. The tide was also pushing back from the line at about 1.5 knots. We didn't want to get downtide and downwind, so in the pre-start melee, One More Knot went out to the port end of the line. This gave us clearer water and the freedom to control the boat without worrying about the others. As the clock counted down towards one minute, we sailed parallel to the line on port, looking at the majority of the fleet approaching on starboard. At the one minute signal, we tacked onto starboard to stay ahead of the fleet, but it would be difficut to get across the line because of the bias. At about 30 seconds before the start, we tacked back onto port and with Ben on the bow signalling we edge up to be first across the line. We had started well.

The first leg was a beat to North Sturbridge, however the course had become very port biased. With a bit of space we managed to dial One More Knot into the groove and soon we edged out in front. Ellisa was sailing with a vengence. Everytime we looked astern, they were there stalking. To get to North Sturbridge we only needed a short tack onto starboard before tacking back to the mark. Prior to our tack, we had discussed spinnaker tactics and elected for the Asymmetric. The wind was now blowing a good F5, 20 knots or so and gusting higher.

We rounded the mark uneventfully with a couple of minutes lead over Ellisa. Ben hadn't sailed with an asymmetric before, so after some checks we hoisted the kite. The course was a bit deep for efficient use of the asymmetric, but it was very controllable. Behind, Ellisa had elected not to use their kite. However, their speed was still good and they were chasing hard. We suspected that they had unfurled more jib. We were pretty sure that we were only keeping our gap courtesy of the kite.

Avoiding risk, we went back to white sails early at Gleeds. A big gybe and then hardened up onto the fetch to Bob Kemp. This was similar to the first beat and intially we were hard on the wind. Ellisa, still a couple of minutes, behind appeared to be gaining. We tweaked some strings searching for a bit more. It seemed that the gap changed as the wind picked up and dropped off, obviously favouring each boat's setup differently. Eventually, we realised that we could crack the sheets a little and free off to get to the mark. We had a couple of rounding up moments in the gusts, but it also appeared that Ellisa had their trauma too. We discussed the wind angles again for the next leg, from Bob Kemp to Burgess Salmon. On the face of it, it looked like symmetric weather, and indeed some of the IRC class boats were carrying symmetric kites. However, we elected to go for the asymmetric again to improve our boat control. We were now getting gusts of 28 knots.

At Bob Kemp, we rounded in the lead but mixed in with a couple of IRC boats (they had started 10 mins ahead but sailed a slightly longer course to this point). We hoisted the kite and found the course to be a bit deep, with the kite being shielded by the main. Once up, a bit of experimenting showed sheeting in to fill and then easing it back out inflated which allowed it to rotate out from under the lee of the main improving boat speed. However, it was prone to collapsing as the wind shifted and gusted. We quickly changed to 2 people on the sheet, one tailing and one on the winch. Behind, Ellisa was under whites as were the rest of the club fleet apart from Symphony who had also gone for their asymmetric. It appeared that everyone took their turns for a 'moment'. Around us, one of the IRC sigma 38s struggled and dropped their kite. Behind, we saw that Symphony had dropped their kite early. However we persisted and managed to get down the leg with only couple of brief broaches. Once again, approaching the next mark we dropped the kite early.

At the mark, we simply had to harden up to get to N. Ryde Middle. However, with the wind now in the high 20's, the boat was a bit fierce. We still had the full main. The jib cars were eased back, then eased back some more. Eventually, we started to get some semblance of performance.

At N. Ryde Middle the club fleet boats tacked for Motherbank. The IRC boats continued a little further around Sunsail, before coming back to Motherbank. One More Knot still led the club fleet by about 2 minutes from Ellisa at the N. Ryde Middle buoy. We tacked and set off toward Motherbank. As we did so, we merged back into the IRC fleet, but now up with Wild Blue (Elan 333). It was a good opporuntity for seeing two Elan 333's together on the water at full chat. Wild Blue seemed to be able to stay in control just a little better and have a hint of speed advantage. Both boats tried to avoid hindering each other as they were in different classes.

With the wind now set well in the high 20's we elected to not use a kite for the final run. Instead we sailed under white sails. We sailed as deep as we could whilst keeping the jib pulling. Just ahead, Wild Blue had hoisted their kite and we were aware of the broach potential. We didn't have to wait long! Soon Wild Blue was on her side and rounded up, however, they quickly got things back together and set off. Intially, we weren't losing out too much to them, certainly not on speed, but their kite allowed them to run deeper. Eventually, we flipped the jib to goosewinged to try and drop the last few hundred metres to Darling Associates, just SW of Gilkicker. That's when we saw how much of an advantage Wild Blue's deeper course had been.

Behind us, it was white sails all the way (as far as we could actually see). On rounding the final mark, it was a beat to the finish at Craft Insure. We rounded and hardened up onto starboard for a while. Ellisa was still a couple of minutes behind. We tacked onto port and they tacked behind us when they got to our track. We needed to stay on port for a long time as we battled the tide. However, we weren't quite on song. We were to windward and slightly ahead of Xtrovert (X372 Sport, IRC) but she was pointing higher. We were starting to get squeezed and slow down. Phil wanted to go astern of her so that we could sail our own race. However our first attempt brought squeals of horror from the rail of Xtrovert. We needed to rapidly abandon the attempt and round up again to avoid a collision! Our second attempt was somewhat better judged and we dropped underneath her giving us the freedom to do our own thing.

Ellisa was showing signs of closing the gap and pointing higher. There was plenty of string tweeking as we tried to keep the boat on her feet. Phil asked for the crew to tell him what was going on behind to save him from looking over his shoulder. Eventually, we worked out that in the lulls, we were opening the gap, but in the gusts they were gaining. Oh for the wind to drop a bit or a few more bodies on the rail! We battled on into the tide.

Eventually One More Knot tacked south towards the line. Ellisa again followed suit when she got up to our track. On this leg, One More Knot was visibly able to open up the gap. We were able to see that we would need to tack again to get across the line. With about a quarter of a mile to go, we could see that Ellisa was about the same distance behind us. There was a hint of relief and a few comments about winning. Glenn said "I didn't hear that".

A couple of tacks later One More Knot crossed the line after 2 hours 45 minutes and 22 seconds of racing. We were 3 mins 15 seconds ahead of Ellisa, who in turn was over 4 minutes in front of Just In Time. Subject to confirmation, One More Knot has claimed a 6th win and the series.

Phew, some merryment and a big cheer on board. The sails were put away in over 30 knots of breeze before tricky parking conditions (depth and wind issues) at the Royal Victoria pontoon. Some 10 yacht crews or more enjoyed the hospitality of the local club, with lunch, beer and some relief. Thanks to the RVYC for their hospitality.

On the way back there was damage assessment, a broken bookshelf and repair to a split ring on the main traveller; with peak speeds of over 10 knots under just the jib in 38 knots. Wow, what a day!

The View from Symphony

Today we have the passage race which will finish near Wootton Creek. The forecast is for 20 knots of wind, increasing throughout the morning. The wind in the marina was fairly light so we set off with full main. The committee boat was stationed by Gleeds and on arriving there we decided to put in the first reef.

Race 7

The line has a bias favouring a port tack start but in view of the conditions we opted for a starboard tack start followed by a tack on to port as soon as possible. This worked well as we were able to cross the line at the start signal and had room for an immediate tack. As usual in this race series we watched OMK slowly draw ahead of us, followed by Ellisa and JIT. Progress towards N Sturbridge, the windward mark, was disrupted when a tanker appeared from behind and was crossing our course. This led to Ellisa tacking to pass behind it and us deciding to bear away behind Ellisa and harden up when the ship had cleared us. OMK was far enough ahead to avoid all this. We then continued and after putting in two short tacks near the mark, rounded it with a gybe and headed back towards Gleeds. We hoisted our asymmetric spinnaker and immediately realised that we had about 3 metres of tack line loose. This meant the spinnaker was not pulling and we had to winch the line in. In the mayhem of the spinnaker flapping around we saw the lazy sheet had tripped itself, not a problem as we wouldn't need to gybe on this leg. Once settled we looked ahead and saw that JIT and Ellisa were using white sails only whereas out in front was OMK using their asymmetric. Now we had better boat speed we started to close the gap but the leg was too short to narrow it to any extent.

Approaching Gleeds we unfurled the headsail and dropped the spinnaker and then rounded for the next leg to Bob Kemps. We were sailing alongside Easy Tiger with the other three in club class ahead of us. Gradually we sailed higher than Easy Tiger and soon were considerably further to windward but slightly back from them. Visibility was poor and it was not possible to see the mark. It was at this point, when we were near N Sturbridge, Roy at the helm thought to ask why we were so much farther to windward than the rest of the fleet. Martin did a quick check and pointed out that we needed to bear away quite considerably to get to Bob Kemps. Oh dear! The helmsman had assumed it was a beat, not a very close fetch. Our GPS plot showed we had to alter course by around 30 degrees. As a consequence of this we arrived at Bob Kemps behind Easy Tiger. We now went for a bear away set to launch the asymmetric spinnaker. This time it went perfectly - we had to get something right! We soon started to close the gap on Easy Tiger who were sailing with white sails. Around half way to the next mark we were level with them and up to windward and going well, Symphony started to broach and Roy yelled for the sheets to be eased, this resulted in a problem on the spinnaker winch with only one turn left and some of the sheet round the self tailing mechanism. We needed to transfer the sheet to another winch to sort things out and during this process the spinnaker succeeded in shedding both sheets by tripping the snap shackles. We managed to retrieve it by pulling in with the tack line, this meant bearing away in order to get it in the shelter of the mainsail. Once it was safely below we unfurled the jib and followed Easy Tiger down to Burgess Salmon, where we rounded the mark now at the back of the club class fleet.

The next leg was a fetch to N Ryde Middle and we sailed by GPS display which was set to BTW (bearing to waypoint) and COG (course over ground), so no repeats of our error on the leg to Bob Kemps. However we began to worry when we saw that Easy Tiger was sailing a lower course than us - had we got it wrong again. Looking ahead though, we saw that we were following in the track of Ellisa and JIT. As a consequence we arrived at the mark ahead of Easy Tiger who had had to put in a tack to get there. Rounding the buoy it was another fetch, this time to Mother Bank. There we then started a downwind leg to Darling Associates which is just off Gilkicker. We decided against using the spinnaker for this leg, as with our snap shackle problems we thought we would definitely be pushing our luck. The wind was now considerably stronger, often gusting above 30 knots, so as we approached the mark we put in the second reef.

We rounded Darling Associates and immediately tacked onto port for the final leg to the finish at Craft Insure. We were still ahead of Easy Tiger but needed to increase our time difference to ensure beating them after handicap correction was applied. The beat went well and after two more tacks we crossed the line around 5 minutes ahead of Easy Tiger, enough to keep 4th place. We were however 10 minutes behind OMK and 5 minutes behind JIT.

After the Race

We dropped the sails and motored in to Wootton creek. There, after circling round off the RVYC pontoon for some time and with the much appreciated help of the crew of OMK we came alongside them. It was then into the club for some much needed food and drink and the usual post race tales of the day. The return to Gosport was a downwind affair with just the headsail up and wind gusting to nearly 40 knots. It was with considerable relief we got into our berth at Haslar marina.

Several lessons were learned during the race; not least that we need to replace the snap shackles on our spinnaker sheets with ones that are man enough for the job. We also had problems with the reefing line where it goes round the boom; it needs a slider in the boom to locate it in the right place. When the second reef went in, the sail was not being pulled far enough back and so it was not being held flat enough.

Races 8 & 9

Crew: Phil, Glenn, Martin L, Phil B and Darrell

It was quite light hearted in the crew's mess this week; completely different to last week's mood. After last week's win secured the series, this week was about using the opportunity to try other things to see to gain some more experience, but not entirely without pressure. One thing we could afford to do was attack the line more. We also want at least one more win in the series to have the "perfect score". After brekky and our "winning baps", we went back to the pontoon to change the headsail back to the #2. The Windfinder forecast was for a westerly 8 to 11 knots, with wind against tide for the first couple of hours of racing.

In the pre-start practice we set off on a beat and started sorting out car positions. On a tack, Phil's cap was knocked over the side. So we went for a man overboard drill. Initially the "teddy bear net" was deployed. After running the cap down half a dozen time with the cap wriggling free each time, we changed to the boat hook. Even with that, Phil still managed to only scare his cap. On the verge of giving up, we started the engine and backed down onto it before fishing it out. We reached some signifant conclusions. If you're on One More Knot, stay there, don't fall off and that if Phil B went fishing, the fish had nothing to worry about! To 'cap' it all, Phil subsequently refused to place the soggy garment back on his head.

Race 8

Course: Start at Gleeds, then a beat to Bob Kemp, followed by a run to a laid leeward mark before passing Gleeds to port and then doing another lap. The wind was initially 8 to 10 knots, during the early part of the race it built to 12 knots for a while before dropping 6 to 9 knots. As a consequence, the downwind legs against the tide became a struggle and the race was shortened to just one lap.

At the start, tide pushing the fleet over line. It was important not to get downtide as it might take a while to get back. Some of the fleet seemed to miss this point and it looked they had a bit of a struggle to get back to the line in time for the start. Before the start, we had timed the line, about 1 minute to reach the length. We then set off past the port end, with a view to turning around and coming back parallel on port. This would allow us to choose when and where to tack allowing us to hit the line on Starboard. At about 1 minute to go, we tacked towards the line as the majority of the rest of the fleet descended on the committee boat on starboard. In the final countdown, we had both clear air and water. Cranking the power and speed on set us on our way, first across the line from Ellisa, who, with the majority of the fleet were nearer the committee boat.

At the beginning of the first beat to Bob Kemp we were looking over our transom towards Ellisa, who had a higher line. Following, but higher still were Just In Time and Symphony. We were out in front but tactically pinned. We had to sail low (same as Ellisa) and fast to stay out in front, but eventually we opened a bit of a gap that allowed us to start to point higher. Slowly we came up above Ellisa's line.

Our tide instruments showed 1.3 knots of tide helping us. Tactically, we would go as close the the North Sturbridge shoal, to pick up the strong tide as it sped over the shallow water. Meanwhile, Just In Time had decided to tack onto port, possibly to stay in the main part of the channel, or possibly to get out of the lee of Symphony who was doing quite well this week. Ahead, we could see the IRC boats beating upto the windward mark. As we approached North Sturbridge we were at the head of the fleet. Ellisa and Symphony hadn't been able to point so high and looked to be going east and inshore of the shoal. Surely there must be less tide in there.

At North Sturbridge our tide initially went over 2 knots and then over 3 for a while, straight to windward. Fab, plan A working well! So now we had Ellisa and Symphony in towards Ryde and Just In Time in the middle of the Solent We watched the tide rate drop as we came out of the effect of the shoal and tacked back into the main channel. We could now see that we had a considerably lead over the next 3 boats.

A discussion ensued on board, what to do after the mark. Should we stay on the island side and get inshore to try to cheat the tide. However, we would then have to cross the channel further down. Alternatively, we could gybe immediately and cross back across the main channel looking to hide in the shallow water on the other side. The IRC had split and it was too soon to see who was doing well. We elected to go for the immediate crossing, in the hope that the ever increasing tide would favour crossing sooner rather than later. So we decided on a gybe set at the mark.

At our final tack, we were someway from the mark and attempted to judge the lay line. However, on the way in we discovered that we had overstood slightly, so we were able to crack the sheets an bring the speed up. At the Bob Kemp we bore away and gybed before hoisting "Big Blue". We were able to sail back through the fleet approaching the mark. Whilst we got things sorted out we didn't see the order the other's rounded the mark, but the fleet split. Ellisa and Just In Time sticking to the island side. It looked like Just In Time were slicker and got their kite pulling first.

Symphony however had decided to come with One More Knot. Mmmm, waiting game, how would it turn out.

We were surprised by the now 2 knots of tide in the main channel. The wind was failing and progress was slow. With some serious concern we observed Just In Time and Ellisa looking to be going well. Our only saviour could be that they still had to cross the big tide. There was no going back!

Ahead, we could see a lot of small boats anchored just to the west of the Gilkicker headland. We had hoped to be further east of the headland, however the tide had pushed us west and we still needed to get around the headland. Phil elected to gybe before we got mixed up in the boats knowing that progress would be slow and that it would be difficult to predict what course over ground could sensibly made. We also didn't want to get too close the headland to avoid the tide ripping around. We've been there before! Symphony persevered further, passing into the fleet of fishing boats before gybing. On our new gybe, it was apparent that as One More Knot closed with the other part of the split fleet that we had seriously lost out as we saw Just In Time and Ellisa cross in front.

Once clear of the headland we gybed back in over the Hamilton bank to get to the shallow water. We were already behind and frankly not going very well. We gybed again, and attempted to follow Just In Time and Ellisa who looked to be having a right royal battle.

Symphony stayed out in the channel, which seemed a strange call, but it was simple and she was making steady progress. Maybe there was a better further out, we were being frustrated by only 6 to 9 knots and slow progress. On One More Knot, our gybes weren't slick, partly due to the failing to keep the kite inflated.

On the approach the the leeward laid mark, Just In Time (on starboard) and Ellisa on port were closing on each other, beam on beam. I think Ellisa was eventually forced to gybe, meaning that both boats would need to gybe again to get around the mark. Meanwhile, Symphony had gybe and seemed to be coming into the mark with some speed to get there first.

We had tried running deep and directly (like Just In Time and Ellisa) but it wasn't as effective for us as playing the angles. We used to be good at this! We were somewhat frustrated by the lack of progress. Playing the angles gave us a chance to put in a final gybe to approach the mark on port. This would allow us to unfurl the jib ready for the next leg. It would be an interesting rounding of the mark as there was already a significant tide ebbing out of the harbour. In the light airs, we could already see that we needed to carry the kite past the mark to make headway against the tide. It didn't go too well, the jib wouldn't unfurl completely and the spinnaker drop was complicated by the lack of crew. We certained missed the extra hands that we'd had on board all season. On rounding we didn't get the white sails sheeted in properly for a while. Eventually we got going and then tacked.

We had been so fixed on our own issues an the race in front that we had failed to notice Easy Tiger II who rounded the mark quite soon after us. It looked like they too had similar problems. We then had a short beat to the line and at least we got the boat moving quite well.

Ahead, Symphony had already managed sneak across the line to claim line honours. Given they had followed the same early tidal strategy as us, they had made a much better effort of it than us. Interestingly, in hindsight the conditions probably did come to Symphony a little, with a wind against a strong tide, in failing airs. At least her #3 would have had some power on the beat, but then with the Elan 340's big spinnaker she was probably the class of the fleet off the wind. One More Knot should also have been effective off the wind. We didn't live up to the potential.

The results show that Symphony took line honours by just 21 seconds from Just In Time, and then 19 seconds later Ellisa. One More Knot finished over 2 minutes after Ellisa with Easy Tiger II over a minute further back again. The time corrected results show that Just In Time a well deserved win, their first of this series, followed by Ellisa, Symphony, One More Knot, Easy Tiger II, Scallywag and Solo.

It was good to see Scallywag (GK24) back on the water with her newly fixed rudder after their mishap in the first race. Of course, she was also sporting a new clean bum, so One More Knot's cleanest boat in the fleet advantage had been handed over. Rick Hodgeson was on board Solo (Sigma 38), sadly having sold Total Obsession Too, was now racing on someone else's boat.

Whilst we were waiting for the tail enders to finish, we discussed the race. We had made a bad tidal call, although Symphony showed us it probably wasn't as bad as we thought. More importantly, our gybes had been scruffy. We had a chat to try to understand what was going wrong. Apart from not enough crew (something we couldn't do anything about) we figured out that we were getting caught out by new lazy sheets not being released early enough. Improvements were discussed prior to the second race.

Race 9

Course: Start at Gleeds, with a windward mark at RNC/RAYC (nearside of Gilkicker point) to starboard, Naomi House to port, followed by the laid mark to starboard and then the line. Optomistically 2 laps were signalled, but once again the race was terminated at the end of the first lap. Phil checked the course on the GPS, and rounding Naomi House to port didn't make sense. It would have been a hooked mark (a tight string has to touch the mark these days!) A quick call to the committee boat on the VHF clarified the situation and the course was duly corrected.

With our pre race chat and observation of the course issue, we had become a bit distracted from where we were actually positioned. All of a sudden, the timer flipped over with only 5 minutes to go. We were heading away from the line and suddenly realised we were quite a way down tide. A quick U turn, saw us making our way into the line, but we were still 4 minutes away. Phil called for full steam ahead and the sails were tweaked for maximum speed. But as we've already seen, it was hard to make downwind progress. Fortunately, the GPS told the tail that we would be at the committee boat end of the line with about 1 minute to go. We would also be arriving with absolutely no rights over the rest of the fleet, so care would be needed. We merged in to windward of Easy Tiger II. Just In Time were coming from leeward but a little behind but they had better boat speed.

We made a call not to get trapped and a sharp turn across the transom of Easy Tiger II avoided the first problem. We were now in the last minute as we passed the committee boat. The fleet was incredible tight. Just In Time now had an overlap to leeward. We had a small overlap on Easy Tiger II. If Just In Time had legitimately started to push up, it would have been a real squeeze. With 20 seconds to go, we hardened up and cranked on everything we had. Somehow we managed to hit the line first but it really was a tight one. It seemed like the whole fleet had a good start.

Once again, we needed to get going early. We came up over Easy Tiger II's line which allowed us to tack onto port. However, Symphony and Ellisa were on a windward line and still on starboard.

As One More Knot and Symphony approached each other we could see that it was going to tight. However, Phil could see that the transit of Symphony's bow against the shoreline was opening, just. We hung in and cleared Symphony with half a boat length to spare. Once passed Symphony, Ellisa was next but not a problem. Shortly after, the fleet tacked onto port to follow.

We were at the head of the fleet with Just In Time next, a little further ofshore. Just In Time was slightly further offshore as we slowly approached the windward mark RNC/RAYC. However, the wind was dropping. Phil B spotted a lurking glassy calm patch ahead. If we put an extra pair of tacks we could stay out of the wind hole for longer. Just In Time was already on or close to the lay line, so their options were limited unless they we prepared to give away what they had already earned. After electing to do the extra tacks, One More Knot rounded clear ahead, followed by Just In Time. The rest of the fleet were already minutes behind.

With a bear away set, the kite was hoisted and we set off due east, much closer to the Haslar wall than the rhumb line. Just In Time elected to go more directly to the next mark, Naomi House. We checked the tide charts and it did indeed confirm that we should have a small amount of tide against us down the wall, but the tide should be ebbing hard from the harbour entrance. Initially the tide was a still little bit against, but by the time we passed KB boat parks the tide was marginally favourable, flowing east, despite what the tide chart showed! The leeward mark was near the main Portsmouth channel and would probably have a strong south going tide. This was same tide that got us a few weeks ago when we managed to snatch 3rd place from the jaws of victory! However, the lesson had been learned and we watched as Just In Time continued on her way.

On the run, it looked like we were marginally in front of Just In Time, but it was hard to tell. However, tactically, we felt that we were banking a position, whilst they would have trouble closer the mark. As we sailed east, we were looking at the angle to the leward mark increasing, but being brave (or stupid) we continued until the angles looked better. Eventually we gybed and surprised ourselves with how high we need to sail. With the tide under us we charged down onto the mark. At the Naomi House we had 1.5 knots of tide and could see Just In Time struggling back in against it. We dropped the kite and hardened up and were soon washed away from the mark, a vivid demonstration of how strong the tide was. We hardened up to make the laid mark just to leeward of the line. A final beat saw us One More Knot claim line honours about 2 minutes ahead of Just In Time.

Next across the line were Just In Time but the margin was big enough, nearly 2 minutes. We set off early to get the RIB to the club, but on the way we observed Scallywag ... not too far behind. We had no idea whether they were close enough to deny us a win. They were ...

So One More Knot took line honours, 1 minute 43 seconds ahead of Just In Time but only 4 minutes 33 seconds ahead of Scallywag. After the time corrections, Scallywag claimed a welcome back win, One More Knot was 2nd, followed by Just In Time, Ellisa, Symphony, Easy Tiger II and Solo.

Looking at the days racing, Just In Time claimed her first win of the series, backed up with a decent 3rd for the best results of the day. Ellisa is clinging onto 2nd place in the series by her finger nails and Symphony claimed line honours. Scallywag is now looking competitive but has missed too many races. Easy Tiger II, PSC newcomer is finding her feet and getting closer to the action and One More Knot is sliding backwards from her string of wins, the 2nd place today guarantees a worst case of one point dropped from a perfect series score, but still 2 races to go for anther win. We haven't rolled over yet!

"The View from Symphony"

Today we are back to the usual format of two races. The forecast is for winds of around 9 knots so we might be somewhat underpowered with our small headsail. The committee boat is stationed by Gleeds and has already set a line when we arrive. Today we are missing three regular crew, including navigator, pit man and foredeck. We have two guests on board, Lynne and Trevor. Trevor will be looking after mainsheet and Lynne will be attending to sheets and guys in the cockpit.

Race 8 (How we stole line honours right at the end)

We got a good starboard tack start at the committee boat end of the line, crossing within a few seconds of the start signal. Further down the line we saw OMK and Ellisa also start well. Soon OMK began to draw ahead as did Ellisa, however once settled, Symphony maintained her position behind Ellisa and was pointing very slightly higher. We then started to catch and pass Ellisa and soon had Eric calling across to us and asking if we had the engine on? Meanwhile JIT was behind and down to leeward and soon tacked to get clear air. We had decided to go for a gybe set of the spinnaker at the windward mark, Bob Kemps and saw that OMK had the same tactic when they rounded ahead of us. Two tacks and we were approaching Bob Kemps. We rounded just ahead of JIT and had to delay our gybe while they closed the mark on starboard tack.

Once clear, we gybed and hoisted the spinnaker and set off behind OMK who had quite a lead. Behind us JIT and Ellisa hoisted spinnakers but set off along the island shore and so the fleet split. We maintained our course until approaching Gilkicker where there were quite a few small fishing boats at anchor. OMK put in an early gybe and it was apparent they were sailing much more of a reaching course than we were. We then gybed and headed more or less towards Gleeds and the leeward mark. Meanwhile OMK crossed ahead of us and headed inshore towards the harbour entrance and presumably less adverse tide. We debated whether to do the same but instead decided upon a more direct course keeping the wind at about 15 degrees off the stern. By this time it was clear that JIT and Ellisa had made the right choice in not immediately gybing at the windward mark as they had a lead and were crossing well ahead of us. We needed a further gybe as we came to the leeward mark where it was clear that OMK had made the wrong choice earlier as we were now ahead.

We rounded it close behind JIT and Ellisa. Ellisa had a spinnaker problem and we got past them. Now we only had JIT between us and what was now the finish as the course had been shortened. After a tack soon after rounding the leeward mark, we sailed straight to the line. Nearing the line we saw that JIT would need to put in two tacks to get through the line and so we managed to claim line honours from them by 21 seconds. Ellisa followed soon after. The gap was not enough in either case and so we were placed 3rd on corrected time, losing out to Ellisa for 2nd place by only 12 seconds.

Race 9

This time the start was not one of our better ones. We were sailing away from the committee boat and wished to turn for the run in to the line but were faced with a line of boats reaching in on starboard. As we were to windward of them we had to wait until the last one was past. That meant we were then at the end of a long queue reaching in to the start. We started just to leeward of Solo, having overtaken them on the run in, but had clear enough air to slowly get clear. We opted to keep in the tide on the leg to RNC but most other boats went in to the Haslar wall and then sailed parallel to the wall on the final leg into the windward mark. That was soon seen to be the much better tactic. We were just behind Easy Tiger at this stage and followed them into the mark. Already the rest of the fleet except Solo had gone round with OMK already holding a considerable lead. We rounded just behind Easy Tiger and we were now second last.

Spinnakers went up on Symphony and Easy Tiger but as we were to leeward we soon gybed away from them. We repeated our tactics from the first race in that we sailed a course so that we were not dead down wind but not sailing a true reaching course. One more gybe and we were coming into Naomi, the leeward mark, having now a fair lead over Easy Tiger and much nearer to Scallywag. There we dropped the spinnaker as the next leg was a fetch to the leeward laid mark and then it was harden up and finish at the line as the course had once again been shortened. We crossed the line 5 seconds behind Scallywag who had a well deserved 1st place. Despite finishing ahead of Ellisa, we were beaten by them once again after the handicap was applied, this time by 13 seconds! We were placed 5th, somewhat disappointing after the first race.

After the Race

As usual we had a good time at the club house exchanging comments about the day with the crews of OMK, Ellisa and Scallywag.

Race 10 and 11

Crew: Phil, Glenn, Joe, Phil B, Darrell, Kevan, Jane, Andy

The final day of the series was here at last. Winds had been forecast for a Westerly 10 to 12 knots, possibly picking up a couple of knots during racing. At breakfast, we already knew that we had the series, so we were sailing for pride. Only a first place would improve our score. A double win would allow us bragging rights, and have a win to discard. However, the previous weekend had seen One More Knot fall from the winning ways and the fleet was now more competitive. We had to get out on the water and sail well .... bring it on.

Race 10

Course: Start at Gleeds, then RNC, N. Sturbridge, Gleeds, Naomi House, Gate (line), 2 laps shortened to one. There was a strong port bias on the relatively long line. Just before the start, the breeze blew through at 20 knots. The rest of the class put a reef in their mains, however One More Knot stuck with full main and #2.

On board, we elected to try for a port tack start. Symphony and Scallywag had also identified the opportunity, which meant that there were fewer boats on starboard.

We had a good start and were on the line at the gun not too far from the pin end. Symphony was slightly closer to the pin. We had an easy crossing over the top of the starboard starters, probably 5 boat lengths clear. Normally we would have expected a scary ride sneaking in front of the starboard boats. The gap just emphasized the bias on the line. Just In Time, Ellisa and Easy Tiger II were already well to leeward on the first beat having started from the committee boat end.

Back on board One More Knot, we concentrated on getting things going properly. Symphony looked to be going well and had us pinned. If we couldn't pinch over her line we would have to wait until she tacked. Meanwhile, Just In Time went low to the wall, presumably hoping for tide to help. The prestart sailing had showed us that the breeze closer to the wall was weaker. We managed to both outpoint and sail faster than Symphony which gave us all of the options we needed. The rest of the fleet soon realised their mistakes and start shaking the reefs out.

At RNC, One More Knot was already about 2 minutes clear. Symphony was next, followed by Just In Time, Ellisa and Easy Tiger II. Elissa was not having a good race and was well back. They were fighting to hang onto 2nd place in the series from Just In Time.

On the fetch to N. Sturbridge we could already see that we had a good lead. However, just east of the forts we spotted a large ship approaching with a considerable bow wave. There was a debate on board as to whether it would be a concern. The answer wasn't clear, the ship was still some way off.

Eventually our focus changed as we approached N. Strubridge. We had already decided to perform a gybe set to the asymmetric. This was conducted without fuss and we start to sail back to Gleeds. We had now merged back in with the IRC fleet who had started 10 minutes early but had been sent on a slightly longer course.

The rest of the class were now under full sail and approaching N. Sturbridge. We were trying to clock the gap. Blimey .... that ship IS coming fast. Will we make it? She'll turn to go around N. Sturbridge ... and sure enough she started to turn. But we could still see her port side.

We hardened up slightly to get more power from the 3A in an attempt to get the boat speed up a bit. Slowly, the side of the ship disappeared, leaving a view of the front and the bow wave. And then a glimpse of the starboard side. Phew ... we were past but didn't feel comfortable. But then our attention was fixed on the next yacht that had followed us, about 150m astern. This could go really ugly, would she make it. What would we do if she didn't? Our imagination ran wild ... We thought we might need to dump the kite and go back to pick people up! Sheeessh ... she made it ... but only just. The yacht behind looked tiny as the ships deck towered over her.

From there, everything seemed simple. The course was a bit odd. We sailed to Gleeds, hardened slightly toward the next mark, Naomi House. In doing so, we sailed along the line and past the committee boat. The leading IRC boats were making their way on a reciprocal track having rounded the final mark.

At Naomi, we had dropped the kite a little early to bank our big lead. At the mark, we tacked immediately for the line.

The race was finished after just one lap. We furled the jib and loitered checking the times of the others. We claimed both line honours and a 1st place, to give us the perfect 7 point score from 7 races for the series. Our winning margin was over 2 minutes from Symphony, Just In Time, Ellisa, Scallywag and Easy Tiger II.

Race 11

Course: The course was the same as race 10 but this time things would be spiced up by starting with the IRC class boats. Start at Gleeds, then RNC, N. Sturbridge, Gleeds, Naomi House, Gate (line), 2 laps.

We thought the port end of the line was still favoured. Despite this, the majority of the fleet lined up to start at the Committee end of the line. Given that we would be starting with the IRC boats, we decided that it wouldn't be a good idea to start on port. We loitered out past the pin end of the line and with 2 minutes to go sailed back just under the line. With 40 seconds to go, we tacked back towards the line and hardened up. We surprised White Cloud who was the first of the IRC boats. She intially went to go underneath but then hardened up too. Both boats hit the line at the gun. We started closest to the pin.

Phil at the wheel soon started asking about the other boats. The crew said "Don't worry". At the committee boat there was a bit cluster of yachts. Apparently, Electra had been to windward of Xtrovert. Electra with no rights had been squeezed to the committee boat. The two boats had touched and Electra was obliged to do her turns. Sadly, the second of which ended up in the committee boat! Allegedly, Just In Time had also barged in, but the club fleet had allowed her space. It's not allowed at the start line -- Section C rules do not apply at a starting mark! We thought she had stopped doing this.

Back on One More Knot we concentrated on getting the performance but were slightly inhibited by White Cloud, so we allowed the gap between the boats to open to a couple of boat lengths. Still to leeward, we were free to do our own thing. The performance figures came up with over 4.5 knots VMG.

The rest of the fleet slowly untangled themselves. As far as One More Knot was concerned, we were comfortably ahead by about 2 minutes at the fist mark from our fellow class competitors.

Approaching N. Sturbridge we discussed which kite to use. It suddenly blew through at about 20 knots and our decision was made for us, the asymmetric it would be.

We rounded the mark and hoisted the kite. The wind had swung further south and the run was a bit deeper than we would have liked. The strong gust had blown through and we felt slightly under powered, so we pulled the kite around using the pole.

At Gleeds we dispatched the pole and went back to the conventional tack line. Once again, we dropped the kite a little before Naomi, before rounding the leeward mark and tacking immediately back to the line. It was busy on deck but at least we had enough hands on board.

As we approached the line, we wondered if the race was going to be shortened again. We sailed very close to the committee boat, but there was no horn so we sailed on for the second lap.

Phil B packed the asymmetric away on the beat and then came to the back of the boat to discuss the kite choice for the next leg. The 2 Phil's already knew what each other was thinking and it was agreed that it was going to be Big Blue's final outing for the series.

At North Sturbridge, we once again performed a gybe set. We had spotted yet another ship approaching, but this time he had a mate, a tug with a long line. Fortunately for us, we were able to pass well in front. By now, our lead was very significant and the banter was about how someone further down the fleet might not spot the tow line.

As we approached the leeward mark for the final time in the series, the drop was discussed. This time, we pushed in a little closer to the mark. Things were going well, until, just like the last lap, Phil threw a tack in at the mark. This caught the crew out a little, as the drop had been discussed but not the tack. Phil B had failed to sacrifice his cap to Neptune last week, so he sacrificed his sun glasses this week!

A couple of crew were redeployed to look after the white sails. The rest of them finished getting the last part of the kite away. As we approached the line we crossed with our class competitors, who still had to go down to the leeward mark and back. We had a big lead and we wondered whether we should stop for a cuppa before finishing! We didn't stop and our winning margin was nearly 7 minutes from Just In Time, Symphony (2nd on the water), Ellisa and Easy Tiger 2.

Wow, what a way to finish the series. Only one more race .... to the bar ... first to get a RIB! The club house was full and there was much to talk about. The beef baguettes were perfect after the racing exertions. Presentations were duly made. In the club class, One More Knot was the runaway winner. However behind there had been a right ding dong for 2nd place. Ellisa had been in 2nd spot all the way through the series and had been chased closely by Just In Time. However, on this final day, Just In Time had done enough and pipped Ellisa by a single point for 2nd.

As is usual, one of the skippers stood up to thank the sailing club and committee for putting on such a great series. This time, Phil had the honour. However, those that had heard him speak before knew what was to come and were yelling "lock the doors" to the amusement of all.

Speeches we soon overtaken by drinking and stories of what might have been. As far as we are concerned on One More Knot 2009 Champions , but nil-nil for the spring series.

The View from Symphony

Today we have the last two races of the series. The forecast is for winds of around 14 knots from WNW. The committee boat is as usual stationed by Gleeds and has already set a line when we arrive. Today we are back to 6 of our regular crew. A quick look at the overall placings in club class has shown that whatever we do we are very unlikely to alter our current position of 4th. Once out by the committee boat we decide to put a reef in the main and see that Scallywag, Ellisa and JIT have all done the same.

Race 10

The line had a considerable bias to the pin end thus favouring a port tack start at the Gleeds buoy. We decided on that tactic and found we were in the company of Scallywag and OMK. We all got a good start and easily crossed ahead of the rest of the club fleet who had started on starboard by the committee boat. OMK steadily drew away from us, while we built up a lead over Scallywag who seemed to have much slower boat speed than normal. After two tacks we were approaching the Haslar wall and the windward mark, RNC. We were helped at this stage by a nice lift in the wind angle. We tacked for the mark and realised as we neared it that we might have to put in a couple of short tacks when we got there. Sure enough that is what happened. We passed the mark behind OMK but ahead of JIT and Ellisa who were the nearest boats to us.

The wind had now eased, so along with the rest of the fleet we took out our reef. The next leg was a close reach to N Sturbridge where we would be able to deploy the spinnaker for the next legs to Gleeds and Naomi. JIT and Ellisa started to reduce our lead on this stage. During this leg we rigged the larger spinnaker ready for a gybe set at the mark. When still short of N Sturbridge we saw that OMK had rounded and was crossing in front of a large container ship that was coming down from the east, we were going to have pass behind it. Looking at the wind angle on OMK, we decided to change our mind about the choice of spinnaker and follow their lead and use our asymmetric. Some frantic activity by Richard on the foredeck in changing over the spinnaker meant that the hoist was not delayed too much. Our boat speed increased and we increased our lead over JIT who seemed to be having problems with their spinnaker on the first part of the leg. We maintained good speed over the ground and passed Gleeds and then hardened up slightly to head for the next mark. We unfurled the jib and dropped the asymmetric as we approached Naomi, the leeward mark.

As we passed the committee boat we had seen that flag S was up and so the race would finish once we rounded Naomi and sailed back through the line. This we did in a single tack, hardening up by the committee boat to cross the line some time after OMK but with sufficient on the water gap to the following boats to maintain a second place on corrected time.

Race 11

Our start is combined with the IRC fleet and we all have the same course as our first race, again scheduled for twice round. This time the race does indeed go the full distance. The line seemed now to have lost its bias and so we decided on a starboard tack start at the committee boat end. We positioned ourselves to leeward of the boats reaching in on starboard and started heading up for the start. Some boats were squeezed out and there was a contact between Electra and another IRC class boat. We had to bear away to avoid JIT who had adopted their usual tactic of charging in on a reach, seemingly oblivious to the presence of other boats already close hauled and going for the line. Once clear they tacked onto port and we followed immediately. We held this tack until just over half way into the Haslar shore where a wind shift encouraged us to tack back onto starboard. We were then sailing roughly parallel to the shore and made good progress towards RNC. We needed a couple of short tacks to get past RNC and were now ahead of JIT but yet again some way behind OMK who were already on their way to N Sturbridge. We kept our position and got to that mark still ahead of JIT but with the gap much narrower.

We decided to use the asymmetric spinnaker again, as in the first race and hoisted it after gybing round the mark. It was soon apparent that we had made the wrong choice as the wind was more behind us this time. Consequently we were passed by JIT and Ellisa closed right up to us. We decided to rig the pole and guy and fly the asymmetric like a conventional spinnaker for the reminder of the leg to Gleeds, this did make a difference. Approaching Gleeds we removed the pole and reverted to the normal rig for the leg to Naomi. As we approached Naomi we unfurled the jib and dropped the spinnaker.

We were still in third place on the water as we rounded Naomi and maintained this position throughout the beat to RNC. We did manage to narrow the gap to JIT on this leg. As we neared the mark we saw that JIT had a problem, after a tack to round the mark, their jib was backed and they were in fact hove to. We had to keep clear of them but set off on the next leg back in second place on the water. Approaching N Sturbridge we saw that yet again a large ship was approaching from the east. Meanwhile JIT and Ellisa had closed right up behind us. We had the large spinnaker ready to deploy after gybing round the mark. We started to hoist but not everyone was ready and I think I might have been concentrating too much on the approaching tanker, rather than watching where I was pointing the boat. Whatever the reason, we had a fairly spectacular broach which luckily was far enough away from Ellisa to allow Eric to take avoiding action. Once we had got the boat upright, we settled down and got the spinnaker under control. We increased our lead over JIT and Ellisa during the legs to Gleeds and then Naomi.

Approaching Naomi we unfurled the jib and prepared to drop the spinnaker. This proved a problem as we could not get the pole low enough for Richard to trip the shackle. Some winching on the pole downhaul solved the problem but not until we were alongside the mark. We now had to harden up, which meant retrieving the spinnaker was a problem. Eventually it was back on board but somewhat wet. This meant we lost a lot of our lead over JIT but did manage to keep ahead, crossing the line before them. There was not enough of a gap to keep our position on corrected time. We were however far enough ahead of Ellisa to be placed third.

After the Race

The club was packed for the prize giving which gave us a chance to meet some crews that had not been able to get to the clubhouse after previous races. It was good to get to know the crew of Easy Tiger 2 with whom we had some close racing in several races in the series. First prize was duly collected by Phil of One More Knot. Congratulations to Phil and his crew for an outstanding series of results. Symphony and crew are already looking forward to the Spring Series and hope to see you all out here again.

It's been a great series for One More Knot, claiming 8 wins from 11 races. Our thanks to the other competitors and the Portsmouth Sailing Club for such a good race series. We suspect that good results will be harder to come by in the spring series after a number of the leading competitors have had their winter haul outs.

There will be some crew changes next year, as our regular bowman Phil and pitman Joe will be unavailable to join us consistently. They have bought their own boat and obviously will be focussed elsewhere. However this leaves an opportunity for new crew to join us. A good sense of balance, strong stomach and willingness to be shouted at are required!