The race was won by a 55 foot Oyster, and we in another Oyster, came last...

The race was some 15 miles down to a rock, round said rock and home. The rules were that you should motor round the rock, little clearance between rock and the enormous cliff of the island, so no wind!  We arrived in third place and went to start our engine....nothing....much swearing, the fitting of a new part that I have had for three years and never quite got round to fitting, all to no avail. So we sailed in 2 knots of wind to some way beyond the Lighter Rock, and then turned for home. By this time the rest of the fleet was barely in sight having motored through the dead calm. By the time we crossed the line, just shy of twice the time of the lead boat, the wind had freshened to make sailing onto the mooring a challenge. The photograph is and American boat, the smallest in the racing fleet.

Today has mainly been head scratching and trying to figure out what is wrong! No luck so far, maybe tomorrow will shed light....

I hope that all is well with you all and that the enforced isolation is not too hard to bear.

Fair winds

Alasdair and Gill