Our first race

 

Our first Race of the Season

​It was a cold and wet Sunday morning. The Temperature was 8C, and the wind was light, falling from 14mph in the early morning to nothing in the late afternoon when there might be some sunny intervals. Today was the day of the A-Rater 9-mile race and a handicap race for other boats. We were going out for some fun sailing, but Paul got talked into us entering the Race.

The A-Rater Race

Rain and light winds coming directly from upstream at 8 mph decreasing with a river flow of 1 mph.

Tacking: I get plenty of practice

With the wind coming directly downstream, going upstream against the wind required much tacking. The wind was also variable, so sometimes, when we turned the boat with no wind to push us, we drifted back downstream with the river's flow. It was like one step forward and three to ten steps back. 

Everyone else in the race seemed to be going up and down the river. We seem to have opted for a more across-the-river and back race. We indeed managed to cover some 3 miles but only managed to travel at best 250m upstream. We are not sure due to a lack of data from other boats, but we may now hold the record for travelling the longest distance to have made the least progress.

1st Day Sailing

Rigging the sail and getting on the River 

We watched the first proper race of the season, and then Paul and I went to the water. It did take us a while to get ready, being the first time we were in the water this year. We needed to tighten the shroud lines and haul the boat from the car park across the railway crossing to the river. With advice, we turned the boat into the wind and set the mainsail. Because this was effectively my first lesson, Paul decided to use only the main one and get me to practise moving from one side of the boat to the other to keep us balanced. 

The RS Toura is quite a heavy boat, so we needed to use the winch to lower the trailer down the slipway into the water, then tie it up whilst pulling the launching trolley out of the water and putting it out of the way before we could set sail.
Then I discovered we had to raise the sail to the correct side of the gnav so we could connect the downhaul rope.

Off we go

Once aboard and we we off. The thrill as the sails filled with air and pulled the boat along. Winds of 10mph gusting to 25mph gave the boat a bit of speed. This is what I had waited 6 months for.

With Paul at the hem, I sat by the mast  first on one side then the other - I moved to slowly and found that on my knees in the centre worked well for a time.

We were doing so well that the crew on the safety boat came just behind us and gave us some instructions to improve the boat's handling. Paul quickly mastered pulling in the main to increase the power and apply some force to the rudder.

I was grateful for my decision to wear a helmet as the boom clouted me a few times as I didn't duck quite low enough as I scrambled past it.

All too soon, we were back at the club, taking down the sail and hauling the boat, two safety boats out of the water, and other boats from the field where they had been stored away from the floods back down to the river. The Toura was moved back into the boat park, where we covered it up until we could get out on it next time.

Watching some sailing

We didn't manage to sail, as there was not enough wind for us, and the red boards were still up, but a couple of brave souls ventured out on their boats, along with a couple of safety boats, and worked on the RYA Powerboat 2 course.