It was the last CCRC weekend of racing for 2021 and what a couple of days of weather!
The forecast for Saturday was light southerly breezes so a westerly at the start was a surprise – but then it died completely leaving the fleet stationary and some pointing the wrong way. Just as we were thinking we might need to abandon and restart (or even abandon and not restart) a breeze appeared from the south so we were off. The clouds cleared and there was pleasant sunshine. There then followed 5 legs of competitive racing with much changing of positions as downwind sails were used or not. The 30 min wait for the wind in the first leg meant we had to shorten though.
Sunday had a similar forecast for wind direction (Southerly) but more wind – and so it was. We had a long leg out to Horse Tail and a beat back plus a few legs around the Hayling Bay buoys before a final leg almost dead downwind to finish at WE. The stronger wind (up to 20knots) meant fewer flew their downwind sails – or needed to.
A good weekend for the last races of the year with more boats out than expected.
