| On the racing front the boat wasn’t
performing well in the early part of the season and I
began to wonder whether I had forgotten how to sail. The
acquisition of a new high tech jib shortly before the
Round the Island race saw us finish 11th in
class, only missing out on the top 10 by a very
frustrating two seconds. Martyn joined us for the day and
enjoyed it much more than his previous occasion when the
time limit expired when we were half a mile from the line.
Our annual overnight race to Cherbourg was thwarted by
French fisherman who chose that weekend to blockade the
port in protest at fuel costs. The club set an
alternative course to a buoy in the middle of the Channel
and straight back which probably turned out to be the
sail of the season. It was a gloriously clear night with
the sea sparkling in the moonlight; the wind was from the
beam and a perfect strength – the only slightly
disconcerting thing was that it wasn’t possible to
have a spreader mark, so as the boats rounded, their
course home was straight back through the fleet of boats
still approaching the mark. In the middle of the night
with 50-60 yachts sailing through each other, it got
quite exciting for an hour or so, especially as the moon
had set by then! But
pootling around the Solent double handed pales into
insignificance compared with the challenges which lie
ahead in preparation for the 2011 edition of the AZAB
– AZores And Back – a two handed 1200 mile race
from Falmouth to Ponta Delgada, a week’s respite in
the sun followed by a 1200 mile race back to Falmouth
– an event that only happens every four years.
Preparation will include some work to the boat, and doing
a 500 mile qualifier – the plan is to use the Royal
Southampton two handed Biscay Challenge race as the
qualifier. This is a race across Biscay to Hondarribia in
the Basque country on the French/Spanish border starting
on June 13th next year. Preparation time is
slipping by week by week! (Please note, wife will not
be participating in this crazy venture but will provide
linguistic and moral support! K.) Search for like
minded (i.e. insane) crew is in the pipeline. Between the
first and second draft of this newsletter, I have done
the budget for the whole three year programme and, as a
result, I am now seeking sponsorship as well!
For
the first time in six years Karen passed on the annual
school visit to Rhineland, but instead in February went
to stay with a German family for six days, accompanying
seven 15 year-olds on an exchange based in Hamburg. This
gave me the opportunity to practise and improve my German
in depth – it was a tough few days with minimum
English spoken (only with the UK students and
occasionally my colleague – we were in the groove!)
but was a fantastic opportunity. It was this visit, which
included a day trip to Berlin (Reichstag was incredible)
and a trip up the 435 steps of the tower of the
Michaeliskirche in Hamburg (risk assessment and all that
– if the kids walk, a teacher walks, and my
colleague has vertigo!) which finally put paid to my left
knee and on my return I finally sought medical advice
which resulted in our old favourite the Arthroscopy at
the end of August. Crutches for only five weeks, driving
after three – this was a huge improvement on the
previous experience, but the damage was too extensive for
any hope of returning to umpiring at South level. No more
running or any impact sport – unless I want a
replacement knee within the next 10 years. So I am now
confined to swimming (pointless as I hate doing crawl and
I am not allowed to do breast stroke because of the leg
action on the knee) and cycling – hey up, new
challenge. When I suggested the London – Brighton, I
expected my physio to laugh at me – instead he said
“Why not?” So June 2010 is my target (come on,
next year’s too early - I’ve only just been let
back into the gym after nine months of inertia!) Hockey?
Yes, I’m sad – have only just written my
resignation letter – but at least I will be able to
coach umpires, and it’s not as if I’ve lost a
leg! I am also considering umpiring netball as it’s
over a much shorter area – we shall see. All in all,
it was well worth having the op as I much more mobile
than before, and I am almost back up to normal walking
speed. Everything takes longer to mend as you get older…!
|
Last night of holiday in
Croatia
|
In August all six of us spent a week in glorious
Croatia having chartered a 39’ Beneteau tub. Martyn
drove out there with his mate Elliott with whom he did
his European tour five years ago; they did a 10-day mini
Eastern European circuit before meeting us in Split,
where Elliott got back in the car to drive the return
journey solo over four days. The weather was HOT which
meant little wind, but we managed to explore some
fantastic creeks and towns, mercifully protected by a
large bimini over the whole cockpit, otherwise we’d
have fried. We were bowled over by the clarity and depth
of the water, which also meant it was pretty chilly when
you jumped in after 35C on deck! The opulence of some of
the vessels we saw was absolutely incredible –
automatic patio doors, uniformed crews, fenders the size
of space hoppers. We had some fantastic meals out there,
none better than on our last night in Primosten, and we
all got on well with each other for the whole week –
bonus! Sadly
Ed and Karen had to postpone their planned Autumn visit
to Barcelona due to the difficult situation in the City (we’ve
re-arranged it for February, fingers crossed), but did
get to see Lenny Henry at a local Arts venue, and in
November, spent a weekend in London where we saw French
and Saunders on their last night in the West End.
|
