Spinnaker Up

Couple of quick pictures from a Frostbite Series race from a couple of weeks ago - courtesy of BlackJack (who we were overtaking...)

Les Rapetous

Arch Nemesis Les Rapetous came second on the Dielette - Guernsey leg, the one Blue Jade won. We caught up with them later, and they weren't bitter...

Tour Des Ports 2012

We did well in the sailing, 4th overall in a class of 23. Two Semi -pro boats above us so not bad for a bunch of old duffers. We had a 1st place on handicap in the Dielette to Guernsey Race (finishing 6th over the line out of 110 starters) and a 3rd place on the Guernsey to Jersey Race in difficult conditions. Light winds on the last day let us down from 3rd to 4th overall but we were predicting top ten so very pleased.

Here's crew at Guernsey Prizegiving demonstrating the ancient art of using a short Frenchman as a coffee table.


Results: http://tourdesports50.fr/classementgeneral/index.html

Inter Island Race 2012

It was the Carey Olsen Inter Island Race this weekend. 25-30 knots of wind, nice tidy little run down to Jersey. Don't take my word for it though - have a look at Sam Field's photos of the big race: http://samfieldphotography.ifp3.com/#/gallery/carey-olsen-inter-island-2012/

It was Mick 'Two Pants' Le Tissier on the foredeck and he was soaked through before we even left the harbour I reckon. Here he is at the finish line showing off the sea water that had made it through two layers of oilies...

The race itself was not without incident. We reckon we hit a crab pot, or a knotted bit of weed full of rope or something (maybe Mick lost one of his pairs of pants to a particularly big wave?), as the rudder seized up.

At the finish, we roped in some volunteers from Aztec Gold to help us get the Jade's stern out of the water to have a look - here we all are on the bow...

Sunday was a 'leisurely' sail back to Guernsey...

Dreaming about what might have been probably. Ah well. There's always next year...

Fenders

"This is what can happen when you combine a discussion about fenders at lunch, too much calvados and a phone that can take pictures operated by someone who understands photoshop."

Evening Racing

Finally - shorts and t-shirts sailing...

Cherbourg - getting wet and winning...

First 'proper' race of the season for Blue Jade, and a win already. We've been in good form in the spring series so far, so were pretty confident of going well in the St Peter's Trust race to Cherbourg.

Out-running a J122 up to Alderney

Traditionally, it's a good race for the Jade, lots of tide and lumpy sea around Alderney and through the overfalls. Wasn't plain sailing though, and the poor foredeck got a bit wet...

Soggy bottom boy

All worth it though in the end, as we collected our prizes from the sponsor and sank a few in celebration.

Still not sure why we won a bucket though...