A Winning Team

Sun, sea, and success, with a bit of wind thrown in. Spinnaker training undertaken in March was put to good use in the Solent July Sunsail race weekend. Rear Commodore Racing, please note we even had spinnaker gybes....

Light winds on Saturday 5-6kts, in very hot conditions. Skilled helming by the skipper and great foredeck work, led by the first mate supported by the pit crew, delivered four decent results on the first day - 2nd, 2nd, 3rd and  1st. This included very close tussles with fellow crews in the fleet of seven.

Saturday drew to a close with the crew breaking tradition and going straight to bed when they returned to the boat. Victualled refreshments had been consumed prior to dinner.

Sunday provided winds of 12-16kts. A good night's sleep underpinned an excellent performance in the three races - 1st, 1st, and 1st. This included one OCS (on course side) start that had to be rectified. In all the races HOEOCA reached the windward mark ahead of the fleet thus setting the scene for the rest of the race.

Well done to the crew Keith Harding (skipper), Martin Inglis (first mate), Paul Russell, Ben Hudson, Edward Osicki, Slawek Glogowski, Alistair Kingham, Stuart Jones and Mark Parker.