The last 12 months has been a bit quiet as far as sailing is concerned.
But matters came to a head recently when it was announced that the Welsh Harp water area would be drained in November 2023 until the new year. So we were forced to find another club if we wanted to sail during the winter.
Fishers Green Sailing Club is situated on Holyfield Lake in the Lee Valley Regional Park. They were one of the clubs that kindly offered to take Welsh Harp Sailing Club members on a temporary membership basis.
I managed to trailer 13941 to Fishers Green at the start of October, but last Saturday - 4th November 2023 - was the first time I had sailed her at the new club.
It was raining when I first arrived, but began to clear up by the time 1:00 PM had appeared for the race start.
Quentin Drain from WHSC kindly agreed to sail with me; the first time I recall we had actually sailed together. Nick Yannagoroykos from Fishers Green managed two races that afternoon. As well as ourselves, there was a Laser with Standard Sail, Laser Radial and a Streaker. We were the only GP14. Hopefully, others from WHSC will be joining us in future Saturday races.
Conditions were reasonably strong - about 10 or 12 knots, with occasional gusts which were stronger, but most of the time the wind direction was at least consistent. We never got onto the plane, although it felt like we were close to that at times.
We took it in turns to helm - I did the first race, and Quentin the second.
In each case, we managed to find our way between the various islands that make up the lake where FGSC sail. There were a few wind shadows to navigate.
The finishing sequence at the end of the first race was Laser Standard, Streaker, our GP14 and Laser Radial.
We had a couple of issues with our genoa sheets - the rope is quite short, and the ends can easily pull through the genoa fairleads, leaving us scrabbling under the genoa through-deck sheeting system desperately trying to untie, re-thread and re-tie the sheets.
We also did not have a burgee (which subsequently arrived by post the day after the race!).
On the other hand, the new black mainsheet worked well for us.
In Quentin's race, we were in the down-wind run with spinnaker flying, with the Streaker bearing down on us. I started the spinnaker drop a bit early for him, so we missed the chance to "close the door" and prevent him overtaking us at the leeward mark. He finished ahead of us in the final lap. Sorry, Quentin.
Also in the second race we were interrupted by calls from a nearby RIB. It was other members of WHSC who were visiting Fishers Green, and were shouting out encouragement to us. Thanks, guys !
Going back to the clubhouse area was the final bit of excitement, as there are all sorts of wind shadows around the "RIB Island" and "Fireworks Island" leading back to the mooring area. But we survived without incident.
It started to rain again after the boat was put away.
Very satisfying "re-boot" to sailing. Let's hope this can continue for a long while.
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