Today we got a great opportunity to head out and train with a good breeze (10 – 16 knots) and a nice lumpy sea.

Two club races back to back and I’d say these were the first “proper” races I’ve done as we had a Hobie Tiger and several Darts to contend with. No Jonnie today as he is over at Hayling Island doing the annual Windsurfing Festival with RRD.

I had the first race sorted in my head and managed a 5th in a fleet of 14. The winds were at the light end and I managed to get through all of the gybes and had a full foiling gybe which was nice. I was pleased also that for the first time thanks to the (s)low riding training, I could push the line at the start as I could throw in a few tacks and gybes to stay close.

Second race and the wind got up to around the 16 knot mark which meant suddenly the easy peasy gybes were not so easy peasy and I got busted a few times. I think I’ve figured out that the windier it is, the earlier you have to go across. Still, by lap three I was pulling out a really nice lead even on the Hobie which felt pretty cool. Unfortunately I ran out of fuel on the downwind leg and started making silly errors and had a couple of capsizes which set me back. Still after the bad lap, I managed … 5th again!  So mr. Consistency is my new name.

I’m pleased considering that just over a month ago, I couldn’t even sail downwind, finish a single lap, finish a race let alone finish it last.

I’m also pleased that I’m able to sail for two hours flat out and not be utterly destroyed. Just a few months back, I’d only managed about an hour and I was done in for days afterwards. I’ve started Yoga to help a recent lower back issue I’ve developed and it seems to have helped loads. My current target is to get to 4 hours flat out in race conditions before running out of energy. I think eating properly may help too.

So there is definately hope for newbies to make good progress in boat handling with a bit of effort.

The other area I am working on is off the water stuff like getting on with rigging up and de-rigging promptly without idling in the boat park. This is something that Jonnie is pretty hot on so it’s been great learning from him.

With just under two weeks to go to the first event for me, my goal is to get round the course and finish all the races. Fingers crossed for good winds..