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Thursday morning saw competitors held on the pontoons whilst the Royal Southern committee looked and the wind and the waves and the tide and the forecast, and then let us all loose. In a force 6, the boat was lively with only 5 on board, and we decided that the dacron main was better as it could be reefed further. We would have got a good start just off the committee boat melee, were it not for the fact that I read the guns wrong and missed it by a minute..... We raced around the course with the #3 up, but going slightly deeper upwind and suffering by not having lardy boys (or girls) on board. Some lumpy sailing to the first mark, and the experiences of the boats in front, coupled with the fact that some on board had not flown a kite before, meant we kept ugly and the purple aubergine woody in their bags, and watched as many borached and rolled to windward as we white-sailed past them. That set the tone for the race - main flapping upwind, heeled over and water everywhere, some shouted instructional teachings ("put it on the winch", "not that way", "wind faster", "b******s"), and we sloshed over the finishing line low mid-fleet.

Lunch was in the shelter(ish) of Osbourne bay, sandwiches and fruit, but the VHF got switched to an alternative channel by mistake and we didn't receive and messages. As we pottered down to the start, we saw a whole raft of 332s coming at us - we'd missed it properly this time! Sails up, a dive over the line then back an the wind, and we were in the race. Forecast to drop, the wind had not read that information, and increased. Within a few minutes of sailing out of the lee of the island, we were in a sustained 35 knots, and the strongest gust I saw on the instruments was 41 knots - the bottom of a force 9. Racing with one reef and the #3 and 5 up was lively!

Part way up one beat, our 2 week old expensive spectra very strong no stretch halyard went with a bang and the genoa fell down. We rehoisted it on the spinnaker halyard, and continued. By now the raido was full of retirees; La Nef IV saw it's mast come down, various boats had gear failure with fittings coming off, but we pluggd on, going past a few boats. The wind get even stronger, so we decided to drop the main, but remembering experiences in last year's winter series, kept on racing under genoa alone. Downwind under #3 only, we still were doing 7 knots. Squeezed out at a buoy by a BMW-sponsored boat, we shot up under there stern, pointed 20 degrees higher without the drag of the main, and left them for dead. A second bang and the genoa falling to the deck told us the spinnaker halyard had gone. We reeved the final one through the deck blocks, wallowing with no sails up, rehoisted it, and sailed through to the finish. Almost (but not quite) last to finish, we still came high mid-fleet cost of the retirements. Quite an experience, especially for those new to big boat sailing (3 of the crew) and showers and beer were welcome.

A large BBQ at the YC followed lots of beer, Pimms and so on, and the partying carried on late into the evening. A number of flags from the event seemed to end up with us, for some reason, too.

Friday was mellower. Force 4 and we could actually sail not just survive. A good start and steady first race, and making the start on time of the second race ws eclipsed by our spinnaker drop on the final leg whilst tusselling with three other boats. The kite filled at the wrong moment, and ended up streaming 50 feet from the masthead, sheets and guys gone from the blocks and flying in the wind, like a massive burgee. So far downwind, it was hard to see what we would do to get it back, but we wind head to wind to sort out the pole and and other mess, then dived downwind to try and catch it unawares. It gracefully floated towards the deck where it was leapt upon by Kate and Richard and forecably tamed. We rounded the mark and chased hard up the last beat, reading the finish well and diving in head to wind to sneak past the pin end, just in front of the few we'd been fighting with a mark ago. A triumph for all.

More beer, wine, Pimms and drinking followed, with some food at the Square Rigger, and some more moves on the dancefloor. Kate's poledancing with Nigel Richardson was mentioned.

Saturday saw Kate with a bloodshot eye, and with soe damage to the cornea she had to leave to go to hospital to get it seen - all okay now. But Dave and Curty had joined us, and with lighter winds we reverted to the racing main. A good start saw us outpointed (a problem we need to address in terms of rig tune) and whilst we were close we were always just off the pace. A good tussle with another BMW sponsored boat in the second race saw us overhaul them on the run, and choose the least tidal part of the beat, but somehow we lost out hugely on that final leg and they snuck in before us. But we had our usual fun.

And then it was all over - most of the crew had to leave, and Dave and I attended the prizegiving, collected a photo of the boat, and ate in the King & Queen (worth repeating for standard fare) and drank more beer.

A fun event - we went with the right attitude - enjoy the racing, learn something, enjoy the atmosphere and the social, and a good time was had by all.