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Race dates 2003
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Race 1
Now we're into the series proper, memories of last weekend's practice in shorts and t-shirts long forgetten. This is the winter series, winter, and Hamble River Sailing Club had booked the weather to get things off to an exciting start. But that was Sunday, there is a tale to tell before we even get close to Sunday morning. more...

Race 2
Some of the following may be true...
This week' crew were Russell "CBSS" Beale on helm and tactics, Rob "Slim Daddy" Whitton on main sheet and navigation, Tina "Doc" Newton and Kate "Don't do Tea" Brookes on sheet trimming, Viv "Slim Mummy" Brookes on keys, Max "single name" ..... ummmm..... on mast more...

Race 3
Another weekend, another tale to tell. If you're sitting comfortably, preferably by a large roaring fire, then I'll begin.
This may come as something as a surprise to you, but as the weekend approached people's enthusiasm for sailing seemed curiously absent. Attracting a crew who were prepared to face almost certain death in light of the impending storm had proven difficult. People's excuses ranged from the sublime to the mildly implausible. A selection follow: more...

Race 4
This week Russell was on a power-boat course, and Dave was charging around the south coats on a Round Britain yacht, so I was given the job of skipper, and I my immediate reaction was that this skippering lark was a doddle. The deck hands had obviously been bored waiting for their Skipper and had got the boat ready for immediate departure. Eventually I managed to suss the boat electrics and got the engine started and we headed off for a practice sail. more...

Charity Pursuit Race
Imagine a long offshore race..... By day three, you're tired, slightly grumpy, and your muscles ache. You've a headache, strenuous activity makes you feel sick, and going below to pack spinnakers is not the joy it once was. Well, we got into training for this more...

Race 5
A generally late start around 11:30 (except for Mike who'd been keen and got there for 9am) saw us drifting out into the Solent with a light force 1-2. We spent pre-lunch doing genoa trim adjustments, and I played with re-calibrating the instruments after the man from B&G had been, with Elaine helming us up and down. Post lunch we hit upwind sailing quite hard, with me doing more mouse-clicking and the others doing the hard work. more...

Race 6 - Russell's story
Thunderbolts and lightning, very very frightning..... Saturday's practice was under dark skies with flashing lightning - a bit of rain and some #3 breeze allowed us to do some decent tacking practice and some time on distance work. I was delighted with my new spring to hold up the fridge lid, and when we got back in at 4pm I forwent the snooze that others had and tried to fit the spring more...

Race 6 - Dave's story
Another winter series weekend successfully negotiated, and overall what an absolutely excellent weekend! Both Richard and I have decided (again) that it would be a fascinating scientific experiment to see what it would be like to sail a HWS race without a hangover. To date this has never happened. In all likelihood it won't, but none the less would be rather nice to wake up on Sunday not as rough as a badger. Anyway to business. more...

Race 7
Saturday dawned after a big Friday night out in town with Richard and other miscellaneous joiners in. The main point of note is that Richard knows everybody in Marylebone. Angus arrived in Hemel from Strasbourg at, no wait for it, 2.20am. So when Angus and I arrived in Hamble at lunchtime (having shopped) we were a little jaded, Elaine arriving at about the same time. The main mission for the day was to play with the newly upgraded B&G gear in some waves, basically to see if we can get it to do what it says on the tin. The primary requirement for waves is wind, unfortunately wind was not something we had (stop it, ed). We retired to the sqaure rigger for lunch to consider our options. more...