Last Wednesday we managed a third fastest time and another sixth place on handicap but it was a surprise result considering where we were going around Goat Island.
We made a couple of mistakes. One of my crew suggested we needed a private blog for the crew and another for the competitors because the fleet seemed to have learnt from our prior blog that carting everyone up into the wind shadow in the lee of Greenwich is not fast. This week they all kept to the Onions Point shore and as a result we were blanketed. The real mistake was leaving the back stay on too tight. We need a degree of forestay sag to get the flow forward in the genoa. Indeed as the wind strengthens the sag becomes too much and then we need backstay but on last Wednesday I was concentrating too much on the mainsail shape to the detriment of our genoa shape. Apart from that it was not too bad a race. We made a couple of good calls where we passed izzi and French Connection and one bad one when French Connection went further into Goat Island and out of the tide. They had better wind angle and better speed going to the navigation mark at Goat Island and made a good break. Our luck was in the beat back through Humbug where we were behind French Connection and a big black fleet boat. French Connection called for water and I thought the big black fleet boat had called for water and said you tack. French Connection tacked immediately but the black fleet yacht carried on. We had already moved to go behind them so by the time they tacked we were right on Onions Point and heading right into the breeze. Now normally when the genoa is backed you think about tacking but I was sitting there hoping the tide would carry us around the point. Just as I gave up hope and called for a tack the wind lifted 30 degrees so we hauled the genoa back in and crept around the point ahead of French Connection and the black fleet yacht who had tacked away.
The other action that gave us third on handicap was Gwhizz going for a detour. They had sailed well for the night being as quick and often five degrees closer to the wind than Passion but they followed the Black fleet and by the time they decided that we were going the right way we were back in front of them. Gwhizz has been quick these last two weeks so I am sure they will give us a good run this week.
Full marks to Worlds Apart who gave us a sailing lesson and Aggrovation who kept them honest.