Middle Sea Yacht Race

Well what can I say, it has to have been the most enjoyable 2 weeks I have had! I was blessed to be part of what I think was the best crew in the race... or that I will ever sail with. From start to finish every day was great fun, lots to learn and a feeling of a big sailing family. We partied hard and sailed hard.

I believe we tried to get every last knot out of the EH01 for every minute, certainly watch leader Bob had us running around on deck alot at night and day! It was a brilliant experience... a fantastic team effort, everyone working together and pitching in. Wayfarers (boil in the bag food!) though should really come with a packet of indigestion tablets...

It was a shame that we were taken out by a storm and hit by lightening.. everyone worked hard to keep us in the race despite 60knots of wind and zero visibility, but unfortunately the mainsail tore beyond repair! But that is racing and we got on with it, got home and enjoyed the ceremony and parties.

I can't wait now for the Hobart and to catch up with 3 of my fellow Middle Sea racers, not to mention getting back next year for some unfinished business with the Middle Sea along with another 2 of the crew!!

Cowes to Malta Delivery

Well what can I say, what an adventure this delivery was... met some interesting people of different ages and nationalities.. a great time was had and it was a massive learning curve in terms of sailing! This is just a short overview, basically first time sailing at night, shifts or 4hrs on and off during the day and 3hrs at night that takes a few days to get into it.. first time sleeping on a boats engine (whilst on!), I did improve helming although some times its quite easy to get distracted!!

Few incidents and bruises, such as flying across the room and hitting the wall... running into the boom (never a good thing!) had to sit with pate on my head (the only solid cool item on the boat!)..
We had a few hits of rough weather, once when I was helming at night for the first time.. very scarey, I rocked the skipper out of bed... next thing its "shall we put in a reef" (make the sail smaller so we slow down a bit!).

Had to leave Gibraltar in a hurry due to skipper Ben losing his passport, that was interesting... never been asked to leave a country before.. all made for an exciting day, with covert operations to get food to the boat! Funny.. :)

Then arriving in Malta surfing into the harbour with 30 knot winds... all ended what will be one of the best experiences of my life. A bit like an adrenalin big brother on a boat.. looking forward to racing now!