Myth of Malham - the winning track

A race with several key stages:
1) starting at the north end of the RYS line with a minority of yachts, we kept in clear air and out of the flooding tide. Crucially this put amongst the lead yachts as we left the Solent past the Needles.
2) tacking west against the wind, along St Alban's Ledge to make the most of the faster tide over the ledges, then catching the last of the west going tide off Portland Bill.
3) easing sheets slightly to punch through the waves we bore off into Lyme Bay, in search of the new wind, forecast to veer towards the north-west. We almost ran out sea room at Beer Head when the wind shifted 100 degrees, allowing us to tack, hoist spinnaker and close reach directly towards Start Point where we caught the last of the southerly tide.  By this stage we were surrounded by faster Class 2 boats - great for motivation.
4) off Prawle Point the inevitable drop in wind and change in tide meant we were destined to spend many hours gliding north & south barely holding our own against the tide as the rest of the fleet caught up. But as one of the most south-westerly positioned boats we were first to pick up the new zephyrs of wind from the west to keep us amongst the leaders around the Eddystone Lighthouse.
5) the most critical stage was to happen off Start Point where we noticed a boat inshore had picked up a counter current - the start of the turn of the tide.  Gybing inshore we took full advantage of the current with our speed over the ground almost 4 knots faster than those still offshore.

At each stage we felt we had chosen the winning strategy, only to be frustrated by the wind and tide as the fleet bunched up again. But our sprint away from Start Point was never going to be easy to beat and was the final tactic that paid dividends - all credit to Jeremy for spotting it.

1st in RORC Myth of Malham Race (Round Eddystone)

Jeremy & I are today celebrating our first victory in RORC Double Handed racing - the Myth of Malham Race.  Covering 230nm over 2 days from Cowes to the Eddystone Lighthouse and back, the race track includes many challenges, not least of which is negotiating complex tidal flows around several headlands, made all the more important with light winds.  One factor that we feel contributed to our success was an instrument displaying % boat speed versus target.  An almost hypnotic display that one watches constantly to ensure we are trimmed to optimum, and one which probably deprived us of sleep.  There were many other factors, all of which a best reserved for recounting salty tales over a few beers.

Thanks to:
Jeremy, for tirelessly gybing the spinnaker and will no doubt be suffering tomorrow for his efforts.
To Sophie, who surprised me with this delicious cake upon returning home victorious.
And to Grace and Martine for supporting us in our adventures.

Richard

ps - this now sets a very high bar for the Fastnet Race starting on 11th August!

RORC Cervantes

The 2013 season has kicked off with a fast sprint across the Channel to Le Havre. After a fresh breeze with winds gusting up to 28 knots and average boat speeds of almost 8 knots, the front cleared as we approached Le Havre, treating us to a wonderful sunset. With spinnaker set we enjoyed a fast reach for the final 20nm. Jangada Too was in fine condition, set up now for the Fastnet campaign ahead with myself and Jeremy.