Autumn and Winter

After the Royal Southern Y.C. Charity Cup in August, we had a Day Skipper Course on Sam, followed by a 'Cruise with Instruction' at the end of August, and another in October. Lots of fun and learning and we managed to get to several interesting harbours, including Beaulieu, Weymouth, Dartmouth, Brixham, Yarmouth and Cowes.

One of our goals this year has been to get Sam weighed in the hope of getting our rating down. On Tues 3 Nov Hilary and I took her round to Driver's Yard on the River Itchen in Southampton where she was lifted and weighed the the RORC's loadcell. She came out about 350 kg over which we hope will reduce our IRC Rating by a few points, which I expect to be worth around 20 minutes on a Fastnet Race. The extra weigh can be explained by the fact she was 115 kg over when built and since then an autopilot and a windlass have been added.

The next day I took Sam round to Hamble Point marina where she was lifted out to be stored ashore for the winter.

That being done, I flew to Antigua where I will be doing courses and exams and possibly some racing.