First race of 2014
13 April 2014 The first cruiser race of the year today. Stuart, who crewed for me on my first race last year, came with me, the first real trip out to sea since the winter so we were a bit cautious in case of equipment failures. The forecast was for light and variable winds. We got off the berth about 0945 without problems, raised the main inside the harbour and motored out into the flat calm and sunny sea. The race officer today elected for a committee boat start, and because of the light winds he'd set out some dinghy marks for us to race around instead of the fixed cruiser marks we normally use further out to sea. The first leg was due west into the tide and the wind was so light and variable that it was hard to make progress towards the start line. Lots of us started engines (you can do that up to 4 mins before the start) to get within reach. Two of the faster boats took the idea even further by motoring right across the start line, stopping engine a few dozen metres beyond