Alistair Tyrrell

27 Sept 2015 (Elsa does not figure in today's story, it's just an account of a fun day on the river) Today was the annual river race up to the Black Rabbit pub. Only four dinghy crews turned out at 1000 on Sunday despite the lovely sunny weather and good breeze. Three safety boats were fully crewed so the race team outnumbered the participants. The dinghies launched into the river but with masts down ready for the bridges. The commodore and the bosun had a motor on their Wayfarer and set off under their own power. The lead RIB was carrying the flags and various items of racing equipment and set off up the river, the other RIBs took the dinghies under tow and set off after them. We had a lovely drive up the river with the incoming tide under us, winding our way up to Arundel. There's two road bridges to pass under and once above them, we beached the fleet onto the river bank and set up for the race. The lead RIB went ahead all the way to the Black Rabbit to se

20 Sept 2015 www.bartsbash.com Sunday gave us a promising weather forecast and it looked like all the hard work done by Dani and others to prepare for the event was going to pay off. Three clubs had joined forces to get nearly 50 boats of all sizes out to race and to raise money for charity. Arun Yacht Club put 6 cruisers to sea including Elsa as well as a good sized group of dinghies. Georgia and I set off just before 2pm and we found a good F3 SWly and nice sunshine, a warm day for September. With full sail and engine off we had half an hour before our race start was due. Georgia decided we should have some party music so she got Radio 1 going in the cockpit to brighten the mood still further. Open Dinghy Club  from East Preston had launched off Angmering beach mostly in catamarans, e.g. Hobies and Darts etc. AYAC  had come out from Littlehampton beach with a large fleet of mostly young people in various dinghies including 420s, RS200s etc. All three clubs had safety boats out