2012 UK 18 footer GP Round 2 – Calshot

Team Carsington – Sponsered by English Braid.

The guys offer their views on the 2nd round of the UK 18 footer Grand Prix.

Rich B Main
We had a great adventure - a weekend seems like a whole week - Live long!
Very cold and windy on Saturday and we didn't really get our act together - lots of good bits, but none of them joined up!
We were wonderfully looked-after by dear Bob and Gill Pearson - we stayed at their house in Hamble - Gill's bacon and egg butties are now legendary.
Bob launched his 150hp rib and chased us around (with his/our girls) in frankly awful weather.

On Saturday, we managed to drive the rudder hard onto the slipway whilst launching in a big swell (for us) which cracked the transom-to-bottom-skin joint. We didn't notice until we came in, but Rich could feel the slop in the rudder and with the rig not well set-up, we struggled for pace and spent a lot of unnecessary energy - we finished one race anyway!

Lots of beer in Hamble sorted us out afterwards, and we spent Sunday with hairdryer and epoxy, despite the rain and cold, managed to repair quite well.

Monday was grey and still windy but we braved it, and after 10 tense minutes, we settled down and really jelled as a team again. Pete is so good when he's fired-up and Rich is cool and accurate - I'm just having a great ride - I'm not scared with these two, even in the 20+ knotters.~
OK we were over the line once and capsized 400m from the finish, but we got a 3rd and 4th .

Hopefully we will get another couple of practices before Garda (first week in June) and may be we'll get a new suit of  Ullmanb sails too.
The new kite sheets and kicker cascade supplied by English Braids are holding up to the job beautifully. 
The boat really eats rope  but since changing over to English Braids the wear factor seems to be greatly reduced.

I can't wait to be sailing in warm sunny conditions again!

Rich A (Skipper)
A pretty tough weekend.

We haven’t had enough time on the water to cope with the conditions. Couple that with me nursing a damaged knee and then we split the back of the boat in two while launching…!
We managed to fix the boat with some help from the local cat club which meant we could sail again on Monday where we returned to form. Too little too late but ended on a high with a fantastic sail on Monday. The sun even made an appearance.

The sail back in was very exciting as a gale blew up during the last lap. The nose buried at least 6 times on the way home how we kept it upright I don’t know.

I think this weekend was a real turning point for us. The team is starting to come together.

Lots of wind and a close call with an oil tanker will stay with me for a very long time. I recall thinking that I had seen this movie from last year’s Cowe’s Week and know how it ends. 
Fortunately we had the legs on it but quite emotional all the same.

Pete S (Bowman)
Need more practice

Day 1 demonstrated the importance of regular practice where a number of unforced errors resulted in only 1 of the three races being completed – I split my head open in the first race  which forced us to retire while we made sure it was nothing serious. The second race resulted in us receiving outside assistance to return a member of the crew back to the boat so that was that. On a plus point we had two blinding starts and in 2nd place before it all went wrong…

Day 2 demonstrated the effects of launching in an unpredictable swell the previous day where the rudder hit the slipway and split the hull (the day was lost to repairs so none of the 3 races were completed) and Day 3 demonstrated the value of Nurofen, the 2 organised races were completed pain free in strengthening winds where Team Carsington finished in 3rd and 4th respectively.