The forecast had been threatening to blow all week and come Saturday blow it did.  What wasn't so expected was the cold, with wind in the high 20 knots the wind chill was quite unpleasant.

Six boats turned out but Clare, quite sensibly, decided to leave the cover on.  Getting launched was the first challenge with the boat being tossed around as soon as the sail went up.  Nick and Jason decided not to risk damage and very kindly proceeded to help rig and launch the other three.
We were on the same line as 60 RS200s so there was plenty of room to start.  The next problem was spotting the small yellow marks amidst the hailstones and freezing spray, this was Wayne's excuse anyway when he gave up a leading position to go touring around the reservoir.  Pete took the opportunity offered closely followed by Matt and the first race finished in this order.

In the second race the three boats were again closely grouped with place changes dictated by a fluffed tack or a bad shift.  However on the last run a monster squall came through with horizontal hailstones that flattened all the waves, with the forestay flapping around, the gybe was looking sketchy at best but neither Pete nor Matt wanted to back down so went for it.  Predictably this turned into a capsize competition, Matt was the first to right and shot off to win the race.

The race officer then wisely decided to abandon racing for the day, time to get warm.

The breeze had moderated for Sunday's racing and all six of us made the start.  After some tactical capsizing everyone made it around the course but there was still some venom in the wind.  It was also slightly warmer but waiting around between races soon took care of that.

To be honest the day is a bit of a blur, I remember the sailing but can't distinguish which race was which.  I remember asking Matt how many laps we were doing, thanks for your honesty Matt!  I remember sailing across that big aerator and the steering going all funny.  I remember hooking in, catching a gust and planing all the way down the run.  I remember the RO giving us four races to make up for the one lost on Saturday.  I remember everyone feeling good about going sailing when most people would be inside in front of a roaring fire.

Well done all who sailed, the finishing order was Pete, Matt, Wayne, Nick, Clare and Jason.

Thank you to Rutland for another well run event.

Next its the End of Season and RS ball at Datchet and then we are into the winter series.

Ps. Did I mention it was cold?