Today we woke a little late to a overcast but dry day. This was good news as I wanted to pack up the tent and don't like folding up a wet tent. It took rather a long time but it all fitted in well enough. But that was before adding the sailing gear. We then had to dress quickly in our wetsuits and buoyancy vests, pull the sails up and get onto the water.
The rain started as we sailed out to the start line. Today it took about an hour and a half to get the first race underway. There was a postponement and at least two general recalls. After some good and some dreadful tries at starting, the real start was pretty poor. I was too far back from the line and behind a couple of rows of boats. Despite this, another competitor told me in was listed among those black flagged for the race. If this via true, I think it might have come from the previous start. The race was not great. We never recovered from the bad start and another capsize, this time at the gybe mark in the trapezoid, didn't help.
The second race was better. After another general recall and a long delay, we got another poor start but we were able to tack early and didn't loosed much time ducking behind boats. Then we sailed two long tacks and a couple of short ones to make the buoy in around 20th. We lost a few places on the run but gained quite a few on the next upwind leg. In the end we must have been around 20th but I didn't stop after the race to see the results.
Once we were back on land I de-rigged the boat and Timothy took the name in insulation tape off the transom. Then Michael and I got into the car where I changed and got ready to go. But where was Timothy? Still in his sailing gear wandering around aimlessly. I aimed him at the showers with some dry clothes. When he came out we popped up to the clubhouse to say some goodbyes and scoff some of the cake on offer and then we left.
We were hoping to take the scenic route to Belfast but I was worried that we wouldn't make it in time so we returned down the motorway to Dublin and then on the motorway North. A boring trip but stress free. I was also hoping to drop in to see some Imp Club members but it was getting too late for visiting so we have come directly to the ferry. First impressions are that this Stema Line ferry is much better than the one from Cherbourg.
Now for a couple of hours sleep before driving to a hotel in Glasgow.
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