Antigua. Classics 2015

Well we'd done it once, so we thought why not? It's the best test of the the boat prior to crossing the Atlantic, and Classics is fun.  This year, we had our crew....good friends who know boats, Keith from Time Out Boat Yard, St Martin,  and Linda and Andy off SV Coromandel.

We were a brilliant team well lubricated in the evenings on Mount Gay Rum, but ready for the start of the race the following morning.

We had decided to 'lighten' the boat by removing cruising spares and some of the usual baggage that you collect 'just in case'.

This year Keith was Tristans spotter for the single handed race.  Tactics were discussed and the 

 'man ' prepared himself for the first race of the year....

Last year Tristan nearly decapitated himself by the main sheet, so decided on an alternative approach. He was going to use the emergency tiller which meant all the lines could be handled easily from the cockpit......with the added bonus of Keith having a comfortable place to sit and watch.

Having a day off the boat was a novelty for me, so Linda, Andy,and myself decided to walk up to view the race from the  hill above windward  beach. After a compulsory stop in Nelsons Dockyard bakery for meat pies and carrot cake, we climbed upwards along with the goats. 

It's a bit of a scramble but well worth the effort as the view across the sea, from the pillars of Hercules to the entrance to Falmouth Harbour, is fantastic.  You just have to keep changing spots to keep up with the fleet.

The start of the race was delayed due to a squall coming through. We huddled under a few rocks and shared brollies until it passed. Tristan went out with the fleet and then headed back into Falmouth Harbour then out again!

The emergency tiller broke.....just as well we weren't dependent on it, so Keith encouraged Tristan to go out again and he used the steering wheel.  No rope burns this year, but the seas and winds were not as strong .

After an enjoyable race in the under 45 feet class, Tristan  arrived back of the dock buzzing on adrenaline. I guess that's what's it's all about.  He was made up that Blue Peter gave him space over line finish line and he finished third.

We knew that it was not really going to much of a race for us as our competitor was 105 foot, but it was more a challenging day sail with good friends.  We occasionally saw a boat and we were told that at some point during the race we reached 8.9 knots ( which is hull speed). Thank you our trusty AIS spotters, Paula and Ingo back in TOBY!

I think we would have been strong contenders for the last boat in.....not because Meriva doesn't sail, but because she cannot compete with the ' big boys'. She really looks petite compared to our competitors.

However, this little minx had an ace up her sleeve and on the final day she flew like the witch on  a broomstick, we know she is.  Upwind she sails beautifully and at one point we saw whitehawk! We overtook several boats which made a change!

At the last mark we were racing to go around and Rainbow, a J class was also charging to the race mark.

We gave  her water!   But ended up going around in her wake which was like being in a washing machine.  It was all good fun!