JOG - Cowes to Deauville Race Report.

The race from the Royal London line involved a starboard beat across from inshore. Due to the tide we had to bear away down the line to the ODM and cleared this just behind Longue Pierre which we managed to get ahead of after the first beat. Three of us in Class 4 adopted the tide favoured Portsmouth side to clear the Forts. At the forts we reckoned we were in the class lead and just avoided a windhole south off the Bembridge Ledge. Because of the forecast southeasterly wind we favoured going east to windward and reached all through the night on an easterly under whites. When the wind shift didnt happen we managed a kite hoist about the Le Havre channel to about 2 miles from the finish and arrived about 5 mins ahead of Longue Pierre. We lost  second place to them on corrected time to give us third place. A very enjoyable sail spoilt by getting soaked from about 15 miles south of the Nab on the way back.

Illingworth Race: Most years Dragonfly in addition to the usual racing and cruising in the Solent does a long haul. We have considered Cascais in the past but its a long way and we need to get the boat back. We like cruising in France for the good food and wine so La Trinite is a good location to start a week with the added experience of a long race in navigationally challenged water which is what we like in racing. We have in the past won Sigma offshore series and been well placed in other races so we hope to do well in the Sigma which was designed for these sort of events. We are now qualified to compete on JOG mileage and look forward to sending you our blog notes later.

Neil Aitchison

Dragonfly