As I write this, it’s the first day of meteorological summer, so it won’t come as any surprise to you that the wind is trying to blow a gale, it’s grey and rainy with a forecast of thunder storms on the horizon; bring back winter I say! We have had a mix of weather conditions this month, and if, like me you wondered where the IP regatta’s name originates, I can tell you that waiting for the non-existent wind to arrive on Monday (25^th) was only slightly more interesting than watching paint dry! However, we did race enough for a series (just) with Richard W and William K showing us a clean pair of heels to win the regatta. Geof and Dave also nudged out from the rest of us to come second. Sailing in the bay has the merit of promise which it doesn’t always live up to. On this occasion, the whole thing was made bearable thanks to the generous efforts of Ben Scroggie along with some friendly yachties from the club who towed us all out and back, making the passage through the harbour entrance slightly more relaxing than usual. During the return journey, our host ran out of fuel (temporarily) as we were about to cross the ferry, which instantly woke up my slumbering brain. At the other extreme, we had a 26kts blast around the harbour on the 20^th. Phil and Martin eventually overcame Geof and Wolfie to take a well-earned victory. You can learn more about the race by reading Steve’s excellent report on the web-site.

As well as the International Paints Regatta, we have sailed for two fleet trophies this month. Richard and Jack won a very entertaining Round the Island race, which is sailed in memory of Basil Ellis, who was, as Pete Allam points out in his amusing account of the race, a stalwart of the club, who for many years was the Sunday morning race officer during the winter series, as it was then called. Global warming has turned it into the autumn series, allegedly! The other trophy sailed for was the RMYC cup which is the first of our mini-series. This was sailed in the Top Triangle, and as perfectly described by Crispin in his report, Richard and Jack gave us a master class, winning all four races.

It feels like Wednesday afternoon sailing has been ravaged by the weather gods, but in fact we only sailed one less than on Saturdays; the combined total being 7. The average turnout for both days was 17 boats. Considering the inclement nature of conditions in the harbour, I think this is a reasonable effort on the part of the fleet. We’ve had five different winners in those races, which shows the closeness of racing, with the eventual victory often in doubt, as long as you know who is detained at work!

At the end of the month, it’s my job to report to you the sailors of the month. The hard work of calculating this (adding up the number of boats we’ve beaten) falls to Andrew, for which my brain is ever grateful! You may remember that the mid-month draw for the drinks tokens was won by John and Roberta. This was literally the luck of the draw. No such good fortune was needed for them to win the Wednesday award for Sailor of the month: that was down to pure skill. Saturday’s winners were a model of consistency placing second in three of the four Saturday races sailed. What happened to them in the other race I hear you ask. Well, according to Richard Ledger’s report, it was extremely easy to hear what had happened to them. If you can bear to look, it is on Richard’s web cam footage. I am, of course, writing of Ian and Kim Linder who were the innocent victims of a port/starboard collision involving a Wayfarer and another Fifteen.

Throughout this newsletter, I have mentioned several of our excellent report writers. This brings me to the announcement of May’s reporter of the month. It was a very close call, and, once again the general standard of report writing was high. Pete Allam’s report came very close to winning for a report that was entertaining and informative, but it was pipped by an extremely comprehensive account of life on board 4019 without his favourite crew member. Yes, the winner is Steve Randle, which I hope Steve, will result in one of those kisses you’ve been missing, just don’t look to me for providing it!

Last but not least is the infamous Rasputin award. We have two winners this month (with a couple of lucky escapees). The first award is for leaving the boat without permission. It has to be said that the winner is a repeat offender in this respect. Mervyn has yet to be officially crowned because he has been forced to leave the club early after sailing or the cup hasn’t been available. However, I have informed him that the memory of the Rasputin judges is lengthy! The second recipient actually stepped forward and confessed his crime, perhaps hoping for a slightly more lenient sentence. You may remember that last season Pete Allam received his award for forgetting his wetsuit. Well, a wetsuit starred again, but this time it wasn’t forgotten because it had been taken by someone. Whilst Ron was thinking where the hell had his wetsuit gone, Richard Whitworth’s partner was equally perplexed to find that Richard had come home with two of them! Fair play to Richard for owning up, but the necessary photographic evidence will still have to be collected.

Well, that’s it for May. One thing I’ve learnt in this month is that wind and tide predictions need to be approached with caution. Let’s hope for a coming month of easy launches and recoveries. Also, let’s make every effort to make June6th a ‘Big Fleet Day’. Later in the month (20^th), we’ll be sailing for the Phil Owen trophy.

JK