Crew: George, Julia, Nee Olsen, Emily, Paul W, Carson

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Pre-event material, maps etc <. .< Race 1 -- -- Race 3>. Race 4&5 > . To Interlude & Finale > - Other pictures.

Race 2: 11 August, Hano-Tjaro, (racing part-way only, approx 11 miles to West Boko, lunch, then cruising in company to Tjaro)
Wind SE-S, force 3-4

A downwind start this time, in lighter airs, but there are still gusts left over from the day before, and we haven't yet established full confidence in gybing the great boom miles offshore with full sail. We carry our first reef across the start-line, and soon discover that yesterday's rivals, the pilot-boats, are under-canvassed in under 20 knots. First of May is pretty close in speed, and most of all Sybellule, who missed the buoy yesterday and finished 8th in class, is the real class leader - skipping ahead of us under full sail, and taking deep gybes downwind.

The race develops into a stern chase for us, heading over another 8-9 miles of open sea, towards the industrial chimneys of Karshamn, and looking for the little island of Eneskarv. Paul repeats his performance from the day before as an island-spotter and we have it in sight

Slowly we build confidence in the gybes, Nee and Julia calling the main together, until we perform one at 6-7 knots of water speed, and shake out the reef as we approach the archipelago for the first time - the pattern of islands running charmingly along the shore, which will shelter us from most of the weather for most of the Raid.

Under full sail we begin to reduce Sybellule's lead to 200 metres or so. But we've left it too late, and we compound our disadvantage by sailing out of the best wind among the islands after Eneskarv, so that Karla catches up and challenges us for second place, and the deficit on first refuses to go below 100 metres. Still, three boats in an exciting finish and we have one first, one second to date.

Snacks for lunch on W. Boko, then a delightful cruise in company East, during we which reach to and fro amongst the fleet, and get our own snaps for the first time.

Then through the islands to Tjaro, where we moor bow-on with the anchor over the stern, and find Eric and the girls on shore, equipped with trolley to cart the gear to a lovely grassy camp-site in the middle of the island. Crew explore the island (which is a wildlife reserve, and made of oversize granite boulders). G&J have left their tent in the car, so sleep under the tarpaulin supported by rope and oars. The more provident camp in tents, and Carson arranges a late-night campfire for Dutch, Austrian, US and English kids down by the camp-site beach.

Learning-points: gybing getting better (the first ever gybe was a capsize in the Solent, so the nervousness is understandable). Navigation is becoming a key skill, and Paul's willingness to stand in the bow using the deck as his chart-table, and field all sorts of sceptical questions from skipper and crew, is becoming a key to our understanding of what's coming and going. He is not helped by my leaving the second chart for the Raid in the Land-Rover, but Eric will soon collect. Finally, we adjust the take-off point for the halyard on the yard: either it is too high, or the mast too short: the 9-inch move makes a big difference in our ability to downhaul the main successfully from now on.

Pre-event material, maps etc <. .< Race 1 -- -- Race 3>. Race 4&5 > . To Interlude & Finale > - Other pictures.
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