Figured a longer update was in order - the schedule has been very anti-bajan to date and the time available for updating the blog has been limited to evenings which it was decided were better suited to drinking creative cocktails than writing creative blogs. Anyhow...

...So the flight over was pretty uneventful, Steve and I made full use of the complimentary bar in the BA lounge and on the flight over - to the extent that we were next to useless for most of day one. A training sail was eventful with some reacher related issues largely attributable to lack of experience on the boat (and overall in many cases!). All in all things went OK, lessons were learned and confidence was growing. After a nice few beers in the Cruising Club and the upholding of the time honored Happy Morning tradition of being the last out of the bar every night we awoke to the Two Restaurants race.

We started at full pelt, screaming over the line a full minute before anyone else and a full minute before the gun....oops. Cue much action on-board as we swung around the re-crossed after the starter had begun the race. Some frantic tacking down the opening stretch saw us move in front of Dragon Magic and before long we were tracking the OnDeck 40 footer down the beautiful Barbados coast. Having kept up with her pretty well to the first mark, we attempted to learn from our mistakes and fly the reacher again. We cocked it up again. OnDeck got away and we lost valuable ground on the leading boat in our class, the stunning Blue Peter. Having rescued the situation we made some good pace to the second mark off Needhams point and crossed the line second in class. A solid start to the racing weekend and cause for some celebration. Once again, we upheld the proud and time honored tradition of being the last in the bar (see the trend?).

Sunday was a pretty lazy day for everyone so the Mount Gay girls kindly arranged a tour of the island for us. We hopped onto the back of what I can only describe as a flatbed with seats on the back and a roof to keep the sun off and whizzed off to explore. The tour guide kept everyone entertained and shortly after leaving produced abotu a gallon and a half of Rum Punch - lovely. Then the heavens opened - an absolute downpour ensured. Sitting on the back of a flat bed truck, drinking rum punch in the pouring rain whilst trying to enjoy the scenery, keep dry, listening to the tour guide and avoid covering the rest of the van with my punch was not how I envisaged my day progressing but it was hugely enjoyable anyhow! Then we went to the bar - you know the rest - last in, merryness, dodgy trip back to Happy Morning in the pitch black in a patched up Dinghy. We didn't go mad, but could probably have been a touch more reserved!

So to Sunday, the big day. The 5:45 alarm went off and everyone fell out of their bunks and tried to bring themselves to get underway. Graham, Ashley and Belinda turned up on shore and were ferried out to meet us, the full compliment of crew onboard:

David Onyons - Skipper & Slavedriver
Mike Duckmanton - Foredeck & wearer of pole across the head!
Duncan Gray - Mast & Everything else!
Simon Onyons - Winch (or wench?)
Tom Duckmanton - Winch and Reacher trimmer extraordinaire
Frank Burgess - Helm & Singer/Entertainment
Graham Cresswell - Navigator, preparer of lunch & depth monitor!
Steve Benns - Ballast and secret weapon
Ashley Thornton - Rail & Camera Girl
Belinda Adams - Rail & bringer of fine rolls

So we rigged up, set off and hit the line 2 seconds after the gun, the radio crackled into life "BEST START OF THE DAY". Great morale boost to the team made better when we caught and passed the first boat of the day. The Round the Island Race is a pursuit race and so catching others quickly was great for everyone as we worked the boat well. Steve & the girls copped their fair share of bruises swinging the weight from side to side and the race was progressing well. We made the top of the island having passed a lot of others and only been caught by the faster OnDeck boat. Passing the top of the island the seas began to chop up and we were honking along through squalls and 3m waves, catching and passing our main rival immigrant along the way before disaster struck - a wind hole. We watched helpless as the speed dropped to less than 1 knot on occasions, our only blessing was seeing immigrant further offshore and a larger 45 foot + competitor onshore wallowing around in the same predicament. An hour of playing with the sails followed as we tried in vain to garner some sort of response before a blissful breeze was felt and we started up again.

Before long the wind was up and we were shifting again, the skipper called for the Reacher again and with baited breath we watched it get loaded on and winched up - success! Trucking along at 8 knots we were eventually caught by the monsters in the fleet and passed - not as bad as it sounds as the handicap system ensures we are still well placed. We then passed the old nemesis Fancy Sailor as we entered the last 5 miles. Immigrant came into shore as we all made good pace into Needhams point for the finish. Fancy Sailor fell the the greater speed of Immigrant and ourselves and eventually HM won the game of "depth chicken" the skipper insisted we played. We steamed clear and crossed the line in 9 Hours 45 Minutes - at 18:30pm. 30 seconds after the official end of the race.

So we sit here waiting to see a) will the race comittee waive the 18:00 finish time as over half the fleet missed it and b) Have we won the class (or better!?)

Part Two - The Results

Wow - what a night. The crew rocked up at the beautiful Beach House in anticipation of a good night, some good food and large quantities of alcohol. The wine and rum started flowing and soon everyone was in good spirits. The excellent band departed and the prize giving began, with the skipper from Happy Morning picking up a membership to the BCC for the second place in the Two Restaurants race. Then the serious stuff started with the class announcements for the big one, the Mount gay Rum Round Barbados Race 2013. The smaller classes were announced and then the 35-40 foot class - First Place!!! Simon went up to accept the award from the Barbados minister for tourism, an engraved bottle of 1703 from Mount Gay. The wine and rum started flowing in even larger quantities and the crew all arrived back at the boat at 04:00 much the worse for wear, dripping wet after some fun getting the inflatable dinghy back to the boat completely bladdered and extremely tired!
A great night had by all.

So, First in class, fourth overall behind some monsters in places 1 to 3 and a great time had by all. I now sit in anticipation of the flight home, sub zero temperatures and snow! Its been a great trip, again!