Yacht Aztec on Sunday - courtesy of Lymington Times / LPB Aerial Images

Well Saturday was a nice day on the water - Sunday was a bit different - and overall it was a great weekends party in super company. Just a disappointing performance by us on the Tattinger Regatta racetrack.

We did better at the parties. Friday nights Champagne Reception was pumping. We had a berth in Yarmouth Harbour and enjoyed the time at Royal Solents Clubhouse quaffing the complimentary bottles before hitting Salties and engaging nice people in Swahili like conversations. Can't recall much about the end of the evening - but I am certain it was all good:-) Apologies to anyone I tried to engage in conversation........really sorry.

Saturday saw us out racing with headaches in medium to light winds under a sunny skies.

Race one saw us get a lot wrong, and we came 7th from 17.
Race two saw us get more right, and we still came 7th from 17!

We just seem incapable of completing simple sail handling at the same pace as other boats, and seemed to have no height at all going to windward. Would have been very frustrating if we weren't having so much FUN!

Saturday nights Towers Party after food at the pub, was another super event. Heaving. Super rock bands. Bit too much rum and dry ginger. Lots of dancing. Great fireworks. Jumbuck was a bit packed with 9 staying over - but alcohol helped us all squeeze in somehow. Not sure what time we all hit the sack, but it was another late one.

Woke Sunday to rain drumming on deck, grey scudding clouds and the warning of 30 knot winds. Rob and Sue ran for the ferry at 0800. Very sensible. Quiet a few boats simply remained in their berths, but for some strange reason the rest of us went out. It was a bit windy. Away from the dock late, so no breakfast. Soaked through trying to swill down black coffee as we made our way over to the mainland shore start line. From the faces, I was unsure how many of our guys actually wanted to go racing. But we did.

Not a bad start as it happens, beating into SSW winds towards the island. Gusty. Wet.

The winds tipped over 30 up that beat. I was seriously thinking about giving it away after we noticed a short split starting on the headsail leach, and definitely decided to give it away after our first attempt under kite, once we got round the top mark and turned off the wind.

The asymmetric went up ok and we were not badly placed in our fleet. As we headed north away from the shelter of the island shore gusts then began to bullet through and the boat settled down - moving out well - as we ran off back towards the mainland. But when a somewhat stronger gust arrived from behind, our tack line clutch simply failed to hold under the added pressure, and large asymmetric began to move slowly away from the boat as the tack line steadily whizzed out through the closed clutch!

The spinnaker then reset itself maybe 10 metres away from the bow as the cockpit tangled tack line jammed up, and as the sail swung aft and really powered up, around we went to windward. There was nothing we could do as Jumbuck heeled over swiftly, completing a wild broach!

Its the first time I've had a kite trying to fly itself so far from any boat I've ever skippered.........or seen the top of this mast come so close to the water!

Even with the sheets let fly, we found ourselves pinned down on our side for maybe a minute with green water coming over the combing and into the cockpit as the boat was dragged sideways, our crew all perched on the top rail, as the rest of the fleet creamed past taking appropriate avoiding action.

With the sea holding in the bottom of the asymmetric, the cockpit knife came out to cut the jammed tack line, and Jumbuck shrugged back upright with the kite and ropes streaming out horizontally from our masthead in 40 knots of wind......

Maybe 50 metres behind us the A35 'Aztec' was trying to avoid such a broach when she lost her mast at the spreaders, so guess we got away with it lightly.

Got the kite back in with no damage before considering our options. No one hurt. Boat not broken. Only one cut line - which was clearly not up to it anyway - and will be replaced.

What to do? The fleet was a horizon job by then. We checked out Aztec, but they already had safety boats in attendance and Solent Coastguard had it all Mayday covered.

Rain continued to sheet down, the wind continued to blow, and steak sandwiches and cold beers back in Lymington proved a tempting alternative to the race course.

So we radioed in our retirement, cranked on the engine, and home we went.

Wind topped 43 knots as we ran into the Lymington River, but 45 minutes later the boat was cleared away, and I had my teeth into that sandwich. Was good.

A huge thanks to Sue, Rob, Dave, Abi, Teddy, Allan and Chris for enjoying the weekend with us. Great great fun, but we clearly have more still to do if we ever want to succeed at short course racing.....

On. On.