Moules et frites in Cherbourg. L to R Self, Wayne, Graham, Rob, Allan, Chris and Abi (sorry - caught with a mouthful)

We enjoyed a boozy evening of beer, then rum cocktails, moules, frites, followed by Irish coffee, more beer, then calvados and finally brandy, Saturday evening after finishing this 160 mile race in Cherbourg.

The race gave us a good mix of conditions from a light offwind start mid Solent Friday at 7:30 pm, where the combined fleet of 90 yachts headed off eastward from a Committee boat start in the Solent, under spinnakers first aiming to round a radar tower rounding mark off Brighton 45 miles away. We got a good start (doh, almost) we dropped our spinnaker down into the water and almost saw it go under the boat. Jumbuck came to a complete standstill with such a water brake and the fleet just sailed on by.......

But with lots of heaving and hoeing we eventually got it back up. Luckily, wet but undamaged. Some great exertion from Chris G, Wayne, Graham and Rob to recover things so well!

We soon caught up, and as always, only had eyes for the other J109s. Four of us - Just So, J- T'Aime, Jelenko and Jumbuck, remained in relatively close contact as we slid off east past the Forts off Plymouth.

As darkness fell we lost contact with the other 109's as the winds built and the crew began working hard keeping Jumbuck on her feet as we swept downwind towards the radar mast mark, often topping 12 knots surfing through the bigger boats who had got in front. Lovely ride, with Abi trimming the kite brilliantly and the small staysail doing its job well to keep our averages speed up there. Felt like there was little chance of broaching despite having to sail high in blustery conditions many times to protect our clear air from some bigger boats coming up astern. With little moon and other boats in very close company as the fleet drew back together at the Radar Mast rounding, the crew executed a perfect drop (top job Chris G and Graham) and we headed up to beat our way back towards the Isle of White.

We knew most other crews would have put as much into that first offwind leg as we did, but we suspected most would tend to relax for the mid race beat, then possibly renew efforts towards the end. So we had agreed to try our hardest to make gains during that same period.

Our next mark was essentially St Catherine's Point which we leave to starboard before then heading NW to round Needles Fairway buoy to port, then dropping due south to Cherbourg and it's finish inside the harbour.

Apart from short breaks two at a time to scoff a late night chilli as we headed towards the island, the crew slogged it out on the rail all the way round to Needles Fairway, in wet bumpy seas, with Allan working the main full time to keep us going whilst Rob and I agreed our plan.

As usual, the tactics you adopt in these channel races are influenced by tidal flow as much as your opposition. We had tide with us going out to Brighton, so stayed initially north of the rhumb line on our way back towards St Catherine's, seeking some tidal relief tucked east behind the island. Half way there when the tide turned down channel, we sailed a little freer and lower gaining advantage from the outgoing stream as we beat westward in fresh 15/18 knot breezes over those lumpy seas. Sun began to lighten the eastern sky around 03:30 as we reached a point maybe 4 miles off and SE of St Catherine's.

As explained, the crew had stuck on the rail all night, keeping us upright and fast. Good job too as despite all our efforts, when we had the chance to check the AIS we found the stern light in front was Just So - only 200 metres ahead - and J-T'Aime was only 700 metres astern.......

As the sun rose above the horizon, the wind freshened by a further 5 knots to over 25, and both our rivals tacked off, heading up closer towards the island - we guess hoping for some added tide going round St Catherines Point. We continued on west south west with a strategy to overlay our line for Needles Fairway, and be able to sail freer still, using the added power to punch faster through the regular short swell coming out of the NW and standing up before that westerly flowing tide. We were flying our lightweight AP - only good really up to 15 knots true when beating - but well able to deliver power when the sheets were cracked at what turned into a 22-24 knot wind close reach / beat.

Staying out proved a good call for us. With the tide still pushing us and those sheets slightly cracked, we averaged mid 8 knots SOG when we eventually turned to head NW towards Needles Fairway. Our rivals Just So and J-T'Aime who we were able to see on the AIS, were both sailing much slower as we think they had to sail higher to get off the island shore.

The end result was we got to Needles Fairway at approximately 6:30 am a few miles ahead of both, and as we turned south under a broad reach towards herborg, we were able to consider breakfast and allow the crew some time off the rail. In turns we had two rew take 3 hours out to get some sleep (of course up to windward) down below, whilst the rest of us continued trimming - keeping Jumbuck up to max speed.

We had the top French boat from our division - Raging Bee - in close company the whole way across. This little JPK 10.10 has been virtually unbeatable in Division 3 for several seasons now, but with the wind forward of the beam, our slightly longer waterline, plus a heavier weight of crew keeping us upright, meant we could retain contact with them from Needles Fairway right to the finish.

As expected, we got pushed southward by the tide for the first few hours of the crossing, then pushed back up channel for 5 hours after it turned, then finally back down channel for the last hour or so. Normally we would have gone bow up then bow down to try and get that tide more on our stern to gain some additional speed, but with the need to cover the other two J's astern we were somewhat restricted in what we could do.

J-T'Aime more or less followed our line on the crossing, but Just So sailed initially low, then came back up higher, both trying to peg back our lead. A shame they both didn't go the same way. We had no choice but to sail a course partway between both, and as expected, they both closed the gap and did pretty well in the chase.

But they didn't do well enough.....

We followed Raging Bee tight against the long breakwater off Cherbourg maybe 4 minutes behind her, and perhaps 8 minutes ahead of Just So, with J-T'Aime a further 5 minutes behind her. One (almost catastophic) moment as we clunked a tall thin cardinal mark as we launched the kite and then caught the sheet as we turned in the harbour to run the last 2000 metres for the line. But a sharp knife and quick reactions from Rob - meant we lost only a couple of minutes before getting underway once more! Oh, and £100 of newly spliced spinnaker sheet!!

With both those close 109s on lower handicaps we had a few anxious moments trying to calculate who may have secured the best corrected time. Seems it was us by 40 seconds!

Lots of high fives on deck as we reconfirmed we were the first 109 in, but had a chance of a 3rd place medal behind the longer JPK 10.80 that had finished an hour before and its smaller brother Raging Bee. RORC later confirmed that as the result.

So top top marks to all the medal winning crew. Rob, Chris, Allan, Wayne, Abi and Graham, all did their bit and some did lots more to achieve a great result. My thanks to you all for a super race, and an equally enjoyable party - and allowing me such a long sleep on the journey home!

On on to the next! First we've got the Round the Island Race end June, then the St Malo Race in July.