Had opportunity to go out and watch the J's race on their first day on board the Steam ship "Shieldhall"..... and just as well. It offered a safe and stable platform from which to take some photos, and have a fabulous view of the racing. The weather was so bad that had we been on 'Freedom' we wouldn't have seen a thing properly because we would have been too busy just trying to control the boat! With force 6 and gusts 7 and a particularly fierce ebbing tide, the Solent was not a friendly place to be. The J's had excellent racing, but were hard pressed at times. They abandoned going into Christchurch Bay because going through Hurst Narrows would not have been a good idea at all. The Solent was very rough, and the sea in the narrows would have been enormous. 'Rainbow', 'Lionheart', 'Ranger' and 'Velsheda' crossed the start line in what turned out to be very close and furious sailing. Photo quality isn't hot because of the weather, and I was being knocked about by the wind, even on Shieldhall! What an experience though, one I probably won't see again.