HOEOCA entred two boats with a solely HOEOCA racing crew, Sea Myth and All or Nothing, and there were club members on at least 5 other boats, including Reach 4 The Wind and In the Mood.

Team Sea Myth started to gather on Thursday evening and we started to prepare the boat for racing by removing some excess weight including the dingy and spare sails but not the crew!!

The rest of the crew arrived Friday morning in time for the safety briefing and we slipped our home berth in Shamrock Quay at 10:30am. We then had a practice day, getting the crew used to the boat and all of us having a play with Cruising Chutes as we’d only used one once before and then not for racing. With very light winds it was great for practicing, although by lunch time the wind had completely gone - the story of the whole weekend! So we motored to Osborne Bay to anchor for a great lunch, although very hot without any wind!! We then made the decision to head to our berth at Shephard’s in Cowes and spent a great afternoon watching the world go by. We were allocated a berth on the outside of a raft of six boats. Unfortunately the inside boat was unoccupied but was flying a class flag for a 7am start, meaning we were going to have an early start whether we wanted one or not!!! We had our usual pre-race dinner of fish and chips on board, followed by a couple of beers at Cowes Yacht Haven where we enjoyed live cover bands and very expensive beers.

On the morning of the race we were off our berth around 6am, a full two hours before our start, and had breakfast on the hop outside Cowes. Circling around waiting for our start we enjoyed the spectacle of over a thousand yachts gearing up for the start of the 87th Round the Island Race (round the Isle of Wight that is) under blue skies and in flat calm seas. A glorious sight but unfortunately not conducive for yacht racing!

We caught up with Team Reach 4 The Wind, which was  in our start at 8am,  where there were five HOEOCA members on board. We both had a good start although with Sea Myth using her small headsail we couldn't keep up with Reach 4 The Wind. By the time we'd tacked down the Western Solent in very little wind towards the first turn at the Needles both boats were concerned that they might not be able to make Hurst Gap and the Needles' wreck before the tide turned, around 11.30am. Reach 4 the Wind was around half a mile ahead of Sea Myth at Hurst and managed to get through and just managed to turn the corner at the Needles in adverse tide.  Sea Myth wasn’t so lucky. As we approached Hurst Gap the wind had dropped to around 5knots. By the time we’d tacked backwards and forwards across we were further back than when we’d started on our first tack!!! So relunctantly at noon we we decided to retire from the race!! We had a nice lunch heading back to Cowes with our Cruising Chute flying and made it back in time to  watch the England game in the Duke of York. Following the great win and several celebratory beers team Sea Myth retired for an afternoon nap before a great dinner at Mojac's where we were joined by the crews of All or Nothing and Reach 4 the Wind. A few after dinner drinks on board Sea Myth followed...

Sea Myth and All or Nothing had a great full English fry up, courtesy of Simon, at the Apartment we rent in Cowes for the weekend.

• All or Nothing had an earlier start at 7:20am so didn’t have the same issue of getting trough Hurst Gap, but they drifted in several places around the back of the Island in the fluky winds but anafternoon sea breeze kicked in to get them all the way round.

• Reach 4 the Wind  experienced the same flucky winds but benefitted from the tide once they had rounded The Needles and the aftenoon sea breeze.

• In the Mood also had an earlier start at 7.10am which helped them get through the Hurst Gap and round the corner.

Congratulations to who took part. Bring it on next year - Mojac's and Shephard’s are already booked!!!

HOEOCA Results