Mark Duffy

Course 23 today - up to grain hard and back, with a double loop back between grain hard and q’boro spit. A steady 20kts for virtually the whole race, with regular gusts to 25kts. Full sail down the river, and then 1st reef in main and a few turns on the Genoa for the beat back up the river. Pushed Calsara hard but she did well! Some photos and vids attached of the other competitors!

Started off as a nice calm ish day in the Solent after loading 1,500 litres onboard. However once clear of the Eastern end of the Isle of Wight we had good 3m beam seas to contend with out and past the 12nm limit line and the return was not much better, arriving in the Solent and river Hamble in the dark and bitter cold.

Lovely motor across, took it easy, flat seas and sunshine, just how we like it!!

Well that was a tough day! From benign no wind, to thunderstorms that we could dodge, to local winds in excess of 30 knots at times with 3m seas forcing us to slow right down. What an endurance today was!