Richie Lord

The original plan was a day sail in light to moderate SW winds and Sunshine in the afternoon. Onboard for 10:00 to give us an opportunity to clear Carmel Head before the change of tide. Due to wind strengths of less that 5kt and variable our aim to clear Carmel Head with the flood tide wasn't going to succeed, instead motor-sailed out past the TSZ, then shut down the engine and we sailed, or rather, drifted with wind and tide until we were going in completely the wrong direction. We hove too and drifted west towards Langdon Ridge. With the sails controlled and the cockpit table in place we had a late lunch at just after 14:00. At this point I noticed the track recording had shut down and had to be restarted. After lunch, with the table removed we turned south to return to the new Harbour. and Sunshine in the afternoon. Onboard for 10:00 to give us an opportunity to clear Carmel Head before the change of tide. Due to wind strengths of less that 5kt and variable our aim to clear Carmel Head with the flood tide wasn't going to succeed, instead motor-sailed out past the TSZ, then shut down the engine and we sailed, or rather, drifted with wind and tide. At this point I noticed that the voyage recording had stopped so I restarted it as we sailed/drifted towards The Skerries until, due to the tide, we were drifting West so in completely the wrong direction. We hove too and drifted west towards Langdon Ridge. With the sails controlled and the cockpit table in place we had a late lunch at just after 14:00. After lunch, with the table removed we turned south to return to the new Harbour in 13 to 19kt winds. With an efficient preparation by the crew for disembarking we were on the mooring and on the launch in no time at all.

Today’s crew: Mark Hernrie Matthias Kate Hall Helen Caine Richie We arrived at the club for 10:30 just before low water but as it was a neap tide the launch was still going from the groyne. All onboard and preparing to sail, we decided to stay on the mooring for 11:00 coffee break and discuss where we should sail and when we needed to be back. Agreement was reached for a sail to North Stack to review the situation and then sail back as appropriate. With consistent SW winds 14 - 21Kt we set off with 2 reefs in the main. There was no commercial traffic entering or departing the port. We gybed to turn to port to clear the end of the breakwater to head out to wind and head due West. Considering the strength of the wind the sea state was remarkably calm ven as we approached North Stack. Here with wind with tide there were a few choppy areas as we tacked to sail South to sail past South Stack, but the tide was forcing us back towards South Stack so we tacked again and sailed out further to get a better line to the south. It was clear that this was not going to work for us today and the decision was made to turn and go back to the mooring as the wind strength increased. As we sailed back to the end of the breakwater Port Control was busy with two ferries and the bunkering ship which was manoeuvring, with the assistance of the Pilot Vessel, to allow the incoming ferry to berth. This meant us keeping tight to the end of the breakwater and having to be very aware of the movements entering the New Harbour on our way to the mooring. Back on the mooring we had a late lunch before disembarking with Matt, Kate and myself going to the club for a beer.

Light NNW winds as I arrived onboard. The flood tide had just started and sufficiently quiet for me to raise the main and prepare for the arrival of the rest of the crew. Race officer Dawn, selected course 2, Start, Penrhos, Meath, Clippers and finish. Close to the start line and adjacent to the breakwater there was very little wind, so we stayed well to the south of the IDM (inner distance mark), tacking and gybing a number of times to maintain a good starting position. From the start we kept south to get away from the shadow of the breakwater and then made good progress to the end of the Aluminium Jetty, turning down onto a run and staying to the west of the rhumb line to Penrhos. From Penrhos we turned upwind to Port and sailed over to the eastern side of the bay before making a number of shorter tracks to head towards Meath; however the winds became very light and fickle and with the anticipated departure of the James Joyce we made the choice to retire; seeing as the rest of the fleet were so far behind that none of them would complete the course in these conditions. We motored back to the mooring and went ashore for social times in the clubhouse.

Conditions Winds light and vaiable sw 4 - 6kt Sailed over to Church Bay anchored in 6m depth ending upclose to a very dirty pot buoy. The ladies went for a swim while tea and coffee was made. Wind had died to flat calm so we raised the main, raised the anchor carefully avoiding the pot buoy and motored back to our mooring.

A great day for a sail with the remains of the ebb tide around North Stack. Choppy through the overfalls south of South Stack then a quiet sail into Treaddur bay. No time to anchor so we turned and sailed back, the overfalls were quite rough with the westerly wind over the area close to the coastline. Once round the stacks it flattened out for an easy passage back to the New Harbour.

Quite choppy overnight on the mooring with the NE wind but as I prepared the boat for the arrival of the crew the winds turned more NE and apart from the odd motor boat passing close to the mooring all went well but again it was too windy to drop the jib to do more to free off the roller furler. Once the crew had embarked we stowed gear away and prepared to sail off the mooring. We set the Code 0 and prepared the spinnaker as planned for the day’s weather. Unfortunately as 2 of the yachts had cancelled their entries the fleet was smaller than anticipated. Some of the yachts started a while before us as planned as start times and finish times were left to the crews to record. We set off across the start line at 11:40 in 12kt NNW wind making it quite tricky close to the breakwater. Once out of the new harbour we made rapid progress overtaking the other yachts by the time we passed West Mouse. This is the SailTies app screen showing the recorded wind speeds. Once round Carmel Head and heading towards Harry Furlong buoy we deployed the Code 0 and had a wonderful leg along to Point Lynas although past East Mouse the following swell increased and made helming quite difficult. We had then to sail someway past Lynas to avoid a commercial tanker, at anchor before we deployed the spinnaker to turn onto the course to Puffin Sound. With the spinnaker pulling nicely we enjoyed a lunch with Henrie’s very tasty Spinach Pie. The winds were nice and constant most of the way until we got near the Puffin Lighthouse when the winds, as expected, dropped a little but we turned onto a reach to sail SW along theStrait and maintained our speed until we passed Gallows Point when the winds coming over the woods on the shoreline became very fickle. Fortunately before the winds changed we sailed through the local Menai Strait boats in one of their races, we were very careful to sail to leeward of the racers and to give them clearance as the leading boats rounded the mark and sailed back towards Gallows Point. Once past the Gazelle Hotel the winds filled back in with a more constant direction and allowed us to maintain one final tack all the way to cross the finish line. FlairIV Finish Time 17:11 We rafted up alongside the Windfarm service vessel and waited for the other yachts to arrive, which didn’t happen for quite a long time. Once Panther had arrived we helped them get moored alongside us and arrange to meet them at the Indian Restaurant in Menai Bridge; however when we got there both Indian restaurants were full so we moved on to Hydeout, a BBQ cafe. Once back on board we enjoyed a whiskey tasting session thanks to Theresa before retiring to bed around midnight along with members of the other 3 yacht crews who had finally made it to St. George’s Pier.

Very light variable wind so no racing but we managed to sail out to Penrhos markto enjoy the eclipse. A fantastic evening

A windy forecast with strong gusts. Course 2 was selected. 2 reefs and a 2/3 jib.