Sean Thomas

Winds were F5 with wind over tide at The Skerries. Wave height maximum 1.5m. intermittent very light showers. A lot of arctic terns between Langdon Ridge and The Skerries. 2 ferry movements on our return to the port causing us to alter course to sail into the New Harbour.

SW f5 to f6 average 17kt max 24kt light shower later on return passage. choppy seas on return between The Skerries and Carmel Head.

Weather conditions F4 gusting F6 out in the bay 27kt recorded at one point. Aqualibra and FlairIV racing with Houdini having set off for the Isle of Man earlier in the afternoon. After Becca completed the works to the jib halyard redirector Flair IV we had problems raising the jib and inserting the vertical battens in the high winds, which was why we were a little behind Aqualibra at the start. As usual this season Dawn assisted by Dave Meacher (OODs) set course 1 again, this is now the norm for a May Wednesday evening race! Aqualibre remained ahead as we followed the Squibs out of the New Harbour but then Aqualibre got confused and rather than follow course 1 she followed the quibs going to Clipera. Flair IV followed the proper course and even so passed Aqualibre on the beat to Penrhos where the depth of water was a little less than 2m below the keel. Nothing eventful occurred during the race until Flair IV was sailing back into the New Harbour where she had to alter course to avoid one of the Squib Fleet which was being towed by the safety boat as she had lost her rudder. This meant that Flair IV was now close to the wall as she approached the knuckle but we managed to pinch sufficiently to get past, and then head for the new IDM. We could have done with some sunshine as it became quite cold on our way to the mooring. A good sail shame there is not more competition!

Today Sean and I worked on a variety of tasks including working out why the engine was refusing to run. We also modified the end of the lowest jib batten to stop it from falling out. The winds in the morning were 16kt + NE so with just the two of us we waited on Flair's mooring until the forecast lower winds came in. After lunch the winds dropped and we prepared to set off to sail in the bay. A beautiful sunny day was perfect for a sail over to Church Bay. Once back on the mooring we attended to fitting the revised lower batten before clearing everything up to go ashore.

Weather conditions F6 dropping to F4 and less 055° (NE) A fair amount of choppy waves as we took the launch to get onboard. With 3 yachts preparing to race Dawn Russell announced course 1 for this evening's race. Start 18:30 with the normal shadow on the northern end of the start line under the wall. Flair IV first over the line seconds ahead of Houdini. Flair IV tacked early as Houdini was covering her leeward quarter and could have trapped us against the Aluminium Jetty. A slow tack meant that Flair IV lost the lead to Houdini and there was a very close encounter at a subsequent tack where FLair IV had to again lose time in bearing away. On the way to Meath Houdini held the lead with Flair IV gaining again and more so on the broad reach to Penrhos where Houdini had flown her spinnaker but had to bear away to keep it flying. On Flair IV we decided not to fly the spinnaker getting to Penrhos mark just behind Houdini. Again at the last mark on the course, Clippera, we were seconds behind, but having attempted to raise the spinnaker it all went wrong ending in a major tear of the sail and a complete stop as it acted as a sea anchor. Houdini made it to the line first with Flair IV completing the course even after the disaster with the spinnaker and Aqualibre coming in a while later. 2025-05-14 19:30:06 Houdini 1st 19:33:55 Flair IV 2nd 19:53:25 Aqualibre 3rd

Tides: High Water HH: Saturday 10th 10:00 Sunday 11th 10:32 Weather Very light winds on Saturday getting better late afternoon 13:00 7kt gusting 9kt, 19:00 10 gusting 12, more on Sunday 10:00 10 gusting 12 19:00 13 gusting 19 Saturday: I forgot to start the record on SailTies until we'd past North Stack, nor did I record the track on the B&G, so a little longer trip than shown. We actually left the mooring at around 10:30 and with only an incoming ferry which we contacted to say we were staying close to the breakwater on our passage to North Stack. Wind conditions: Northerly 5-7kt which gave us a tight reech to North Stack where, unusually, the waters were nice and flat with a very noticeable change between the currents as the ebb tide had started, sweeping us to the south. With the strong tide flowing now behind us we hoisted the lightweight spinnaker, furled the jib and dropped the main. This photo shows the Anglesey flag flying above the Sailing and Cruising Wales group burgee. With the spinnaker flying on sheets alone with no pole our course took us out slightly to the West before we altered course to sail round Rhoscolyn Head and into Cymyran Bay. In the bay the wind died completely. With the spinnaker flying, just on sheets with no pole or guys, our course took us out to the West slightly before we altered course to sail round Rhoscolyn Head and into Cymyran Bay. In the bay the wind died completely. Once an anchor, we lost the wind altogether which made it very pleasant to have our lunch, although it did get very warm in the blazing sunshine. After lunch Tess started work on the domestic water pump, lying on the galley floor with her head in the cupboard under the galley sink while we looked at servicing one of the sheet winches. Having completed the starboard sheet winch the tide changed and the wind filled in, making it was ideal for our return to Holyhead. Once round Rhoscolyn Head we headed up to a tight reach and with tidal backing made very good progress until we chose to tack and aim for South Stack so that we could get close to see the guillemots and the razorbills. Being on starboard tack were helped by the tide run slipping sideways past South Stack but then tacked to avoid the disturbed wind around the headland and sailed with the tide to a point where we coul sail round North Stack to reach the end of the breakwater. Once inside the New Harbour, we downed the sales and motored onto the mooring before clearing up and leaving FlairIV.

it was our intention to sail to the Skerries for lunch but the forecast had underestimated the wind speeds. . As we approached the entrance to the new harbour and called the Port Control we were warned of two ferry movements 1 on its way in and one outbound. we turned to port and headed back towards our mooring. once the Ferries were clear of the entrance we turned a d headed out but soon realised that the winds had increased and turned more northerly hence our decision to abandon our plan.

After lunch and a practice session on instructing we raised the anchor at 15:15 and motored out towards the island, Ynysoedd Gwylanod, before raising sails at about 15:25 and sailing west to get a good lay line to South Stack. Engine off 15:30 The cloud cover had increased as the wind changed direction making it significantly colder. Gradually as we headed to South Stack the wind filled in so again the overfalls became quite bouncy. With the wind now blowing from the SW and the flood tide running we were only making 1kt boat speed but 5kt SOG. We had left Sean on the helm and he did very well with the difficult helming in these somewhat normal tidal stream conditions. Once round North Stack we did some training on picking up a fender, dropped overboard, under sail. This didn’t go too well as the rope being used to lasso didn’t stay on the surface. As I noticed the Stena Ferry appearing in the background we changed to a motor pick up with the boat hook. I called Holyhead Port Control that we were aware of the ferry and were changing course to stay to the eastern side of the TSZ before entering into the harbour after the ferry had passed. Another good day out on the water enjoying the western coastline of Ynys Môn.

Set off after Becca practising her instructing on engine checks etc. Winds WNW 12kt broken cloud. Our departure was timed to get the last quarter of the ebb tide flowing round The Stacks. Choppy as we sailed through the tide flowing against the wind between North and South Stack. Sun breaking through as we sailed down towards Rhoscolyn Head. Thought about stopping at Trearddur Bay but decided Borth Wen would probably be more sheltered. So resumed course to Rhoscolyn Head. Anchored as a training session, showing how to deploy the CQR anchor. At low water we had 4m under the keel and deployed 30m of anchor chain gradually resulting in good holding so we could settle down with the cockpit table in place for lunch. The lagoon was quite busy with motor boats and kayakers but all well behaved.