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Best day
Saturday Race 8 – the closest race with our rival Incognito, who just managed to beat us.
Worst day
We didn’t have one, really.
Top tips for winning
It’s really a case of thorough race preparation plus watching boats around you and in other fleets to
try to get an idea of where the wind is filling in or dropping. It helps to have a good, fun crew who
don’t get upset when it’s not going your way.
A useful mindset is to expect everything in the
Solent and do your best to be consistent.
Biggest error
It was simply a matter of not covering our competition, Incognito, in race 8 when they took
a seeming flyer out of the tide and gained 200m.
Luck or judgement?
Total luck in winning Black Group as the result depended on other classes not completing all their races and our class having so many entries. Maybe
80 per cent of it is judgement as opportunities are made more often than not. Luck always seems to happen to the same people.
Most important pre-race prep
Being relaxed and back in tune with sailing. I’m afraid you can’t just step out of busy work time and expect to be calm and relaxed enough to win.
Favourite conditions
12 knots and above. Max power on the boat
Racing/social balance
We are all the wrong side of 40, so all-nighters are
no longer an option. Our sponsor Amey provide the crew house and a caterer so the whole team tends
to be very well looked after.
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