Taking on the Fastnet heroes round the cans (or breakwater)!

Published 22:03 on 2 Sep 2015

The beginning of the YCC Autumn series is a good moment to be here racing on the Grand Surprise again, with Pascal and Alexis Loison in the W class to go up against Äì I think everyone had them in their sights.After a Fastnet about which both are philosophical, having lost by 14 seconds to the J105 in the double-handed category after 4+ days racing - which had them both poring over the deck layout of overall winner JPK10.80 ÄòCourrier de LeonÄô on the pontoon opposite me, to find out how they did it this time. Pascal says they always knew it would be tight, especially when the wind freshened on the leg up to Plymouth and the J105 started getting up on the plane!A lovely evening nonetheless in Cherbourg, with a dying WNW breeze enabling an interesting beat up the Grande Rade where we gained a lot of ground by taking the inshore option, which meant that we were alongside the Loisons in ÄòNight and DayÄô down the outside of the breakwater under spinnaker, with some tight options; we ended up just behind them at the Fort de lÄôEst, with only a fetch to the finish, so we had to suffer their dirt and lost out in the dying breeze at the line, finishing tenth toÄô Night and DayÄôsÄô fifth Äì these JPKs certainly have bandit handicaps! Tomorrow is CNC night, when weÄôre sailing ÄòAdagioÄô again, probably in light airs so it wonÄôt be too exciting, and on Saturday Thierry and I are doing the double-handed CNC race on the Grand Surprise, followed by the McDo Cup on Sunday, which is a fully crewed race followed by BBQ, to celebrate the beginning of the second half of the Championnat du Mardi soir.Which, together with the day work in the Marine Archives, and the shopping, makes for a busy week!Steve Fraser

Last updated 15:13 on 28 July 2025