Report from David McGregor
There are some days you will always remember where you were. The 1966 World Cup Final, the first Moon Landing, the 1983 America’s Cup, your Wedding Day, the 2003 Rugby World Cup final, or the birth of your children. What about Wednesday 11th May 2022? I can tell you the answer to this. You were not at Itchenor Sailing Club to enjoy one of the best Wednesday evenings ever
The weather during the day was pretty awful but the forecast was for the clouds to clear and the wind to moderate.
Six brave souls arrived at the club and after a brief hesitation, Tom and Sarah told us to stop complaining and go sailing. The McGregor’s took their PRO responsibilities seriously as practise for Itchenor Keelboat Week. The official Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions required a Club Line start and finish with lots of tacking, mark rounding’s and even a gybe in between. Astralita and Ibex enjoyed a very close match race and very nearly rounded all the marks (note to check Tom’s navigation). We motored around pretending to be a jury boat but the contestants were very well behaved. Renee read her book and I topped up my tan until disaster struck. We ran out of fuel. Petrol is now so expensive the club can only afford to put a dribble in the spare fuel can which was just enough to get us home and pick up the weary sailors.
Once ashore we were confronted on the staging by a colony of Penguins. Once I had cleaned the salt from my glasses I could see it was a gathering of Past Commodores in their finest plumage. The Penguins Commodores retired to the dining room where I noticed they were drinking much nicer wine than is normally available at the club. This left the bar free for the real sailors and a four-legged friend to warm up in front of the fire. Stories were told and plans were made. If Cowes Week is half as good as we discussed, we’ll have a great time and I’ll need a new liver.
Did we learn anything? Yes. If you want to know the weather, call John Tremlett. Oh, and dogs and Penguins don’t mix.