admin Date , April 9, 2026 Sailing Previous Blog Two Electric Boats Comments (0)
What a difference a week makes.
Last Monday? Bank Holiday.
No sailing.
I was working.
This Wednesday?
A glorious 25°C, blue skies… and absolutely no wind whatsoever.
Perfect sailing weather—if your definition of sailing is drifting gently while questioning your life choices.
With the club almost deserted (just Guy already hard at work), we did what all good sailors do when there’s no wind…
Found something else to do.
Guy needed help moving Lady Luck, his Merlin Rocket, out of the repair tent and onto a trailer so he could take her off and learn the dark art of varnishing.
Now, every good boat deserves protection…
Guy’s solution?
Old sails wrapped around the bottom.
Brilliant in theory.
Less brilliant in practice.
Within minutes:
Tangled
Slipping
Looking like a badly wrapped Christmas present
So naturally, we helped him take it all off again and find a proper bottom cover.
Lesson learned:
Old sails are for sailing. Not for gift-wrapping boats.
Wind Check:
Still None
Still no wind.
Not even enough to argue about.
Richard arrived, looked at the river, and sensibly decided:
“Right… I’ll practice in the safety boat instead.”
Possibly the wisest decision of the morning.
Then came Sally, our resident Senior Instructor.
And with the enthusiasm of someone who enjoys watching others struggle, she declared:
“You two need to learn to sail three in a boat.”
Paul and I exchanged the look.
You know the one.
We climbed into a club Wayfarer:
Sally on the helm
Paul midships
Me… back on the jib (of course)
And within minutes, I made a key discovery:
I don’t like Wayfarers.
At all.
Reasons include:
❌ No GNAV → ropes everywhere
❌ Low boom → permanent concussion risk
❌ Metal hook → specifically designed to remove parts of my skull
Every tack or gybe became a game of:
“Will I duck in time?”
Spoiler: Not always.
With no wind, we practised:
Roll Tacking
Rock the boat, shift weight, pretend you’re graceful…
Ooching
(Yes, that’s a real thing)
Pull sail out
Yank it back in
Shift weight without crossing the boat
Illegal in racing…
But very useful when the alternative is:
Drifting slowly into next week.
After about an hour of:
Ducking the boom
Untangling ropes
Wondering why we weren’t in the café
We returned the Wayfarer safely to the grass.
No injuries (miraculously).
No wind (predictably).
Plenty learned (apparently).
Sailing without wind is a bit like:
Driving a car with no engine… but with more ropes and a higher chance of head injury.
Still…
It all counts.
Especially with an A-Rater on the way.
What could possibly go wrong?
