So back in the UK for a few working weeks now to help out in the loft with winter servicing and new sail builds. With sails stacked as far as the eye can see, it has been a long week of re-stitching and repairing. I feel that I am now getting to a point in my sailmaking career where I can deal with almost all of the problems that we face in the loft. It is a skill that I think will help me greatly in both my current sailing and future projects. I have a real admiration for the sailmakers on boats like Volvo 70’s who managed to do what I do in massive open loft space with all the resources in the world, but they do it in a cramped downstairs being thrown around in a big seaway.

I’ve been hard in the gym under the instruction of our fitness guru Pete Cunningham, doing volume training. 6 hours a week at 75% of max heart rate; it is a lot to fit in but made more interesting with the use of a heart rate monitor to track your progress.

Sunday was the second weekend of the Royal Southampton Frostbite Series, sponsored by the loft, so we were out on the bosses Corby 35, NJOS. With a forecast to build up to 20 knots, I was keen to get on the water with old friends and do my first bit of fully crewed sailing since starting with the Artemis Offshore Academy. The first race saw the breeze build and some exciting windy downwind legs over a short race course in Southampton Water. It was good to sail with my peers again but also very busy, often made it hard to see the wood through the trees!

AC