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Porto Heili 2006
For a third year in a row, I went to Porto Heili with Neilson. I had a bit of an
apprehension after being twice before. However, I was not disappointed. As usual,
the material was very good and the tuition was very enjoyable. I sailed laser in
the morning and RS400 in the afternoon. It is a pity that it is unpractical to use
the RS400 at Shirehampton, as the boat is just a lovely boat. As the previous
years, the social life or after sail is as good as the sail. It is not only about
sailing but also socialising.
I have done one thing that I have not done before at Porto Heili: Kayak. Some
kayaks row on the morning as the wind was inexistent. We had a tuition about
racing and a nice meal at a nice location.
I with a few others rowed back to the beach where I sailed in a RS400.
On most afternoon race, I sailed on Laser 1. I finished second overall with
wining one of the race. However, I was well behind the winner.
Every Wednesday, a day sail is organised. This year, I took a Dart.
About 10 boats went to the trip. We went to the island of Spectses. The wind was
relatively light and was about to change direction. The instructors decided to
tow us to a more suitable location. On the island, we had a bit of history
regarding a cave used during the Greek revolution.
The return was not enjoyable. The wind was changing and light. All the Darts
managed to go back with towing. However, this was not the same for the mono hull.
On Friday, a race around takes place weather depending. Because of the wind, they
had to use rock B i.e. more or less where I went on kayak the day before. I sailed
on a RS400.
Our start was awful. We were in dirty air. We had to tack. We saw the other RS400
trying their kite and we did the same. However, as the kite was not hoisted
properly, the boat was uncontrollable. When we dropped the kite, we had lost a
lost of ground. However, we managed to recover most of it until we capsized with
the kite up. It was not very pleasant especially that we re-capsized immediately.
We finished last but still finished. I believe that a gust hit us and I should
have bear away. This should have recovered the situation. Never mind next time.
On Saturday, I took the ferry to visit Pantheon. Luckily, it was free.
In all, the trip went very well. I enjoyed every minute of it. I learnt why I
capsized too many times this year when I was on the run, that I had to change my
boat as it was too heavy, that I do not like gust with kite up (two capsizes) and
that I still like the RS400. I will do another trip but not sure where nor when.
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