Forecast: Afternoon shower possible; Max 25 deg, Min 15 deg

Wind WSW variable 3-4

Visibility: Mod to good

HW 3.00 pm BST 4.9m LW 1.3m

The Three Brothers' stern was next to the harbour wall when Jack and I arrived at 1.30pm. Ian Johnson was attaching the large jib sail and a new member Roy Dayman was waiting on the slip.

The Three Brothers had all the sails and ropes positioned by 2.00pm and all the crew had assembled. The stern rope was slackened and the boat moved to the bow buoy.

The Madelene Isabella came to tow us out at 2.15pm and we were soon at the racing buoy no.9, where the tow was dropped. The bowsprit was tied in place and the jib sail raised, followed by the main sail (no reeves).

The light breeze had disappeared by the time we were ready so the tow was picked up again and we moved seaward towards the Regatta yachts. The yachts had been moving briskly, but as we approached they also lost the breeze.

We drifted for nearly an hour sometimes moving backwards as occasional puffs of wind flapped the sails.

At 3.30 a light breeze caught the sails and we moved towards the south outfall buoy at an increasing speed. The breeze felt to be dropping so we turned about well short of the buoy and made our way back to the harbour. We nearly got in line with the racing buoys when the air became still again.

The Madelene Isabella came and towed us back to our berth in the harbour. The sails were stowed and the Three Brothers was moored by 5.00pm

Crew Members: Albert Brownhill, Roy Dayman, Ian Johnson, Paul Russell, Jack and Ian Thompson.

  Photos by Ian Thompson

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Contact michael.wilson@tesco.net for further information.