25th April 2021 – Merlin Open
I woke up early, excited to get my covers off and waited patiently for younger boats to be led out into the sunshine, before my owner and his crew, with some help, lowered me down from my ceiling perch in the Ranelagh Sailing Club boatshed. My permanent residents scurried away on their eight fragile legs, and although I don’t like their finery traps, they do keep me company and the insects away. Having nestled safely onto my trolley, my owner guided me out past the workbenches and onto the hard, where, what a glorious sight, loads of my old friends had come out to play in blue skies.
My owner disappeared again to find my mast, and with more help, lowered it gently into its footing. I was nearly whole again. The wind was not behaving as it should, for such a fantastic day, gusting from a gentle breeze to a mild tornado; at least that’s how it felt to an old girl like me. I spotted the beautiful No1, and 214, but they were a bit along the hard being gently coaxed into life. Brian, my owner, disappeared again talking about bacon, but my new crew, Will, took over and helped me get ready. My newly painted rudder looked great, but sadly the old tiller used for years to steer me to all the buoys, had finally been laid to rest, and a temporary one took its place. I hope it will be up to the job, as I could feel the wind whistling through my shrouds.
Finally after a shockingly loud hooter, and I nearly opened my bilges at that one, my two friends pulled me along the hard towards Putney Bridge. Of course they had to stop to have someone take pictures of me. I hope I look good, ready to go out on the water. Finally after a lot of ‘stuff’ happening at my rear end, we launched, with Brian mentioning something about a safety pin being tangled, and then we were off.
My old aches and pains were washed away as I sped down past the black buoy towards the first mark. The wind came and went although was a bit more testy than I remember in days gone past. The new stadium looks great but my playground isn’t quite as much fun with the wind swirling so much. I luffed up a few times to ward off the younger set but soon we were surrounded boats more in line with my own age. I rounded the bottom mark leaving it to starboard, passing a few of the boats as they forgot about the tide, and started the run back to the club. This, being Ranelagh, turned into a beat and we snaked up the shore, popping out onto the river when the wind lifted us. I had a bit of an itch at the top of the mast and Brian kindly allowed me to scratch it with a few tree branches.
I have to say I was feeling my age a bit, but everything seemed sound as I crept up to and round the mark just outside the Club. Soon the wind was getting stronger but everything was fine as the tide carried us down to the bottom mark, but when we turned the wind picked up even more and now was twisting and turning as I skipped over the waves. I tried my best but finally one huge gust hit me from the side and even as my kicker was released, over I went. It was so sunny I didn’t really care, but my yellow bellied support team had other ideas and abandoned ship. Without them I was floundering and although Will could get on board, at my age, and my owners, when Brian got back on, I couldn’t hold them up. To save me Brian jumped back overboard and after a few minutes we settled down, with some help from the wee blue safety boat who was eager to help. My owners suggestion of a stop at the Crabtree pub, brought back old memories, but it was just to help me get some water out before they towed me back to the club.
It was great to see so many people come to help me, and I’ll get my owner to thank everyone, especially as he had to go and supervise, chilli and beer. At least I got to get out on the water again, and just need to train my support team that their job is to stay inside the boat and not leap out at the first sign of big winds. I’m now hoisted up again with my eight legged friends and my green cover keeping us warm, dreaming of summer days and gentle breezes.