The following is our second report from budding reporter, Oscar, on the fun that occurred on the Junior Club Weekend.

It was 4am when someone’s alarm went off, this person will remain anonymous. By 4:30 everyone was up, even the adults, and Simon took us out of Gosport marina and we headed for East Cowes. At first there were no boats there but then all of a sudden about 30 boats appeared and we put up the sail and head sail.

Although the start was confusing we managed to get going ok and soon had the new black kite up with the Lloyds logo hand painted on it. We immediately started over taking the slow ones at the back but soon even after the terrible start we were doing a nice 6 – 7 knots. But once we turned round the corner we hit the waves and wind coming from the Atlantic. 

We were tipping at 45˚ most of the time which gave me and Anthony a great opportunity to practice our 'Diversity' moves in which I hurt myself Anthony was semi conscious and I was sick while Simon sat up on deck at the helm telling jokes. As we rounded the next corner it became a lot calmer which was in a sense a good thing for me but not on the race front. We put the kite up then snuffed it then put it up again then snuffed it and so on for about 45 minutes.

We finished fifth out of 40 boats, over the line in 8 hours 18 minutes 22 seconds which was respectable. We then got off the boat and we three boys immediately had to sit down again due to horrible sea legs. We then went shopping and then went to a barbeque and had a fun time hiding in a rib and making sheep and cow noises at the people walking past, one man kicked me but I deserved it! 

We then flopped into our beds and chattered excitedly about the past day and the day to follow. Within about 30 minutes the boat had rocked us to sleep. Next morning it was not an early start and we then got the waterbus to take us across the marina to where we had massive breakfasts and chocolate milkshakes. We then returned to our boat and set off for the day. Robin, Eddy, Ant and I did the Lutine classic while the adults sat on deck drinking beer apart from Simon who was telling jokes about men with a certain amount of lumps of wood on their head whilst giving us boys a few tips on helming. After rounding 9 marks and 16.5 nautical miles our finish time was 2.53.44, with a speed of 7.7 knots over the finish line. This made the weekend worthwhile!

Afterwards we headed back to Gosport past the forts to where we started. Thank you to everyone on board for making the journey unforgettable and I hope to join the Lutine crew again next time to see if we can set yet another record!

 Oscar's 'Diversity' impression:  Link

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